Notre Dame saw another scoring threat from Florida State to begin the fourth quarter. The Seminoles had the ball for nearly the entire first half of the frame. But any thoughts of points were snuffed out by an interception from Shaun Crawford in the end zone, the Irish’s first pick of the season, and that broke any hopes of a change in the game’s outcome. The Irish remain undefeated after a 42-26 victory.
Once they got the ball back, the Irish (3-0, 2-0) took their time since they didn’t need anymore points. That meant going back to the run and burning even more time than the Seminoles (1-3, 0-3) did on their previous possession. They got all the way to the 2-yard line but failed to score. Even though Chris Tyree couldn’t find the end zone on the Irish’s final play from scrimmage, it didn’t matter because there was so little time left.
Hopefully, the way this game played out is a metaphor for how the rest of this season plays out. The first 2 1/2 games were good for the Irish, if not unremarkable. The rest of the way, they looked more like a team that was playing to win. Maybe the slow start to this game, however attributable to rust it was, is what they need to kick into another gear that will keep them dominant at least until the Clemson game.