Notre Dame gets into gear, easily beats Florida State for seventh straight win

Jon Bon Jovi was in the House That Rockne Built, but Notre Dame was not living on a prayer. Furthest thing from it.

The Fighting Irish sandwiched halftime, a break in the action featuring the famed Rock and Rock Hall of Famer and noted Notre Dame fan directing the marching band through renditions of his own songs, with touchdowns on their last possession of the first half and first of the second half. By then, Notre Dame had effectively finished off Florida State. In a game head coach Marcus Freeman’s team was supposed to win by a wide margin, it did just that.

Irish 52, Seminoles 3.

“It could have been easy to overlook those guys in terms of preparation because of the record, but we’ve got a mature group,” Freeman said. “We’ve got a bunch of seniors that are continuing to lead this group in the right way.”

All told, the Notre Dame offense wasn’t at its very best. It just didn’t need to be. Not when the opponent is a Florida State squad that has one of the worst offenses in all of college football. Offensively bad.

FSU finished with 208 total yards compared to Notre Dame’s 453. Flip flopping between a redshirt freshman in Brock Glenn and a true freshman in Luke Kromenhoek at quarterback, the Noles only connected on 10 of 26 passes for 88 yards through the air. The Irish sacked those two a total of 8 times, partly due to relentless pass rush and partly due to impeccable coverage downfield. A perfect storm for the home side.

“Our guys are playing with clarity,” Freeman said. “They are playing with clarity, which equals velocity. That’s what we talk about all the time — clarity equals velocity.”

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard, meanwhile, completed 14 of 27 throws for 215 yards and 1 touchdown. He missed some throws and Irish pass catchers dropped multiple well-placed passes. Still, Leonard moved the chains with his arm nine times and lobbed a beauty of a slot fade to tight end Mitchell Evans for the senior’s first touchdown reception of the season and first overall since Oct. 7, 2023.

Leonard scored his 12th and 13th rushing touchdowns of the season and turned in 70 yards on 11 carries, just over his season-long averages of 10.6 and 67.4 going into the game. Workmanlike to the point of allowing time for backup Steve Angeli to come in and get a touchdown pass of his own in garbage, as has become rather customary, no matter the ups and downs with his arm and the guys he was trying to get the ball to. His legs always remain a major threat to the opponent.

“I just kind of run until they tackle me,” Leonard half-quipped.

Notre Dame’s talented tailback duo of sophomore Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price weren’t called on often. They only combined for 16 rushing attempts for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns. Price had a 65-yard score, though, that put the Irish ahead 14-3 early in the second quarter. It was the score Notre Dame — and its fans — needed for breathing room purposes and to send a jolt through the chilly Midwestern autumn air.

Florida State was hanging around — living on just a bit more than a prayer — until Price’s house call. From there, it was curtains. This shoddy version of the Seminoles was always going to need the Irish to turn the ball over and get in their own way to pull a massive upset in the only primetime regular season game of the year in South Bend. Instead, after some shaky offensive possessions following an opening-drive touchdown, Notre Dame found another gear and glided to its seventh consecutive victory.

Next up is the final regular season home game against Virginia (5-4).

“We know we’ve got one more guaranteed opportunity in this stadium,” Freeman said. “So we’ll celebrate tonight and get back tomorrow and start preparing for Virginia.”