Notre Dame had its hands full with a Florida State team that knew what it was doing. A will-imposing defensive line for the Seminoles and the Irish’s struggles with their own defense were not boding well. However, momentum can be fleeting, and a couple of plays shifted it back towards the visitors. The Irish find themselves up at halftime, 17-14.
The Irish’s first possession of the second quarter found them deep in their own territory, and they ultimately couldn’t advance the ball past the original line of scrimmage. Jay Bramblett’s 38-yard punt meant the Seminoles could start in Irish territory. The Seminoles barely broke a sweat in marching to the end zone. A 21-yard pass to Malik McClain and a 20-yard run by Lawrance Toafili set up a sweeping 2-yard touchdown run by Jordan Travis to give the Seminoles their first lead of the game.
In need of a response, the Irish put together a nice drive led by the running duo of Kyren Williams and Chris Tyree. However, Jack Coan took a sack and lost yardage on another play as the drive stalled at the Seminoles’ 29-yard line. Jonathan Doerer made the offense’s effort worth it by kicking a 48-yard field goal, his first such score of the season.
After that, the Seminoles took back-to-back false starts, showing why they were among the most penalized teams in the country last year. On third-and-8, Travis threw a deep pass, and Kyle Hamilton made him pay with Notre Dame’s first interception of 2021.
Gifted a short field, Coan and the rest of the offense took full advantage. He found Michael Mayer for a 15-yard completion, then threw a 23-yard pass toward the end zone that Joe Wilkins caught on a 50-50 ball. Wilkins barely registered a blip on the radar in 2020, so to see him score a touchdown in the first game of 2021 is rather nice.
Overall, you can’t complain about the scoreboard to this point. Still, this doesn’t appear it will be the cakewalk some were expecting, at least not yet. The offense needs to put together clean drives, and the defense has to impose its will on an opposing offense that has shown signs of regressing. With half the game to play, now is not the time for either unit to let up.
Freshman Lawrance Toafili has taken the lead for Florida State on the ground, and he’s done it without losing yardage on a single carry. Though he and Williams have about the same likelihood to pull off a big play, he isn’t averaging as many yards a game. If the Seminoles are to win, he won’t be able to do it by himself. The idea of a freshman running back singlehandedly willing his team to victory against a top-ranked defense almost is preposterous, but stranger things have happened in college football.