What they’re saying about Notre Dame’s 52-3 win against Florida State
A one-win Florida State team limped into South Bend and got boat raced by Notre Dame, a program that has now notched seven wins in a row. Behind sack-minded defense and rushing attack that totaled 201 yards and four touchdowns, Marcus Freeman and the Irish demolished the Seminoles, 52-3.
In this article, we’ll take a look around at what the media is saying about the Fighting Irish’s triumph against the Seminoles, including Blue & Gold’s Mike Singer and Tim Hyde giving their instant reaction to the game in a YouTube live show. You can watch the replay of the show in the video player below.
Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold: How we’re witnessing the maturation of Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman in real time
I’ve seen enough. I’ve heard enough. And I have to admit, I was wrong. This 38-year-old who had never been a head coach at any level let alone somewhere like Notre Dame who the Fighting Irish replaced Brian Kelly with three years ago knows what he’s doing. He’s a good football program leader.
Yes, Marcus Freeman is for real. And he’s only just getting started.
I was incorrect in an asserting after Notre Dame lost at home to Northern Illinois in September maybe it wasn’t the right decision for Notre Dame to go from an established program builder and maintainer in Kelly to a newbie in Freeman. It was a prisoner of the moment type of knee-jerk reaction, even if it was a take supported and believed by many others at the time.
It was the Irish’s third loss as a 16-plus-point home favorite in as many years under Freeman, after all. It truly felt like his grip on the on-field direction of the program was loosening at a rapid rate.
Two months later, it’s as strong as ever.
Notre Dame is 8-1. It has won seven consecutive games by an average margin of 33.9 points. The Irish are firmly in the 12-team College Football Playoff conversation while Kelly’s team in Baton Rouge lost by 29 points at home and has been effectively eliminated from CFP contention with a 6-3 record.
Jack Soble, Blue & Gold: Five thoughts—Notre Dame defensive tackle Rylie Mills unleashed fury on Florida State
After Notre Dame’s win over Florida State, senior quarterback Riley Leonard was asked what it’s like to face graduate student defensive tackle Rylie Mills in practice.
Leonard did not mince words.
“Oh, it’s awful,” Leonard said. “Our guys do a good job protecting me, first and foremost. But he’s a guy that just — I mean, look at him. He’s a freak.”
Standing at 6-foot-5, 295 pounds, Mills is certainly daunting to line up against. But in recent weeks, he’s been a dominant force. And against the Seminoles, he exploded.
Mills totaled 3 sacks during Notre Dame’s 52-3 win over Florida State, but not all sacks are created equal. In Mills’ case, he didn’t chase down a scrambling signal-caller or break through after a few seconds of airtight coverage. He cut through the Seminoles’ offensive line like a knife through butter.
They were meaningful sacks, too. Mills went back-to-back in the immediate aftermath of fellow graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III’s ankle injury.
“I was just gutted for him, considering how much he put in this week and how much he makes everyone better,” Mills said. “That kind of gave me a little frustration. … Hopefully it led to that.”
If Cross has to miss time — based on Irish head coach Marcus Freeman’s comments, it doesn’t sound serious, but ankle sprains can linger — Notre Dame needs this version of Mills. He was absolutely unblockable Saturday night.
Here are four more thoughts on the Irish win.
John Kennedy, Notre Dame on SI: Notre Dame’s Defense Dominates Long-Time Rival Florida State
Entering the contest with Florida State, Notre Dame was allowing teams to score an average of just over 12 PPG. As impressive as this, that number has gone down even further after the Irish’s dominant 52-3 stomping of Florida State.
Notre Dame has now won seven games in a row. Through this streak, the Irish have outscored opponents 308-71 with only the Louisville contest being competitive for an average of just around 10 PPG being allowed. Even after losing multiple key contributors to injury, this defense has never flinched.
The Notre Dame defense has been and still is the backbone of the Irish program. This kind of defense is tailor-made to succeed in cold-weather football, November football, dare I say, playoff football. Al Golden’s unit has played at an elite level all season, allowing the Irish offense some breathing room to find itself after a rocky start to the season.
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With three winnable games left, the Irish defense will continue to push itself to get better with its eyes on a spot in the expanded 12-team CFP.
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All things considered, I thought it was a decent showing for Florida State.
Yes, it was a slow start in the first half. And I thought the offense was stagnant a bit in the second half as well. But the defense played really hard. At times it was suffocating, in fact. It actually looked like the old Florida State for a good stretch of the game!
All in all, not a bad Saturday night for the Seminoles’ men’s hoops team, which notched a road win over Rice to improve to 2-0 on the season. Jamir Watkins scored 30!
Oh wait, this column is supposed to be about the Florida State football team?
My bad. Yeah, the ‘Noles are still horrible.
Saturday night didn’t do anything to dissuade us of that notion. The offense was atrocious. Because it always is. The defense was overwhelmed. Because it usually is against a good offense. And the in-game coaching was abysmal, which it too often is for my liking.
The end result was a dismal 52-3 loss to No. 10 Notre Dame in South Bend on Saturday night as the 2024 Seminoles dropped to 1-9 on the season. The last Florida State team to lose nine games in a season was 1974.
That was 50 years ago, folks.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman
Opening statement from postgame press conference:
“Man, proud of those guys. Proud of the way they prepared. As you watch film, you know you’re going against a talented group, but it could have been easy to overlook those guys in terms of preparation because of the record.
“But we’ve got a mature group. We’ve got a bunch of seniors that are continuing to lead this group in the right way, and I truly believe in my heart, Saturday is a reflection of preparation, and they are preparing the right way. They have the right mentality, and they are really going out and playing well.
“I was really proud of the way they played in the second half, being up 21-3, and to come out and defensively, I think the interception, turnover on downs, three-and-out, three-and-out, interception, touchdown.
“Offensively, it was touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown. You know, and that’s a pretty dominant half of football, and so I’m really proud of the way they performed.
“We know we’ve got one more opportunity, guaranteed opportunity in this stadium. So we’ll celebrate tonight and get back tomorrow and start preparing for Virginia.”
Full press conference transcript
