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Game Thread | No. 9 Notre Dame at Florida State

September 5, 2021
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Game One | No. 9 Notre Dame at Florida State 

Doak Campbell Stadium | 7:30 p.m. ET | ABC | Notre Dame - 7.0 | Over/Under: 55.5

Game Week Articles | Roster| Depth ChartSchedule 


Notre Dame in Tally

Fighting Irish football is back. 

Notre Dame should win this game on paper, but there are many interesting aspects of this game to watch as Florida State will have a chance to make this one interesting. The Irish offensive is breaking in new quarterback Jack Coan and four new starters on the offensive line. Always tricky, but outside of true freshman Blake Fisher, it’s still a group that’s played in big games. 

Irish receiver Kevin Austin Jr. will also be making his return to the field after basically two years away from the field as he played in just one game a year ago.

It will also be the first time Notre Dame fans get to see Marcus Freeman’s defense. The Blue-Gold Game in the spring was extremely vanilla and some have even stated Notre Dame under 10 plays on defense. 

On the Florida State side, it’s still an unknown how Mike Norvell will play his quarterbacks as Jordan Travis seems like the likely starter while grad transfer McKenzie Milton could play if he’s healthy enough. 

Finally, you have Seminoles left guard Dillan Gibbons facing his former teammates as he transferred from Notre Dame in spring. 


Five Players To Watch

Notre Dame WR Kevin Austin Jr.
Expectations are high for Austin heading into this season and Notre Dame needs him to at least come close to meeting them. Can he be a true WR1 for the Irish? He'll get his first shot to prove it against the Seminoles.

Florida State DE Jermaine Johnson
The transfer from Georgia is going to be counted on to provide a consistent pass rush off the edge for Florida State. The buzz in camp is that he's the best player on the defense. Maybe even the best player on the team. His matchup with true freshman LT Blake Fisher will be one to keep a close eye on.

Notre Dame LB JD Bertrand
Now that we know that Marist Liufau is out of the season, Bertrand steps into the spotlight as the starting Will linebacker. He was someone who rose up the depth chart during the spring and summer and flashed quite a bit as a blitzer.

Florida State QB Jordan Travis
Even though he's listed as a co-starter with McKenzie Milton, it's expected that Travis will be the main guy for most of the game. He's a dynamic runner and has reportedly improved as a passer. He'll need to be much better in that area to give FSU a chance at an upset.

Notre Dame QB Jack Coan
Notre Dame players and coaches have been saying all of the right things about Coan before the season. Now we see if he can live up to the praise he's received. Poise in the pocket is one of his strengths, but Irish fans anxiously await the chance to see him connect on the deep ball with the wide receiver group.


Quotes of the Week

RB Kyren Williams:
"Nobody really knows what Kev (Kevin Austin Jr.) can do. The only people that know what Kev can do is what we see at practice and that's really just our team. 

"We all know what Kevin has in store. We've been bragging out - I know I've been bragging about since I got here. I'm excited and I can't wait for Kevin to show his natural ability to the whole world." 

WR Kevin Austin Jr: 
"I'm very hungry and excited. I've been waiting a long time and it's a great opportunity to finally be here and be in the moment. I have to take by the rails and keep going.

LB Jack Kiser:
"Everybody is certainly excited to get to Sunday and play some real football in an electric environment down in Tallahassee. 

"I don't know what more you could ask for - Florida State vs. Notre Dame on a Sunday night in primetime. It's going to be huge and everyone is very excited to get there." 

Head coach Brian Kelly on what he wants to see from QB Jack Coan:
"Poise would be probably the first one. Decisive. Look, we're not starting a freshman. We're starting a guy that's played this game. We want him to be poised, but we want him to be decisive. He's been in this. He's seen it and knows what it looks like. 

"To be decisive, you have to be confident in your ability and we know Jack is. So go out there and be decisive. 

"The third thing is one of the things we were looking for in this quarterback position is being aggressive. Push the ball. If you got opportunities to push the ball down the field, let's go. Those are the things we've talked to Jack about and now we got to go do it on Sunday." 


For the Instagram users, 2022 tight end Holden Staes‍ will be in Tallahassee with his family for the game and will be taking over the ISD Instagram story for the day. 

Follow us on Instagram here: IrishSportsDaily


For Your Nerves 

Game Thread | No. 9 Notre Dame at Florida State

170,322 Views | 1621 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by DischFalk
Rwolf101
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Terrible overpursuit by front 7 there. No idea why that blitz was called.
Sgt Hulka
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Rwolf101 said:

My goodness FSU cannot stop screwing things up.


Tally Police have been fixing those problems for years.
irishkmg
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Rwolf101 said:

Yikes...Gibbons looks to have a ton of bad weight. He's all belly and beard and I can't decide which is hanging lower.


How would you feel if you found out you were passed over as the starter for ND and had to become a Florida State Seminal Vesicle?
irishfan32489
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Jordan Travis can make plays
ND_Chelu
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I was wrong
Cassin
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That makes me want to throw up
section16
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Jesus ND
airbare
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Can we slow way down on Freeman

I don't like this defense at all
mattfreeman
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Staff
Florida State cuts the Notre Dame lead to 10.

Notre Dame 38
Florida State 28

13:42 | 4Q
section16
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That was trash D
NYNDBLUE
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This over-aggressive pass rush is being exploited. Keep everything in front of you.
Rwolf101
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irishkmg said:

Rwolf101 said:

Yikes...Gibbons looks to have a ton of bad weight. He's all belly and beard and I can't decide which is hanging lower.


How would you feel if you found out you were passed over as the starter for ND and had to become a Florida State Seminal Vesicle?

Yeah I'd give up on looks as well. Depression is a *****.
IRISHLOYAL
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This defense f'n blows and the tackling is absolutely dreadful
ndSlaw
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Several players in position to blow that up... All failed
theoriginalndmom
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Well we need to score again now cause that sucked
NDZonie
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Was that Houston Griffith again?
usma95
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Tackling has been very mediocre, and that is being kind. Over pursuing and not wrapping up. Got to get that fixed moving forward.
irishfan32489
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That defense was charmin soft during that drive. When will ND learn to put the foot on the throat? When? Style points matter
irishtank6900
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Not good by Freeman. Just not good at all. Wayyyyy too early for a 3-2 soft cover 2.
tvanp63
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SMH!!!
PhillyNDFan
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All the bltizes in the world won't matter if they don't get the damn QB on the ground
Your friendly neighborhood moderator.
Referee for the BGS/Buccos PPV fight.
ndsean44
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So far, not impressed with Marcus Freeman.

Some borderline idiotic decisions and really poor discipline from a tackling perspective. Just bad.
ohiondfan
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Jack Coan time
sly35
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he will learn that 3 man dline works at cincy not against power 5
Frankbuz
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NDZonie said:

Was that Houston Griffith again?


No
irishtank6900
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NDZonie said:

Was that Houston Griffith again?


The Td pass I think brown missed a tackle. Rough game for him if it was him.
ohiondfan
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Lol.

ndsean44 said:

So far, not impressed with Marcus Freeman.

Some borderline idiotic decisions and really poor discipline from a tackling perspective. Just bad.
BridgestoneAC
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28 points to this team is a joke.

ND is one predictable three and out from being in a 4th quarter dog fight.
nc2022
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parisite said:

i understand the frustration but they show no signs of stopping the irish for the 4th quarter. trading points will not win it. not saying i agree with the strat. but i understand it
fair enough
Fredman90
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Watch the onsides kick
Joe1976
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Fn embarrassing... playing 3 dlinemen when it's our DEEPEST position group..Marcus freeman is STUPID.
Joe
pbrad28
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Nothing like letting them back in the game and using ur own timeout to do it..
Frankbuz
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Tackling has been poor
SHAMROCK
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No pick call
On the 2 points conversion? Only when ND does. Same freakin end zone.
TheGroove91
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FSU cannot cover. I would go back to Mayer and Austin...maybe even Keys
 
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