Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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TOP PLAYERS OF THE GAME OFFENSE: TYLER EIFERT The Irish tight end — who gained multiple All-American honors follow- ing his junior campaign, including a first-team selection by the Walter Camp Football Foundation — ended the sea- son on a high note, making his decision on whether to enter the NFL Draft that much more difficult. Eifert paced the Notre Dame pass- ing attack with six catches for 90 yards against Florida State. His longest grab of the day was a 34-yard pass thrown by sophomore signal-caller Tommy Rees, and four of his catches went for first downs — two of which converted a third-down attempt. DEFENSE: MANTI TE'O The defensive line put constant pres- sure on Florida State redshirt freshman quarterback EJ Manuel, assisted by the blitz pressure of Irish utility man Jamoris Slaughter, but the centerpiece of the de- fense, Te'o, led the charge that was sound for the majority of the contest. Against the Seminoles, the junior line- backer led the team in tackles with 13 and set the defensive tone early by strip- THREE OBSERVATIONS TURNING POINT With only 4:04 remaining in the third quarter, Florida State's nine of- fensive possessions had totaled 110 yards, none longer than 28 yards. Then on their 10th possession while trailing 14-3, the Seminoles faced third-and-five at their 21. Quarterback EJ Manuel lofted a deep pass to fresh- man Rashad Greene that appeared to be overthrown — but Greene made an out-stretched, diving catch at the Notre Dame 46. That pivotal play seemed to energize FSU, and the drive concluded with an 18-yard reception by Bert Reed in the end zone. Three plays later, FSU linebacker Nigel Bradham intercepted an An- drew Hendrix pass that was re- turned to the Irish 18, and on second down Greene made another leaping catch, this one over linebacker Dan Fox for a 15-yard touchdown and a 15-14 advantage. In a span of 1:36, the once anemic Florida State attack went from a 14-3 deficit to a one-point lead, sparked by the playmaking skills of Greene. 30 FEBRUARY 2012 BY JASON SAPP ping a ball carrier, creating a fumble that junior safety Zeke Motta scooped up and returned for a score to put the Irish on the scoreboard first. Te'o added a half sack in the contest on a third-and-six situation, broke up a pass and made two tackles that forced the Seminoles into punting situations. G SPECIAL TEAMS: EORGE ATKINSON III There were a number of highlights from the special teams units, such as senior Michael Floyd having a 41-yard punt return, fifth-year senior safety Har- rison Smith sniffing out a fake-punt at- tempt, and senior long snapper Ryan Kavanagh making a great play on sopho- more Ben Turk's punt to pin FSU at the 1-yard line, but the consistent play of Freshman All-American George Atkin- son III clinched the award. Atkinson had a 37-yard return to the Notre Dame 38-yard line to start the sec- ond half and he made a touchdown-sav- ing tackle on a kickoff later that quarter. Turk's performance must also be noted after placing four punts inside the 20- yard line. Freshman George Atkinson III has been a consistent player on special teams during his first year of college action and main- tained that role against Florida State. PHOTO BY GREG OYSTER BY LOU SOMOGYI TOP STAT OF GAME In the first half, Florida State quar- terback EJ Manuel completed a re- spectable 9 of 15 passes for 95 yards, but he also was sacked four times and often knocked down while get- ting consistently harassed by an ag- gressive Irish rush against a green FSU line that was starting four true freshmen. In the second half, Manuel com- pleted 11 of 16 attempts for 154 yards and was sacked only once, that on the first series of the third quarter by freshman defensive end Aaron Lynch. The relentless pass pressure abated after the Irish went ahead 14-0 in the second half. There were still blitzes, but not nearly the twisting or stunt- ing that was implemented in the first half. Manuel began to develop a con- fidence in the pocket, while the young linemen were better able to handle the three- and four-man rushes. Several outstanding catches aided the cause, but once Manuel was able to set his feet, the tide turned dramatically. SEIZING THE MOMENT Late in the first quarter with the Irish leading 7-0, Notre Dame had a first down at the Florida State 27, but went backwards, leading to a missed 47-yard field goal attempt by fifth- year senior kicker David Ruffer. Still in complete control with just seven minutes remaining in the first half, Irish quarterback Tommy Rees tossed a perfect deep ball to Michael Floyd that the team MVP dropped. That potential 63-yard touchdown could have made it 14-0 and maybe deflated a reeling FSU team. The Irish left at least 10 points on the field, and a 17-0 halftime lead — with the ball to start the second half — might have seemed insurmountable. Notre Dame allowed Florida State to hang around. Although the Irish did expand their advantage to 14-0 early in the second half, FSU was in the game just enough to wrest the momentum in the fourth quarter while Notre Dame went into more of a cautious, less aggressive mode in the fourth quarter. BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED