Florida State travels to face No. 5 Notre Dame on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. from Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana. The Seminoles (1-2, 0-2 ACC) are facing the Irish (2-0, 1-0 ACC) in the first ever meeting between the two teams with both as full members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The game will be shown by NBC, nationally. For more on how to watch, stream or listen to the game, click here.
The two teams, originally not scheduled to play in 2020, will open the 2021 season Sunday, Sept. 5 in Tallahassee. The Seminoles lead the all-time series 6-3 (.667). This is the fifth meeting in South Bend, with each team winning two of the first four. The other five matchups have all taken place in Florida with two games in Tallahassee, two in Orlando and one in Miami. The teams have split the two games in Tallahassee, and Florida State has won the three neutral-site matchups. The Irish won the last meeting, 42-13, which came in South Bend during the 2018 season. Notre Dame was ranked No. 3 in that meeting.
FSU is looking for their first victory over a ranked opponent since the 2018 season when the Seminoles defeated then No. 22-ranked Boston College. FSU has lost their last five games against ranked opponents. FSU is 1-11 against ranked opponents since the start of the 2017 season.
Saturday will mark the first time that FSU head coach Mike Norvell will face the Irish as a head coach. He has previously faced the Irish as an assistant coach at multiple other stops, finding mixed success.
The Seminoles, who earned their first win of the season last week by defeating Jacksonville State, will be turning to Jordan Travis as their starting quarterback. He is the third different Seminole to start at quarterback for FSU in the first four games of the season. Here is a look at the depth chart released by FSU earlier this week.
The Irish, who haven’t played since September 19th when they defeated USF 52-0, are hoping to shake off the rust after a postponement due to COVID issues and a bye week have led to a three-week hiatus for them. They are led by a veteran offensive line which helps to block for veteran quarterback Ian Book. They are expected to be missing at least a couple of players due to COVID concerns on Saturday.
The Irish are favored by nearly three touchdowns entering the game with the Seminoles.
Second Quarter
5:25 – Notre Dame goes 81 yards on four plays, capped off by a 45-yard touchdown run by running back Chris Tyree. Irish lead 28-17. They have 210 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on 16 carries.
7: 15 – FSU has to punt it away after a pair of penalties put them behind the chains on the prior drive.
9:25 – The Irish go 3-and-out and punt it away.
10:52 – FSU goes 3-and-out and has to punt. Quarterback Jordan Travis appeared to be favoring his right arm after throwing an incompletion on third down.
12:27 – The Irish re-take the lead, 21-17, on a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Kyren Williams. It capped an 8-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that took 3:11 off the clock.
First Quarter
End – The two teams combined for 344 yards in the opening quarter. FSU leads 17-14 after the first 15 minutes.
0:38 – FSU takes a 17-14 lead as quarterback Jordan Travis hits wide receiver Tamorrion Terry for a 48-yard touchdown pass. It capped a 4-play, 71-yard drive that took 1:13.
1:51 – FSU forces a three-and-out and a punt.
2:51 – FSU turns the muffed punt into a touchdown as quarterback Jordan Travis scored on a 4-yard touchdown run that caps a 3-play, 19-yard drive that took 1:13 for FSU. The Seminoles trail 14-10.
4:04 – FSU goes three-and-out for a third time. Punter Alex Mastromanno‘s 48-yard punt is muffed by Lawrence Keys III and FSU running back Deonte Sheffield recovers the loose football. Short field for the Seminoles.
6:10 – The Irish quickly strike again going five plays, 76 yards in 2:19 to put themselves up 14-3. Running back Kyren Williams scored on a 46-yard touchdown run. He has five rushes for 117 rushing yards and a touchdown.
8:29 – A penalty by running back Jashaun Corbin on the punt moved it from the 9-yard line to the 24-yard line.
8:36 – FSU’s Alex Mastromanno punts it away. The drive had one highlight, a 31-yard pass from quarterback Jordan Travis to running back Lawrance Toafili.
10:43 – The Irish quickly strike back, taking a 7-3 lead after an 8-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ian Book to tight end Michael Mayer. It capped a 3-play, 75-yard drive that took 1:20. The biggest play on the drive was a 65-yard run by running back Kyren Williams.
12:03 – FSU takes the Notre Dame turnover and gets three points out of it as kicker Ryan Fitzgerald hits a 42-yard field goal after a four-play, 8-yard drive by the Seminoles that took 2:07 off the clock.
14:10 – FSU cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. recovers a fumble by Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams. The fumble was forced by linebacker Amari Gainer.
15:00 – FSU kicks off to Notre Dame after winning the toss.
Pregame Notes
– FSU wins the toss and opts to kick.
– FSU senior safety Hamsah Nasirildeen is not expected to dress out for the Seminoles on Saturday evening. He did travel with the team.
– FSU junior defensive tackle Robert Cooper is dressed out and expected to be available this evening.
– FSU redshirt freshman offensive tackle Darius Washington‘s status on the day is best termed as limited before kickoff, due to an injury suffered in last week’s game against Jacksonville State.
– With Washington limited, and potentially out, the offensive line from left-to-right is expected to be Devontay Love-Taylor, Dontae Lucas, Maurice Smith, Baveon Johnson and Robert Scott Jr.. Lucas was suspended last week, but returns to his normal starting spot.
Noles247.com will provide further updates prior to kickoff and throughout the game in the comment section of this article. Updates will include lineup changes, injury news, stats, play-by-play and much more.