Game Thread | Florida State at No. 10 Notre Dame

Florida State (1-8) at No. 10 Notre Dame (7-1) 

Notre Dame Stadium | 7:30 PM ET | NBC | Line: Notre Dame -24.5 | Total: 42.5

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Five Players To Watch

Notre Dame WR Jordan Faison
It says a lot about Notre Dame's passing game this season that four catches for 52 yards is considered a breakout game, but when considering that Faison has been injured for the majority of the season, it was significant to see. The passing game took good steps in the last three weeks and has to continue that path. We'll see if Faison can build on his last game and start to emerge as the big play threat Irish fans hoped he would be.

Florida State DT Josh Farmer
It's been a frustrating season for Florida State in just about every way, but Farmer has been one of the bright spots. He leads their team with 22 pressures and has 6.5 tackles for less. He was included in Bruce Feldman's Freaks List for a reason and he can be very disruptive.

Notre Dame LG Billy Schrauth
One of the guys who will have to block Farmer is Schrauth. He returned to start the Navy game for his first game since being injured against Purdue, but he gained an extra week of rest to recover with the bye week. He was expected to be Notre Dame's best offensive lineman this fall, but much like Faison, that got put on hold because of his injury. He'll be up against a couple of future pros playing DT for Florida State and it's a chance for Schrauth to show he's capable of playing at a very high level.

Florida State WR Ja'Khi Douglas
Douglas has been another bright spot who deserved better than what FSU's record is this season. He's stepped up and been their best player on offense and has also been used as a Wildcat QB. Look for him to be targeted early and often.

Notre Dame Edge Joshua Burnham
Burnham has made an impact since returning from an ankle injury, but they need him to keep getting better with the lack of production they've had from edge defenders. Expect his snap numbers to continue to climb over this last 1/3 of the regular season.

Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman:
”I think their defense is extremely talented. It’s led by their defensive line. They got 4+ guys who can really cause a lot of disruption. It might be one of the top defensive lines we’ve seen all year and that we will see. Our guys have their work cut out for them. They do a good job of mixing up some movement and pressure, but also doing some straight rush that can cause some issues if you can’t identify presnap but also get your cleats in the ground and be firm.

“I think their corners are another big point of emphasis for them. They have two really good corners that have played well all year. I think their defense is doing a really good job.” 

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock: 
“As anybody who is the offensive coordinator or the play-caller or whatever, you have things that you really like. So, when I look at the scheme for Florida State, there's things that I feel like we can do to take advantage of them. But if the eye of the quarterback is not the same eye that yours is — and everybody has a different way of seeing the game and looking at the game — then those things really aren't going to amount to much if he doesn't see him the same way that I do. So, that's really what those conversations are about. Why this call? Why am I putting you in this scenario? Why am I giving you this RPO instead of this. Why this run scheme as opposed to this? So, those conversations kind of run so that his understanding of what the overall picture is of what we're trying to do gets communicated to him, so that he can then go out there and kind of operate it.” 

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden:
”There were a couple of challenges when he (Xavier Watts) decided to come back. One was to be more audible and be more vocal. You could probably pick 30 instances on the tape this year where he’s physically, demonstrably and audibly changing something on our defense. Running down, telling Ben (Morrison) something in the Louisville game, going back. That’s command, and it’s undeniable when you can see it as an evaluator. That’s No. 1.

“Number 2, his man-to-man coverage has improved. He really has been challenged a lot, ended up on the slot a lot or No. 3 to the field, and has done a good job. The third thing would be his transitions from the post have become so much better, starting with the A&M game. The first transition in the red zone, they jet motion, he spins; he puts a foot in the ground and hits the alley. Those three things are markedly better than a year ago. I mean markedly better.” 

 Notre Dame WR Kris Mitchell:
“Florida State was definitely my dream school,” said Mitchell. “I grew up watching EJ Manuel and Jameis Winston - it’s always been a dream to play there. Going into this game, I take it personal. They didn’t believe in me coming out of high school, so I’m going to go show them what I got.” 

For Your Nerves 

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