Notre Dame football score predictions: Fighting Irish vs. Florida State staff picks

NBC should expect its written apology from Florida State any day now as the Seminoles prepare for their trip to Notre Dame.

Near the tail end of a week home slate in South Bend — for which NBC pays a great deal of money to broadcast — this was supposed to make it all worth it. It looked like the Irish and Seminoles would be a top-10 matchup with major College Football Playoff implications. No one could have expected Florida State to fall completely flat on its face, creating a 26-point spread for a prime-time game.

Here are Blue & Gold‘s staff predictions for Notre Dame vs. Florida State.

Tyler Horka: Notre Dame 37, Florida State 7

It doesn’t seem like that could actually be a conceivable final score between these two storied football programs, but it is.

Florida State is that bad on both sides of the ball this season. The Seminoles have essentially nothing left to play for but pride, and there isn’t a whole lot of that to go around in Tallahassee in 2024. This game isn’t played down there, either. It’s played in South Bend, at Notre Dame Stadium, where the Fighting Irish have been pretty good under the lights during the Marcus Freeman era lately.

Notre Dame is also 4-0 coming out of a bye week during Freeman’s tenure. His team wins big.

Jack Soble: Fighting Irish 42, Seminoles 6

Who could’ve seen this coming? Florida State is, bar none, the worst team on Notre Dame’s schedule. The Seminoles are “meh” at best on defense and absolutely atrocious on offense, although they do kick and punt very well. 

The Irish — which, like Tyler said, are 4-0 under Freeman immediately following bye weeks — should cruise past FSU with ease, drawing one step closer to a perfect season against a weak Atlantic Coast Conference slate.

Kyle Kelly: Notre Dame 42, Florida State 13

After nearly securing a College Football Playoff berth last season, the Seminoles have been awful in 2024. I can’t see Florida State getting up for a game in South Bend in November with nothing to play for. 

Meanwhile, it’s the opposite for Notre Dame. I expect the Irish to come out firing on all cylinders and the result representing their efforts. I like them to win big in primetime fashion, with the only touchdown surrendered coming late in the second half. 

Todd D. Burlage: Fighting Irish 24, Seminoles 10

A game that in the preseason was considered the crown jewel of the Notre Dame home schedule in 2024 — and possibly a play-in game for a spot in the College Football Playoff — has instead become a match-up for the No. 10 Irish (7-1) against Florida State (1-8) that no longer even deserves its primetime spot.

Ranked No. 10 in the preseason, the unranked Seminoles have now lost five straight games, and the players have seemingly quit on this season and head coach Mike Norvell. Florida State averages only 14.4 points per game, and it has scored more than 20 points in a game only once this season.

With all of that said, rivalry and series history keep this one closer than the 26 points the Irish are favored by.  

Steve Downey: Notre Dame 45, Florida State 7

What was once a “must win” game for the Fighting Irish’s College Football Playoff hopes has stunningly transformed into a “must not lose” game. To say this season has been an unmitigated disaster for Florida State would be a major understatement. The Seminoles are on track for their worst season in half a century (3-8 in 1975 — the year before legendary head coach Bobby Bowden took over and rebuilt the program).

On what will likely be a cold November night, it’s nearly impossible to imagine a scenario in which the Seminoles’ dreadful offense is able to do much of anything against the Fighting Irish’s stingy defense no matter who is at quarterback for them. On the other side of the ball, look for the Notre Dame’s stout rushing attack to have its way against a Florida State defense that has been repeatedly gouged on the ground this year.

The largest margin of victory in this series — which has featured its share of close contests — was a 37-0 FSU win in 2003, while the Irish’s biggest win was 42-13 in 2018. I think Notre Dame surpasses both in this one.