Game Thread | Florida State at No. 3 Notre Dame

Florida State (4-5) at No. 3 Notre Dame (9-0) 

Notre Dame Stadium |7:30 p.m. ET | NBC

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9-0 Irish Face Noles For The Ninth Time

The last time Notre Dame and Florida State faced off was in 2014 when the Seminoles, defeated the Irish 31-27. 

Notre Dame has lost the last three meetings to Florida State and has a 2-6 overall record against the team from Tallahassee. 

Head Coach Brian Kelly is 0-2 against Florida State in his tenor in South Bend with a loss in 2011 and 2014, but he looks to lead his Irish to a win on Saturday on Senior Night. 

The matchup to watch on Saturday will be the battle in the trenches. Notre Dame’s offensive line against a very talented Florida State defensive line group. The Irish offensive is led by captain Sam Mustipher and will be put to the test against a deep Florida State defensive front led by Brian Burns. Notre Dame’s tackles, Liam Eichenberg and Robert Hainsey will be tested by Burns and Janarius Robinson who are both long, fast edge rushers. 

It will be interesting to see how quarterback Brandon Wimbush does running an offense that has hit a stride with Ian Book, who will miss the game with multiple injuries.

Defensively Notre Dame should have no problems against a very weak Florida State offense that has a hard time sustaining drives due to bad offensive line play.

Look for the Notre Dame defensive line to have a field day in the Seminole backfield led by Khalid Kareem, Jerry Tillery and Julian Okwara. Although the Florida State offense has struggled, they do pose talented threats such as sophomore Cam Akers, freshman Tamorrion Terry and senior Nyqwan Murray.

Five Players To Watch

Florida State DE Brian Burns
Maybe the best edge rusher in the country, Burns can be a game wrecker versus the pass. He does take some plays off versus the run, though. Notre Dame may choose to run his way frequently.

Florida State WR Tamorrion Terry
A significant play threat who had a breakout game last week, FSU will target him down the field often. It will be an excellent test for Notre Dame's cornerback to keep him in check.

Notre Dame  QB Brandon Wimbush
The obvious choice, but everyone will want to look out for how much the offense changes philosophies with him rather than Ian Book. Expect Chip Long to run him early and also to push the pace to help Wimbush along.

Notre Dame LG Aaron Banks
This might be the best front the Irish have faced all season, and that includes Michigan. That's how talented they are across the board. Banks is going to be in a battle with their deep group of defensive tackles all game long.

Notre Dame DT Jerry Tillery
FSU has a bad offensive line, and they are playing two backup guards in this game. That's not a good strategy when playing against Tillery. This could be a game where he racks up several tackles for loss. 

Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly on QB Ian Book: (Via The Observer) 
“He got kneed. This is really much more of a rib injury. But as you know, when we’re talking about a rib injury, there’s a grade that can go from broken ribs to bruised ribs to internal injuries, so from this perspective, if he had severe kidney issues, that’s four to six weeks. We’re not dealing with that. … We think he’ll be prepared to play next week. We’re very confident that, if everything continues to move in the direction it has up to this point, that he’ll be able to play against Syracuse.”

Notre Dame safety Alohi Gilman on playing in the cold:
"Suck it up. Hit something first. It’s football at the end of the day. If you hit them first, you won’t hurt as much as they will.” 

Notre Dame CB Troy Pride Jr. on  wanting to play in freezing weather:
“That’s why I came here. To play in snow and some weather. Some gritty Midwestern weather. I’m a gritty person. I can play in any weather. If you put the ball the ball in the parking lot, let’s go play. 

Notre Dame LB Drue Tranquill on Florida State being a quality opponent despite the 4-5 record:
"We were in that situation in 2016, that is unacceptable for Florida State who is a school that is usually competing for national championships. So, I am obviously surprised, but anyone can be beaten on any given day, and they’re coming in to beat us, so we have to respect our opponent.

“They’re a very talented football team that hasn’t played to their potential, who hasn’t come together as a team this year, but when you have athletes like they do they can be dangerous because at any moment when it clicks, and their culture and camaraderie comes together they’ll be a dangerous football team.”

Countdown to Kickoff

10 - Of the four ranked teams Northwestern has faced in 2018, Notre Dame earned the largest margin of victory (10 points) over the Wildcats in last Saturday’s victory.

9 - Notre Dame and Florida State are set to clash for the ninth time in series history this Saturday.

8 - In seven of the nine meetings between Notre Dame and Florida State, at least one of the two teams have been ranked in the top eight of the Associated Press poll. The Irish are ranked third entering Saturday’s game.

7 - Six of the first eight games in the Notre Dame-Florida State series have been decided by seven points or less, with the outcome of five of those six games still in doubt until the final minute.

6 - Justin Yoon sits just six field goals shy of breaking the Notre Dame career field goals record held by Kyle Brindza. Yoon has connected on 52 career field goals entering Saturday’s game at Notre Dame Stadium.

5 - Ian Book completed his first five passes against Navy on Oct. 27 to run his total passes completed
streak to 15 straight dating back to the end of the Pittsburgh game on Oct. 13, the second-longest
streak by an Irish quarterback.

4 - Notre Dame is one of four remaining undefeated teams in the FBS after the first 10 weeks of the 2018 season.

3 - Notre Dame has held three of its last five opponents under 250 total yards of offense (Northwestern, Pittsburgh and Stanford).

2 - Notre Dame and Alabama are the only remaining undefeated teams that have exclusively played FBS competition through 10 weeks of the 2018 season.

1 - Notre Dame has been the first team to score in seven of its nine wins this season, with the Irish
trailing only Wake Forest and Pittsburgh at any point in 2018.

Yoon Watch

Yoon (52) sits just six career field goals shy of breaking the program record of 57 set by
his predecessor Kyle Brindza in 2014 after passing Notre Dame great and longtime NFL
standout John Carney (1984-86) for second on the career made field goals list during
the game at Northwestern. Yoon has also connected on 180 of 184 career extra-point
attempts.

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