Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ON PAPER REVISITED FLORIDA STATE RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE The 41 yards rushing by Florida State were the third fewest allowed by Notre Dame in its 31-game bowl history. The figure was aided by five sacks that net- ted 44 yards in lost yardage, but only one of Florida State's two dozen designed running plays gained more than eight yards. Unfortunately, that occurred in the closing minutes by freshman Devonta Freeman, an 11-yard run that helped milk the clock. FSU entered the game 99th nationally in rushing offense, and the stout Irish run defense held true to form. AdvAntAge: Notre Dame FLORIDA STATE PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE This was the story of the game (see "Stat of The Game" on page 30). An aggressive, twisting, stunting Notre Dame defense dominated the first half with four sacks, two quarterback hurries and several knockdowns of FSU quarterback EJ Manuel, two passes broken up and a forced fumble that was returned 29 yards by junior safety Zeke Motta for the lone score in the first 30 minutes. In the second half, Florida State's neophyte offensive line with four true fresh- men gained some confidence and momentum when the Irish started playing more conservatively with three- and four-man rushes. This allowed Manuel to set his feet more and find a rhythm, while the receivers had time to do some double moves. Freshman wideout Rashad Greene nabbed crucial 33- and 42- yard grabs to set up two FSU scores, and sandwiched a 15-yard touchdown reception between them. AdvAntAge: Florida State NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. FLORIDA STATE RUN DEFENSE Florida State has the nation's No. 2 run defense, and it showed. Particularly impressive was how it did not let the sprint misdirection do any damage. Junior running back Cierre Wood's 18 carries averaged only 3.3 yards. Sophomore quarterback Andrew Hendrix (four carries for 26 yards) had his moments, as did junior Theo Riddick (eight carries for 36 yards), but nothing was strung together into a consistent flow or sequencing. AdvAntAge: Florida State NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. FLORIDA STATE PASS DEFENSE Both sophomore Tommy Rees and Hendrix threw damaging interceptions in the fourth quarter, and senior Michael Floyd's drop of a well-placed Rees pass that might have gone for a 63-yard score in the second quarter helped keep FSU on life support. Junior tight end Tyler Eifert (six catches for 90 yards) was superb, but no one else emerged when Floyd was sidelined in the fourth quarter with an injury. The Irish were limited to a modest 5.3 yards per attempt and 9.8 yards per completion. AdvAntAge: Florida State SPECIAL TEAMS A stunning 41-yard punt return by Floyd early in the game, excellent punting by junior Ben Turk that included impressive hang time and four kicks placed inside the 20, and stopping a Seminole fake punt inches short of a first down in the second quarter gave the early nod to the Irish. But in the second half FSU had a 77-yard kickoff return, kicker Dustin Hop- kins converted two clutch field goals from 42 and 29 yards, and the kickoff coverage of Florida State was stellar, pinning the Irish back at their 16, 21 and 15. A missed 47-yard field goal in the first quarter by David Ruffer also loomed large. AdvAntAge: Florida State THIRD-DOWN CONVERSIONS Florida State started 0 of 8 before Manuel's third-and-five completion to a diving Greene for 33 yards on its first touchdown drive (see "Turning Point" on page 30). Notre Dame did win this battle statistically, finishing 7 of 15 (46.7 percent) to Florida State's 3 of 14 (21.4 percent), but the Seminoles made their three in the second half count. AdvAntAge: Notre Dame www.BLUEANDGOLD.com Tyler Eifert led the Irish offense in receptions with six catches for 90 yards. His 63 receptions for 803 yards in his junior campaign are both single- season records for an Irish tight end. PHOTO BY GREG OYSTER TURNOVERS Rees' first-quarter interception toss into the end zone was cancelled out on the next series when junior linebacker Manti Te'o forced a fumble that class- mate and safety Zeke Motta returned for a 29-yard score. Thereafter, the Semi- noles had no more turnovers, while the Irish tossed two more crucial picks. The first, by Hendrix, set up an 18-yard touchdown drive that put FSU ahead for good. The second came with 2:48 left and the Irish facing first-and-20 at the Seminoles 28. Trailing 18-14, Rees forced a pass into two-deep coverage into the end zone that was like a can-of-corn pop-up for FSU safety Terrance Parks. AdvAntAge: Florida State ANALYSIS Projections of a low-scoring game came to fruition, with Florida State making all the crucial plays on both sides of the ball in the fourth quarter. This had an eerie feel to the 35-31 loss at Michigan on Sept. 10 when Notre Dame had complete control through three quarters and a 24-7 cushion, but couldn't slam the door. Likewise, the Irish were in total command for three quarters against Florida State but missed on opportunities to make the margin insurmountable. The Seminoles then scored on the first play of the fourth quarter, and their defense and special teams fed off the energy. In both games, Notre Dame was jolted with huge pass plays and appeared to be sapped of its energy. FEBRUARY 2012 29 BY LOU SOMOGYI