Series History: Notre Dame vs. Florida State

A look back at the series history between Notre Dame and Florida State

Notre Dame kicks off the 2021 season with a road trip to Tallahassee to take on the Florida State Seminoles. It will be the 11th matchup between the two teams and it's a big game for both the Fighting Irish and Seminoles.

NOTRE DAME vs. FLORIDA STATE SERIES HISTORY

Though Florida State leads the all-time series 6-4, the Irish currently hold a two-game winning streak. The resumes of both Notre Dame College Football Playoff teams carried a victory against the Seminoles on the ledger, and the 1993 “Game of the Century” in South Bend between #1 Florida State and #2 Notre Dame remains one of the most famous in college football history.

2020 – Notre Dame 42, Florida State 26 (Home)
2018 – Notre Dame 42, Florida State 13 (Home)
2014 – Florida State 31, Notre Dame 27 (Away)
2011 – Florida State 18, Notre Dame 14 (Champs Sports Bowl)
2003 – Florida State 37, Notre Dame 0 (Home)
2002 – Notre Dame 34, Florida State 24 (Away)
1996 – Florida State 31, Notre Dame 26 (Orange Bowl)
1994 – Florida State 23, Notre Dame 16 (Neutral Site)
1993 – Notre Dame 31, Florida State 24 (Home)
1981 – Florida State 19, Notre Dame 13 (Home)

NOTABLE GAMES

2020 – Following an unimpressive win over Duke in the season opener and then an easy dismantling of short-handed South Florida in Week 2, Notre Dame’s 42-26 win over Florida State last season proved a tone-setter on both sides of the ball. QB Ian Book played a solid game after being up-and-down the first two weeks, the offensive line paved the way for ND to rush for 353 yards – with both Kyren Williams and Chris Tyree breaking the 100 yard mark – and star freshman TE Michael Mayer caught his first career touchdown pass. This game marked the second straight game that the Irish offense topped 350 rushing yards against the Seminoles, as Florida State was never able to adjust to stop Notre Dame’s highly effective counter game.

On the other side of the ball, the Irish defense struggled more than expected to contain FSU QB Jordan Travis in the first half. Travis would end up with 300 of FSU’s 405 total yards for the game, but after putting up 20 first half points (which were aided by two Notre Dame turnovers), FSU could manage only 6 second half points as the ND defense locked down, spurred by two highlight-reel hits from All-American LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. The defense would carry that momentum through the next month, shutting down Louisville, Pitt, and Georgia Tech in subsequent games.

2018 – Brandon Wimbush made his final start at QB for Notre Dame when he replaced injured Ian Book for the 3rd-ranked Irish’s game against struggling Florida State. Wimbush ended his career on a high note, as he threw for three touchdowns and added another 68 yards on the ground. However, the Irish rushing game was the story, as Notre Dame rushed for 365 yards – the most yards that Florida State has ever given up in its storied history. Dexter Williams ended with a career-high 202 yards on the ground, averaging 10.1 yards per carry on his 20 touches.

Notre Dame’s defense set the tone early, as CB Nick Coleman intercepted FSU QB Deondre Francois on the second play of the game and returned it to the 3-yard line. From that point the game would never be in doubt, as ND raced out to a 32-6 halftime lead. Even FSU’s first touchdown resulted in points for the Irish, as CB Julian Love returned the blocked PAT for a safety. Though then-FSU coach Willie Taggart would not be fired until after midway through 2019 season, the Seminoles’ lack of physicality and propensity for self-destructive mistakes in the loss would prove emblematic of his entire tenure.

2014 – In one of the most controversial finishes in Irish history, Notre Dame was flagged for offensive pass interference on what would have been the game-winning touchdown with 13 seconds left. Instead, the previously undefeated and 5th-ranked Irish were settled with another bitter loss to a top-5 opponent. Florida State, which had captured the 2013 national title, entered the game ranked second in the country and were led by the 2013 Heisman winner Jameis Winston at QB.

The Irish outplayed the Seminoles in almost every facet of the game, outgaining FSU 470-323 while holding FSU to only 50 yards rushing on 1.9 yards per carry. Irish QB Everett Golson played spectacularly, throwing for 313 yards and 3 TDs, and driving the Irish down the field in the last 2:47 for what should have been the winning score. In particular, that drive featured an incredible 4th-and-18 conversion when Golson hit WR Corey Robinson for a 20-yard gain after keeping the play alive in the pocket.

Unfortunately, the FSU performance would prove to be the high water mark for the rest of the season, as ND would sputter to an 8-5 finish, dropping 4 of the next 5 games in performances featuring a myriad of Golson turnovers (resulting in his eventual benching and ultimately transfer to Florida State, ironically), blown defensive assignments, and the bizarre inability to execute field goals and PATs.

2002 and 2003 – Perhaps no two games better illustrated the initial promise of the Tyrone Willingham era fading into disappointment than back-to-back matchups against Florida State. In 2002, the #6 Irish moved to 8-0 by defeating #11 Florida State on the road in Doak Campbell Stadium despite being a double-digit underdog. However, the Irish would stumble down the stretch to a 10-3 finish that proved a harbinger of the collapse to come the following season. 

In 2003, the Willingham-led Irish fell to a 5-7 record, and one of the prominent lowlights was a 37-0 loss to Florida State in Notre Dame Stadium. In the loss – the second worst home loss in ND history – freshman QB Brady Quinn and the ND offense managed only one first down in the first half and were shut out despite getting inside the FSU ten-yard line three times.

1993 – The “Game of the Century” featured undefeated and #1 ranked Florida State, led by eventual Heisman winner Charlie Ward at QB visiting undefeated and #2 ranked Notre Dame. With cold temperatures that brought a November snowfall the morning of the game, the Irish would prevail in a classic, knocking down a Ward pass in the end zone as time expired to seal a 31-24 victory.

The buildup to the game was unprecedented and still resonates to this day. ESPN sent a crew to film the first-ever episode of a live, on-campus pregame show called College Gameday from the Joyce Center. NBC also got in on the action, piloting a new concept by airing an over two-minute intro to the game that portrayed it as the culmination of years of hard work driven by a childlike passion for the sport. Bob Costas summed it up best when he described the game as, “Perfect seasons at stake, a game in a perfect place, a collision in history.”

Today, College Gameday has become the marquee college football pregame show, and adrenaline-pumping intros to games are now commonplace.

The Irish thoroughly outplayed the Seminoles throughout the game, jumping out to a 24-7 lead behind two touchdown runs by Jeff Burris and a 100-yard rushing effort from Lee Becton. However, Ward would rally the Seminoles back, but his last-gasp attempt was batted down by CB Shawn Wooden in the end zone. Irish elation would be short-lived, though, as the following week Notre Dame lost 41-39 to Boston College on a last-second field goal, which would drop the Irish back behind the Seminoles in the polls and result in FSU claiming its first national title. 

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