FSU posts a season low while getting overwhelmed at Notre Dame, moving to 1-9 on the season

State of Florida is 1-9 after a 52-3 loss to No. 10 Notre Dame on Saturday evening at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. It was a season low in points for the Seminoles. FSU hasn’t had this late in a season since 1974, when they finished 1-10.

Each team scored on the first drive of the game. Notre Dame gained 75 yards in five plays over 1:43, capped by a 34-yard rushing touchdown by the quarterback Riley Leonard. FSU gained 75 yards on 16 plays in just under eight minutes and settled for a 23-yard field goal Ryan Fitzgerald.

The two teams then exchanged punts after two 3-and-outs on both sides.

The Irish would take a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter as ND ran back Jadarian Prize broke off a 65-yard touchdown run. The quick strike for the Irish came on the third play of a series that covered 84 yards in 65 seconds.

FSU managed just 22 total offensive yards in the second quarter.

It seemed like the Seminoles only had a chance of going into the locker room down 14-3, or at worst 17-3, but a series of errors left the Seminoles outscored 21-3. The Irish faced a 4th-and-10 from the FSU 34-yard line with 21 seconds left. FSU took advantage of a timeout as ND appeared to be preparing for special teams to handle the snap. ND came out of the timeout and ran an offensive play where Leonard hit a wide receiver Jordan Faison for a 22-yard completion. FSU had 12 players on the field for this play as they were unable to completely shut down their special unit. On the next snap, Leonard completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mitchell Evans. Any moral victory the Seminoles had in the first half completely disappeared in this miserable, poorly coached sequence.

Things went from bad to worse for FSU in the opening sequence of the second half at quarterback Brock Glennwho started for the Seminoles, was intercepted by Jordan Clark on a pass intended for him Kyle Morlock. The Irish gained 38 yards on six snaps and scored in 2:55 when Leonard rushed in from six yards out for his second rushing touchdown of the night. FSU trailed 28-3 with nearly 25 minutes to play.

The Irish would score a field goal late in the third quarter. ND kicker Mitch Jeter was 1 of 2 on field goal attempts in the game.

Notre Dame added a one-yard touchdown run at running back Jeremiyah love Early in the fourth quarter.

The reserves came into play and continued to score for the Irish. Backup quarterback Steve Angeli went 3-of-3 for 37 yards and a touchdown Deion Colzie on his first work trip.

Glenn would then throw his second interception of the game at ND linebacker Luke Talich stepped in front of FSU running back Lawrance Toafili to take one away, and it went 79 yards for the score.

In the second half, Notre Dame had four drives before the end of the half, collecting three touchdowns and a field goal and rushing for 210 yards on 27 plays in the period. To top it all off, they had the pick-6. They scored 31 points in the final 30 minutes and made it look easy.

The Irish managed 453 yards, including 252 yards through the air and 201 yards on the ground. Leonard threw a touchdown and ran for two more. He had 285 total yards (215 passing, 70 rushing). Price finished the game with 95 rushing yards and a touchdown on just seven carries, while Love had 19 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on nine carries. Colzie’s touchdown catch was his only catch of the game, while Evans’ touchdown catch was one of two grabs for him. They averaged 7.3 yards per play on the night.

FSU only managed 208 yards on the day. Brock Glenn (5-18, 52 yards, 2 INT) and Luke Kromenhoek (5-8, 37) combined to go 10-26 for 88 total passing yards and were sacked eight times for 51 yards. The Irish had a total of 10 tackles for loss for 55 yards. FSU had 120 rushing yards on 43 carries, including running back Lawrance Toafili Leading the way with 16 carries for 77 yards. Toafili also led the Seminoles with three balls that went over 20 yards.

FSU will participate in its third and final bye week next week before hosting Charleston Southern on Saturday, November 16, in their homecoming game. Kick-off time and broadcast for this game have not yet been announced.