Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1529159
22 NOV. 16, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT Following a nip-and-tuck first quarter in which Notre Dame built only a 7-3 lead, the Irish broke the game open on the first play of the second quarter. Facing a second-and-8 play, Irish sophomore tailback Jadarian Price broke a run over the left side that went 65 yards for a touchdown to push the Notre Dame lead to 14-3. Price's touchdown, his fourth this season, gave the Irish a two-score lead that was never threatened. Price was initially called out of bounds at the 4-yard line on the scoring run as he tight-roped the left sideline. But a subsequent official re- view of the play showed that Price nimbly kept his left heel in bounds, the touchdown counted and the Irish never looked back. STATS OF THE GAME A stat that Florida State needed to improve on to have any chance at beating Notre Dame didn't go its way in the 49-point loss, when the Seminoles went only 3 of 17 (17.6 percent) on its third-down conversions. FSU entered the game ranked second-to-last nationally in third-down success rate (25.8 per- cent). Meanwhile, the Irish entered the FSU game ranked 11th nationally in third-down de- fense (29.9 percent). Along the same lines, two Seminoles quarter- backs combined to go 10-of-26 passing for 88 yards with 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions against the Irish. During the last three games for Florida State, all blowout losses, its quarter- backs completed only 29 total passes. DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE The big win over Florida State pushed Notre Dame's defensive numbers to some of the best in Irish program history. Notre Dame entered this rivalry renewal ranked fourth nationally in scoring defense, allowing only 12.1 points a game. It left the FSU blowout averag- ing 11.1 points allowed, a mark that if it holds up the rest of this season would rank as the program's best since 1980, when under head coach Dan Devine, it gave up only 10.7 points per game. Through nine games, Louisville (24) remains the only opponent to score more than 16 points this season against the Notre Dame defense. During its seven-game winning streak following the NIU loss, the Irish defense has been a primary reason why Notre Dame has outscored those seven opponents by an average of 33.9 points. Also of note, the 8 sacks by the Notre Dame defense were easily a season high. The 8 also tied for the second-most in program history in a single game (vs. Virginia in 2019 and Michigan State in 1987) and just missed the Irish record of 9 sacks, which came against Michigan State in 1994 per the official Notre Dame record book. (Blue & Gold Il- lustrated records show that the Irish also recorded 9 sacks in a 62-0 win over Rutgers in 1996.) THREE OBSERVATIONS BY TODD D. BURLAGE DL DONOVAN HINISH Taking advantage of an overwhelmed FSU offensive line, the Irish junior enjoyed the best game of his career, tying his career high with 5 tackles while recording a personal-best 2 sacks. The valuable reserve entered the game with 1.5 sacks for his career, and he had not recorded more than 2 tackles in a game in the last five outings this season. The 2 sacks by Hinish were part of an 8-sack effort by the Notre Dame defense that NBC Television reported as tying the second most in a single game in program history. QB RILEY LEONARD In a little over three quarters of play, the Irish senior again showcased his dual-threat abilities. His steady improvement in the passing game resulted in a 14-of-27 performance through the air for 215 yards with 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions. He added 70 yards on the ground with 2 touchdowns on 11 rushing attempts, marking the eighth straight game that the Irish signal-caller has recorded a rushing touchdown this season. Leonard's all-purpose performance gave him 9 passing touchdowns and a team-best 13 rushing scores this season. He remains well ahead of pace to break the single-season Irish quarterback record of 14 rush- ing touchdowns, set by Brandon Wimbush in 2017. DL RYLIE MILLS Double-team blocking schemes from opponents this season have cut into the statistical numbers for the Irish graduate student. But when afforded more one-on-one pass-rushing opportunities against Florida State, Mills made good, big time, recording a season-high 5 tackles with a career-high 3 sacks, doubling his sack total for the season to 6. Two of Mills' sacks came on consecutive plays early in the second quarter that helped the Irish flip pos- session, keep momentum and blow open what was a precarious 14-3 lead at the time. It marked the third time in his five-year career that Mills recorded at least 2 sacks in a game. GAME BALLS BY TODD D. BURLAGE Junior defensive lineman Donovan Hinish achieved career highs in tackles (5) and sacks (2) in the win over Florida State. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER