Every week we break down the result of the previous game. Who really played well for the Seminoles against Notre Dame? Which players played poorly? Where did the coaches do well, and when did they screw up?
Read to find out. Note: there are certain schematic and tendency things we do not discuss in these reviews out of respect for our sources, the school and coaching staff.
For other quarters, visit the film review section (All quarters up by tonight).
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| D-D | Spot | Form | Play | Analysis |
| 3-2 | at Nd30 | Start of 2nd quarter, clock 15:00. | ||
| 3-2 | at Nd30 | 4-2-5 | FOLSTON rush over left guard for 2 yards to the ND32, 1ST DOWN ND (Smith, Terr.), clock 14:54. | Power blocking from Notre Dame. I'm not sure what Nate Andrews is doing on this play. He appears to be in an ILB alignment, but then plays the slot receiver and doesn't even check for a run. Good reaction by Jalen Ramsey keeps it to a minimal gain. |
| 1-10 | at Nd32 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON post pass complete to PROSISE for 26 yards to the FS42, 1ST DOWN ND (Andrews, N.), clock 14:46. | Play action short post to the slot. This is one of Notre Dame's favorite pass plays, especially if you're playing zone on first down. Play action holds the linebackers and there's a big void in front of the safeties. FSU is playing zone because Golson's running ability is such a threat. |
| 1-10 | at Fs42 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON slant pass incomplete to PROSISE, clock 14:24. | Trips to the field. Outside receivers run verticals while the inside slot runs an out behind them. He's open but Golson throws it behind the receiver. |
| 2-10 | at Fs42 | 4-2-5 | FOLSTON rush right for 14 yards to the FS28, 1ST DOWN ND, out-of-bounds (Hunter, T.), clock 14:17. | Jet motion one way, outside toss the other way. Really disappointed with the speed of the pursuit from the inside out. This kind of stuff should not work vs. a defense with FSU's speed. |
| 1-10 | at Fs28 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON slant pass complete to FULLER for 4 yards to the FS24 (Andrews, N.), clock 13:47. | Tunnel screen and FSU reads it extremely well. Should have been a tackle for loss but the receiver spins forward for 4 yards. Fuller is very elusive in traffic. |
| 2-6 | at Fs24 | 4-2-5 | BRYANT rush over left guard for 2 yards to the FS22 (Thomas, M.), clock 13:11. | Inside zone read. Matthew Thomas shoots the gap and is able to bring the ball carrier down from behind. Very much a Telvin Smith kind of play. |
| 3-4 | at Fs22 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON sideline pass intercepted by Pugh, J. at the FS14, Pugh, J. return 5 yards to the FS19 (KOYACK) (Hunter, T.). | Zone blitz from FSU as they bring both Tyler Hunter and Jalen Ramsey off the edge and drop Jacob Pugh into coverage on the other side. Tyler Hunter comes free and affects the throw, resulting in a wobbly ball that Pugh picks off. Really bad decision by Golson as neither guy to that side of the field is remotely open. He may be trying to throw it away. |
| Drive: 9 plays, 56 yards, TOP 02:25 | ||||
| 1-10 | at Fs19 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 12:48. | ||
| 1-10 | at Fs19 | 21 Pony | Winston, J. deep pass intercepted by SCHMIDT, J. at the FS31, SCHMIDT, J. return 0 yards to the FS31, QB hurry by JONES, J.. | FSU is trying to go for a big play off the turnover. Protection holds up for a few seconds, but multiple defenders break free before the routes come open. Jameis backpedals and heaves probably the worst interception of his career off his back foot. Ugly. Jarron Jones is a really good player for Notre Dame, but if there's a more obvious example of hands to the face than what he does to Tre Jackson, I've never seen it. Not called, but it wasn't the last play of the game, so you won't hear about it on ESPN for weeks. |
| Drive: 1 plays, 0 yards, TOP 00:08 | ||||
| 1-10 | at Fs31 | NOTRE DAME drive start at 12:40. | ||
| 1-10 | at Fs31 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON flag pass complete to BROWN, C. for 22 yards to the FS9, 1ST DOWN ND, clock 12:34. | Play action over route. FSU is in man coverage and this route will be open vs. man if the protection holds up as it does here. Credit FSU for switching to man coverage as opposed to zone on first down, with what ND had been hitting, but ND came right back with a counter. |
| 1-G | at Fs09 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON sideline pass complete to ROBINSON, C. for 9 yards to the FS0, TOUCHDOWN, clock 12:00. | Corner route to the back of the end zone and FSU busts the coverage. Can't really tell who was supposed to carry the corner route, but nobody did. Nice throw, not quite as open as you'd think given the bust. |
| BRINDZA kick attempt good. | ||||
| Notre Dame 14, Florida State 7 | ||||
| Drive: 2 plays, 31 yards, TOP 00:47 | ||||
| BRINDZA kickoff 60 yards to the FS5, Whitfield, K. return 14 yards to the FS19 (FARLEY;TURNER). | ||||
| 1-10 | at Fs19 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 11:53. | ||
| 1-10 | at Fs19 | 11 Pistol Trips | Cook, D. rush over right tackle for loss of 2 yards to the FS17 (JONES, J.), clock 11:38. | Outside zone and Jarron Jones completely turtles Ryan Hoefeld and blows up the play. My goodness, this guy is good. FSU had it blocked well otherwise. |
| 2-12 | at Fs17 | 11 Gun | Winston, J. sideline pass complete to Rudolph, T. for 2 yards to the FS19 (LUKE;FARLEY), clock 10:58. | Bubble to Travis Rudolph. Can't see the other routes, but reasonably sure this is a misread by Jameis. Defender is all over it. Maybe this was a hot route? |
| 3-10 | at Fs19 | 11 Gun Trips | Winston, J. sideline pass incomplete to Greene, R., QB hurry by TRUMBETTI. | Josue Matias completely whiffs and Winston has no shot. Just retreats and heaves it towards the sideline. Dangerous. |
| 4-10 | at Fs19 | Beatty, C. punt 40 yards to the ND41, fair catch by RIGGS. | No idea why the ND returner fair catches this. It's a low punt and the coverage is still 10 yards away when he catches it. | |
| Drive: 3 plays, 0 yards, TOP 01:30 | Really bad time for a three and out. Offensive line got completely dominated. FSU needs to make the adjustment to go to quick game. Jimbo wants to try and hit some shots downfield against these blitzes but the OL cannot hold up long enough for anything to develop downfield (and they are getting really confused on blitz pickups), and quick game is absolutely there on first down against this defense. | |||
| 1-10 | at Nd41 | NOTRE DAME drive start at 10:23. | ||
| 1-10 | at Nd41 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON rush right for 4 yards to the ND45 (Thomas, M.;Pugh, J.), clock 09:57. | Empty backfield, fake jet sweep, QB keep. Tackle wrap blocking scheme. Lorenzo Featherston is held outrageously or he makes the tackle in the backfield. Penalty not called. |
| 2-6 | at Nd45 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON WS pass complete to BROWN, C. for 2 yards to the ND47 (Thomas, M.), clock 09:27. | Packaged play, OZ with a bubble. Interesting in that the run and the bubble are in the same direction. Notre Dame throws the bubble and Matthew Thomas does a great job tracking the receiver down from the inside out. |
| 3-4 | at Nd47 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON rush QX for 3 yards to the 50 yardline (Pugh, J.), clock 08:34. | Great defense all around on this play. The coverage is smothering so Golson has no easy throws, Featherston gets the edge on the tackle and flushes Golson who is tripped up by Pugh short of the first down. |
| 4-1 | at Nd50 | 4-2-5 | FOLSTON rush right for no gain to the 50 yardline (Hunter, T.). | Notre Dame goes with tight OL splits and the wide stack alignment of receivers, but FSU loads the box w/ bear front. Golson pitches outside to the back, probably prematurely because he needed to force Hunter to fully commit. Tyler Hunter initially goes after the QB but then reverses direction and catches the back from behind. Shades of Lamarcus Joyner in the championship game. Phenomenal play. Really think Brian Kelly outsmarted himself here, too. No reason to think their OL couldn't get half a yard of push up the middle at this point in the game. |
| Drive: 4 plays, 9 yards, TOP 01:56 | Great stop considering how much the defense has been on the field this half. | |||
| 1-10 | at Fs50 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 08:27. | ||
| Official Review: Notre Dame is charged with a timeout. | ||||
| 1-10 | at Fs50 | Timeout Notre Dame, clock 08:27. | ||
| 1-10 | at Fs50 | 11 Gun | Winston, J. sideline pass complete to Greene, R. for 8 yards to the ND42, out-of-bounds (LUKE), clock 08:23. | Winston has incredible faith in Greene and it's easy to see why on this play. Greene is not remotely open when Jameis releases this ball, but he creates separation at the top of the route and catches it cleanly. |
| 2-2 | at Nd42 | 11 Pistol Trips | Cook, D. rush over right guard for 3 yards to the ND39, 1ST DOWN FS (JONES, J.;OKWARA), clock 07:58. | Hoefeld gets decent lateral movement on Jones at the snap, but can't hold the block as Cook cuts back and Jones disengages to make the tackle. |
| 1-10 | at Nd39 | 11 Gun Trips | Winston, J. ML pass complete to O'Leary, N. for 7 yards to the ND32 (LUKE), clock 07:22. | The Notre Dame linebackers drop quite deep at the snap, so the hitch/option to O'Leary is wide open. Good cut blocking on quick game makes sure this ball isn't tipped. |
| 2-3 | at Nd32 | 11 Pistol Trips | Williams, K. rush over left guard for 4 yards to the ND28, 1ST DOWN FS (ROCHELL), clock 06:54. | Inside zone read. Karlos sees the unblocked defensive end and knows he's gonna get hit but sticks it up in there for a first down. Offensive line got some geed movement on this play. |
| 1-10 | at Nd28 | 11 Pistol Trips | Winston, J. sideline pass complete to Wilson, J. for 9 yards to the ND19, out-of-bounds, clock 06:18. | Matias is late out of his stance and gets whipped inside by the tackle, who flushes Winston from the pocket. Good job of getting open by Bobo Wilson, and Jameis finds him on the sideline. Fantastic play. |
| 2-1 | at Nd19 | 11 Pistol Trips | Williams, K. rush over right guard for 7 yards to the ND12, 1ST DOWN FS (SHUMATE), clock 06:04. | First time FSU has run power all night and it is blocked very well. Karlos isn't touched until he's five yards past the line of scrimmage. The safety tries to go low on him but he gets even lower and trucks him. |
| 1-10 | at Nd12 | 11 Pistol | Williams, K. rush over left guard for 1 yard to the ND11 (SCHMIDT, J.), clock 05:25. | Every single Notre Dame defender is within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage. Winston checks to inside zone left, but the play is blown up when Matias fails to get off his combo block and get to the linebacker. |
| 2-9 | at Nd11 | 11 Gun | Winston, J. sideline pass incomplete, QB hurry by SMITH, J., clock 04:54. | Interesting blitz here by Notre Dame. Double A gap blitz from the linebackers with the left defensive end dropping off into coverage after faking a rush just long enough to freeze the left tackle. With Cook stepping up to take on one of the backers, Erving is walled off from participating in the pass blocking scheme and a rusher is left unblocked. Winston has to scramble and throw it away, and it's a shame because if Jameis has time he's hitting Nick O'Leary for a TD. |
| 3-9 | at Nd11 | Timeout Florida State, clock 04:54. | ||
| 3-9 | at Nd11 | Timeout Notre Dame, clock 04:54. | ||
| 3-9 | at Nd11 | 21 Gun Bunch | Winston, J. crossing pass incomplete to Rudolph, T., clock 04:50. | Post route under the goal post is high and a little behind. Nearly impossible throw due to Notre Dame dropping a lot of guys underneath and the angles required. But good job to not miss low where it could be intercepted. |
| 4-9 | at Nd11 | Aguayo, R. field goal attempt from 28 GOOD, clock 04:46. | Even though it stalled in the red zone, this was a solid and much needed drive from the offense. Established some success on the ground and mixed in quick rhythm passes to keep the defense off balance. | |
| Notre Dame 14, Florida State 10 | ||||
| Drive: 10 plays, 39 yards, TOP 03:47 | ||||
| Aguayo, R. kickoff 62 yards to the ND3, MCDANIEL return 13 yards to the ND16 (Thomas, M.). | ||||
| 1-10 | at Nd16 | NOTRE DAME drive start at 04:40. | ||
| 1-10 | at Nd16 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON crossing pass incomplete to PROSISE (Ramsey, J.), clock 04:35. | The same play action post they love to run on first down, but FSU is in man coverage this time and Jalen Ramsey breaks it up. Poor decision by Golson. Another near-pick. Ramsey played great Saturday. |
| 2-10 | at Nd16 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON rush quarterback draw for 8 yards to the ND24 (Thomas, M.), clock 04:20. | Thomas is spying Golson on this QB draw. Golson starts left then immediately goes back right, crossing Thomas up and getting enough of a head start to get a good gain before Thomas can bring him down. |
| 3-2 | at Nd24 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON crossing pass complete to ROBINSON, C. for 12 yards to the ND36, 1ST DOWN ND, out-of-bounds (Darby, R.), clock 03:46. | Really well run mesh concept from Notre Dame vs. man coverage. The receivers cross as close to each other creating a rub and getting Robinson open for a first down. Notre Dame ran a lot of pick plays very well, it's surprising they didn't sell and execute well on the final play. |
| 1-10 | at Nd36 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON rush QX for 8 yards to the ND44, clock 03:08. | Undisciplined rush from Lorenzo Featherston leaves a wide open lane and the rest of the defense has their backs turned in man coverage. Have to expect the freshman will continue to make mental errors like this, because it is what freshmen do. |
| 2-2 | at Nd44 | 4-2-5 | FOLSTON rush right for 5 yards to the ND49, 1ST DOWN ND (Thomas, M.), clock 02:33. | Outside zone and Terrance Smith does not fill aggressively enough and gets sealed, creating an alley for the back. |
| 1-10 | at Nd49 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON screen pass incomplete to CARLISLE (Edwards, M.), clock 02:02. | Tunnel screen. This is set up pretty well but the ball deflects off a Notre Dame offensive lineman's helmet and it bounces away from the receiver. |
| 2-10 | at Nd49 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON rush left for 11 yards to the FS40, 1ST DOWN ND, clock 01:55. | Refs miss a pretty obvious false start by Notre Dame's right guard. Counter trey blocking with the QB keeping it. The whole DL chases the counter fake to the back and there's nobody home on the back side. Great play call by Brian Kelly here. |
| 1-10 | at Fs40 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON screen pass complete to ROBINSON, C. for 7 yards to the FS33 (Hunter, T.), clock 01:45. | Rocket screen to the WR coming across the formation. I think Tyler Hunter has to rotate down more aggressively when he sees the motion across the formation. When he doesn't the receiver has room to turn the corner. |
| 2-3 | at Fs33 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON slant pass incomplete to FULLER (Mitchell, D.), clock 01:42. | Same play they scored their first touchdown on. Trips to the field, corner route from the inside receiver, slants from the two outside receivers. Golson tries to hit the outside slant but Ramsey deflects it. It's a pick 6 if he gets his hands on it instead of his forearms. |
| 3-3 | at Fs33 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON slant pass complete to FULLER for 8 yards to the FS25, 1ST DOWN ND (Williams, P.J.), clock 01:36. | FSU is giving a lot of cushion to the field side and Notre Dame takes the free yards with a quick hitch for a first down. Coverage wasn't too bad, was a very good throw/catch. Strong ball. |
| 1-10 | at Fs25 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON slant pass complete to BROWN, C. for 8 yards to the FS17 (Andrews, N.), clock 01:05. | About the fifth time Notre Dame has run this tunnel screen and they're finally starting to have some success with it. |
| 2-2 | at Fs17 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON sideline pass incomplete to FOLSTON (Williams, P.J.), clock 00:45. | FSU brings pressure and it clearly influences Golson as he throws early and rushes his motion, resulting in a high throw that the receiver can't haul in. |
| 3-2 | at Fs17 | 4-2-5 | GOLSON screen pass incomplete to FOLSTON (Ramsey, J.), clock 00:42. | Notre Dame rolls right into the blitz from Jalen Ramsey who elevates and bats the ball down. Great play, but you gotta catch one of these eventually, haha. |
| 4-2 | at Fs17 | BRINDZA field goal attempt from 34 GOOD, clock 00:39. | ||
| Notre Dame 17, Florida State 10 | Gave up a lot of yards, but made them earn it and stiffened in the red zone. | |||
| Drive: 14 plays, 67 yards, TOP 04:11 | ||||
| BRINDZA kickoff 57 yards to the FS8, Wilson, J. return 20 yards to the FS28 (MCDANIEL;MARTINI), PENALTY FS holding (Hoskins, R.) 10 yards to the FS18, 1st and 10, FS ball on FS18. | ||||
| 1-10 | at Fs18 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 00:29. | ||
| 1-10 | at Fs18 | 21 | Cook, D. rush over right guard for 4 yards to the FS22 (SCHMIDT, J.), clock 00:18. | Inside zone. |
| 2-6 | at Fs22 | End of half, clock 00:00. | ||
| Drive: 1 plays, 4 yards, TOP 00:29 | ||||
| Notre Dame 17, Florida State 10 | Defense is playing reasonably well considering the number of plays they were on the field. They are giving up yards and scores but Notre Dame is having to be methodical. They aren't giving up anything cheap. Felt like the turnaround that would continue in the third quarter actually started on FSU's field goal drive. OL settled down and performed better for the most part. |