Notre Dame lineman Jarron Jones, right, chases Florida State quarterback Jameis Winson during the second half. (Photo: Mark Wallheiser , Associated Press ).
It definitely wasn’t the ending we wanted, but it sure was one heck of a game. One for the ages. Notre Dame and Floirda State went head-to-head and seemed evenly matched throughout most of the game. How did our defense match up? Lets take a look!
The game on Saturday marked the first time that both teams scored at least 27 points in the history of the Notre Dame-Florida State series, with our defense giving up a total of 31 points.
In the first half, the Irish defense did a great job of harassing Winston with defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder’s blitzes, but when the Seminoles regrouped in the second half the Irish defense could not seem to make the needed adjustments to stop the Florida State offense. The Irish blitzes that got to Winston in the first half were completely ineffective in the second half. The Notre Dame secondary just couldn’t stay with Rashad Greene, Jesus Wilson and Travis Rudolph in the second half. Winston picked the Irish defense apart.
The bright spots?
The Notre Dame defense held Florida State to just 20 first down. They only allowed Florida State 50 net rushing yards, but gave up 273 net passing yards. Florida State was only able to convert on third down 2 out of 8 times.
Joe Schmidt had eight solo tackles and one assist, Jarron Jones had five solo tackles and one assist, Cole Luke had four solo tackles and two assists, Elijah Shumate had three solo tackles and two assists and both Jaylon Smith and Cody Riggs had four solo tackles. Not a bad day for the Irish defense.
Jarron Jones had three tackles for loss tonight. He entered the game with three TFLs in his 18-game Irish career.
Joe Schmidt recorded his second career interception during the second quarter. His other interception came on Sept. 13 against Purdue.
DL Jacob Matuska made his first appearance since the season opening game against Rice on Aug. 30.
All in all the Irish defense did their job and kept Notre Dame in the game. And, to be honest, the offense did their job as well. It’s tough to stomach a loss that comes on a referee’s call.
Hopefully the guys get a bit of a break on their week off and then get back to the grind to prepare for Navy. The rest of the season is definitely doable for the Irish. Can’t wait to see exactly what this team is made of!
GO IRISH! SINK NAVY!
Her Loyal ... Daughter
Lisa Kelly is a multidimensional marketing professional. She has over two decades of marketing experience and earned a bachelor of business administration and marketing from the University of Notre Dame (Class of 1993 ... Siegfried Hall!). She is a Digital Publishing Manager by day and by night is writing her third book, a continuation of "Echoes From the End Zone: The Men We Became" and its sequel "The Men We Became: MORE Echoes From the End Zone." In 2012, Lisa was crowned the "Biggest Fan of the Big East" in a blogging and social media contest, representing Notre Dame.
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