Tag: Luke Talich

Notre Dame Week 11 highlight — pick-six seals the deal

Notre Dame’s Luke Talich put a bow on this one.

No. 10 Notre Dame appeared to be cruising to a 45-3 win over the Florida State Seminoles when [autotag]Luke Talich[/autotag] decided that the margin of victory just wasn’t enough.

The Fighting Irish safety stepped in front of a [autotag]Brock Glenn[/autotag] pass and returned it 79 yards for a touchdown.

The struggling Seminoles looked like they might go punch-for-punch with the Irish early, but after a strong first drive ended in a field goal, Florida State’s offense stalled before being outright throttled by an impressive Notre Dame defense.

Impressive? Nah, make that dominant.

Talich’s pick-six put the final exclamation point on a blowout over Florida State that the Irish will point to as they try to impress the College Football Playoff committee.

Apr 20, 2024; Notre Dame, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Luke Talich (28) is upended after an interception in the Blue-Gold game at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

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Notre Dame vs. Florida State: Fourth-Quarter Analysis

A perfect end to a perfect night.

It officially became a blowout when [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] called off the dogs. But even that wasn’t enough to keep Notre Dame from continuing to dominate as a curtain call to a 52-3 victory over Florida State.

[autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] completed a 26-yard pass to Jaden Greathouse, then handed it off to [autotag]Jeremiyah Love[/autotag] for a 1-yard touchdown run.

When the Irish’s offense retook the field after another Seminoles three-and-out, which featured a [autotag]Junior Tuihalamaka[/autotag] sack, [autotag]Steve Angeli[/autotag] took over at quarterback. Even he got in on the scoring action when he threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to [autotag]Deion Colzie[/autotag].

As a final humiliation for the Seminoles, [autotag]Luke Talich[/autotag] intercepted Brock Glenn and returned the ball 79 yards for the game’s final touchdown and the first score of his collegiate career with 1:23 remaining. It was so unnecessary and yet so beautiful to see, especially with the Seminoles on the verge of scoring for the first time since the first quarter.

Irish fans were right to be cautious about this game because it had all the makings of a trap game. But the Seminoles came in with an offense that proved to be as putrid as advertised, and they now have the most losses of any preseason top-10 team.

Meanwhile, the Irish still have a College Football Playoff dream to chase. They have all the makings of a team that belongs there.

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Notre Dame Football: Former Walk-On Safety Earns Scholarship

When betting on yourself goes according to plan…

Notre Dame recruited preferred walk-on Luke Talich a bit differently than most preferred walk-ons are recruited.  The Wyoming product chose to walk-on for Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish instead of take a scholarship offer from a variety of Division I programs.

On Thursday it was announced that his belief in himself paid off in becoming an official scholarship player for the Fighting Irish.

He’s earned that right,” Freeman said of Talich. “He’ll be in the competition with [fellow sophomore safety] Adon (Shuler) and everybody that’s there. It’s good. Those two guys make each other better.”

It’s safe to assume returning All-American safety Xavier Watts will be one starting safety in 2024 but the other spot is up for grabs.  Talich is included in that as is Northwestern graduate-transfer Rob Heard and Shuler.

Talich played in eight games as a freshman, primarily on special teams.  His season ended prematurely with a broken collar bone, but he was a full-go in Thursday’s practice to kickoff the spring season.