Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 16, 2024 25 NOTRE DAME PLAYS COMPLEMENTARY FOOTBALL ON DEFENSE Notre Dame's defense was playing far too well against the pass to not have picked off any passes. Graduate student nickel corner Jordan Clark changed that on the first possession of the second half. And sophomore safety Luke Tal- ich put a cherry on top with a 79-yard interception returned for a touchdown with 1:23 left. Bang, bang. Two interceptions was more like it. It wasn't only the takeaways that defined just how dominant the Notre Dame passing defense was in a 52-3 vic- tory over Florida State. Those weren't even the half of it, really. The Fighting Irish sacked FSU quarterbacks 8 times, the most in any game for Notre Dame since matching that number against Virginia in 2019. Graduate student defensive tackle Rylie Mills had back-to-back sacks on consecutive plays in the second quar- ter. He added a third for a single-game career-high and for good measure. Junior defensive tackle Donovan Hinish had a career-best 2 sacks. Ju- nior linebacker Jaylen Sneed and junior defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka had a sack apiece. Sophomore linebacker Jaiden Ausberry and freshman defen- sive end Bryce Young rounded out the total. Everybody ate. "As a defense, we brought the boom," Mills said. Key word: we. It wasn't one level of the Notre Dame defense anybody, play- ers or coaches, wanted to give more credit than any other. Team effort. Col- lective success. Players in the front seven got to the quarterback because route runners were so well covered. Route runners didn't need to be covered long because front seven players got to the quarterback. Yin. Yang. You help me, I help you. Ev- erything was in sync. This, Mills promises you. "From the whole defense, it was dominant," he said. "That just kind of shows when the front end and the back end are on the same page. When you see the backs covering like they did, it's hard to get completions on us. That's one great thing about our defense — we feed off each other." Clark joked that he "didn't have to work too long or too hard" because of the disruption of the Notre Dame de- fensive front. "All credit to those guys," Clark said. "They work their tail off." Even senior quarterback Riley Leon- ard, who admittedly doesn't normally watch the Irish defense so he can study defensive looks for the next time he's on the field, noticed just how cohesive that unit was in limiting Florida State to 208 total yards on 2.8 yards per play. "To look across the field and see that many minus plays, man," Leonard said. "In fall camp, they were drawing up something crazy every single day. So, I guess it's no surprise to me that they're getting in the backfield very often." The more they get in the backfield, the better things will be on this side of the ball for a Notre Dame team that embodies an adage as old as time as well as any of the teams in the College Football Playoff picture — "defense wins championships." "I truly believe in my heart, Satur- day is a reflection of preparation, and they are preparing the right way," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. "They have the right mentality, and they are really going out and playing well." IRISH KEEP FOOT ON GAS, FIND CONSISTENCY IN SECOND HALF Despite a 21-point, 273-yard first half, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman wanted more. In the locker room at halftime, Free- man challenged his offense to be consis- tent. Anyone can have good plays and bad plays, he explained. The Irish had both during the first 30 minutes against Florida State, from drops and sailed throws to explosive runs and perfect fades to the end zone. Anyone can have good games and bad FLORIDA STATE GAME NOTES BY TYLER HORKA AND JACK SOBLE Graduate student defensive tackle Rylie Mills had 3 of the Fighting Irish's 8 sacks against Florida State. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER