Notre Dame vs. Florida State: Battle in South Bend Preview

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00:00We'll turn our attention to the battle in South Bend.

00:06We talked about top-ranked Notre Dame opening up as a four-touchdown favorite basically

00:11over Florida State.

00:13They're laying 25.5 points in this matchup.

00:16Notre Dame did get the victory a few years ago in Tallahassee, 41-38, Coach.

00:22They won three straight in the series.

00:25We know about Florida State, 1-8 overall, searching for answers.

00:29Offense and defense aligned are absolutely atrocious for the Seminoles.

00:34Can they keep it close against the fighting Irish this weekend?

00:41That's a tough one there.

00:42I thought three touchdowns against Miami was going to be tough, but basically four touchdowns

00:47against Notre Dame.

00:48But like I said, Florida State really has got no answers.

00:52They have no offensive answers.

00:53They're one of the worst offenses in the country.

00:56I have to believe that Notre Dame is going to control this game and control it early.

01:02In Notre Dame, I have the tendency to pick Notre Dame because I think they're going to

01:06score as much as they want to, and I don't see any answers from Florida State scoring

01:10points.

01:11Yeah.

01:12Florida State's absolutely pathetic in terms of running the football.

01:14They're averaging 2.6 yards per carry, 76 rushing yards per game.

01:19They're giving up close to 200 rushing yards to opposing offenses, well over four yards

01:24per carry.

01:25They have no identity from an offensive perspective.

01:28They're in continuous long third down situations.

01:31What I did want to ask you, and I know we talked off air in regards to you taking over

01:36Akron, which was a losing program, right?

01:39When you took them over back in 2012, they had gone 2-22 their previous two seasons.

01:45So from just a locker room perspective, right?

01:48We know it's Notre Dame.

01:49It's a top 10 opponent.

01:51You're limited in terms of what you can do.

01:53You have to try and keep this game close, slow down the pace of play because if this

01:58game goes over the 42.5 point total, Florida State's potentially going to get blown out

02:04in terms of this matchup.

02:06Well, that's right.

02:07You want to somehow slow the game down, keep the ball under control, try to run the ball,

02:13try to toll the clock, go slow, and keep it close to the second half.

02:17Because Florida State, it doesn't take much for those guys to lose their confidence because

02:23after so many losses, there's not a lot of confidence they have the ability to win.

02:28So I think the key for Florida State is just keep the first half under control.

02:32Run as much of the clock as you can.

02:35Try to keep them from being on offense with a chance to score points.

02:38I know that doesn't sound very good for Florida State, but right now they've got to do everything

02:43they can to get a win and not go without another win this season.

02:48Yeah, and expect Notre Dame to run the football.

02:51They're averaging 5.9 yards per carry, going to be very difficult for the passing attacker

02:56Florida State to challenge that defense.

02:59Notre Dame holding opposing quarterback's coach to 48% completion percentage.

03:05They force continuous long third downs.

03:07They're allowing less than 35% in terms of third down opportunities.

03:12And they're right there, right?

03:13There is no margin of error for Notre Dame.

03:16They lost in Northern Illinois right now early in the season.

03:20They have one loss on the year.

03:21They're not going to play in a conference championship.

03:24They need to win out, and more importantly, to keep their college football playoff hopes

03:29alive, right?

03:30So does Marcus Freeman jump out early and then look to work some younger talent in basically

03:35in the third or fourth quarters?

03:37No, I, well, I don't know about that.

03:40I think Notre Dame will come out ready to play.

03:42They know that they've got the college football playoffs on the line.

03:47And they know that Florida State is the next step they've got to do.

03:50So I see them coming out early.

03:52I see them try being, getting the game under control and winning this game.

03:56Now whether they put their backups in towards the end, it wouldn't hurt at this point in

04:00the game to save themselves because I think they are in the position now where they've

04:04got themselves in line for a college football playoff.

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