Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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We don't coach illegal plays." Notre Dame had one last chance, but Golson's heave to the end zone from 18 yards away was picked off by freshman linebacker Jacob Pugh. "That last play, on fourth-and-18, I probably could have made a play there," said Golson, who finished 31-of-52 pass- ing for 313 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. "That's what I'm more disappointed in." Golson and Robinson combined ear- lier in the drive to keep it alive. Facing a fourth-and-18, Golson eluded pres- sure and began to scramble. He found Robinson, who used every inch of his 6-4½ frame to reach past the first-down marker for a 20-yard completion to the Florida State 37-yard line. "That just goes back to guys around me doing a great job," Golson said. "Co- rey not giving up on the play, having faith in me that I would get out there and make a play for him." Golson connected with Fuller — who finished with eight catches for 79 yards and a score — before scrambling for 12 yards to set up the sequence within the 10-yard line. The senior quarterback finished with 33 rushing yards on 11 attempts, with that crucial scramble his longest jaunt of the night. "We needed to get into the 30s," Kelly said of Notre Dame's scoring goal enter- ing the tilt. "We need to have some bal- ance in our offense, which I thought we did. We needed to have some tempo in our offense, which I think we did. And some ball control." The Irish displayed a balanced of- fense, gashing Florida State (7-0) for 157 rushing yards, led by sophomore running back Tarean Folston's 120 on 21 carries. The Seminoles, meanwhile, rushed for only 50 yards on 26 attempts, helping Notre Dame win the time of possession battle by more than five min- utes (32:51-27:09). "Guys just played tenaciously," Notre Dame senior linebacker Joe Schmidt said of the defense's success slowing the run. "It was something we wanted to stop. It was one of the things we wanted to highlight. We still could have been better. They rushed in [for scores] on the goal line twice." Notre Dame outgained Florida State overall by 147 yards, 470-323. At half- time, that ratio was even more lopsided, 254 yards for the Irish compared to only 111 for the Seminoles. But redshirt sophomore quarterback Jameis Winston completed 15 of 16 passes for 181 yards with a score in the second half, leading the Seminoles to 21 points in the final two quarters after notching only 10 in the first half. "The main thing I said was, 'Guys, we have to win on first downs, because in the first quarter, we just weren't getting any yards on first downs," the reigning Heisman Trophy winner said of his half- time approach. "If we get yards on first downs, we can stay down and distance, and we cannot be stopped." Winston finished 23-of-31 passing for 273 yards, spreading the ball to five re- ceivers, led by senior Rashad Greene's eight receptions for 108 yards. "He played well," Notre Dame sopho- more defensive lineman Isaac Rochell said. "Their whole offense played well, especially the second half. They did a really good job of coming out and just playing well." The second-half scoring alternated,