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Notre Dame Football: Top Storylines vs Florida State

By Connor McJunkin

EAST LANSING, MI - SEPTEMBER 23: Brandon Wimbush #7 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish warms up prior to the start of the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium on September 23, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - SEPTEMBER 23: Brandon Wimbush #7 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish warms up prior to the start of the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium on September 23, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /
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SAN DIEGO, CA – OCTOBER 27: Helmets of the Notre Dame football team near the bench area in the 2nd half against the Navy Midshipmen at SDCCU Stadium on October 27, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Kent Horner/Getty Images) /

Notre Dame football is 9-0 and continuing their late season push to the College Football Playoff. Here are the top storylines for their week eleven matchup vs Florida State.

It wasn’t all pretty, but Notre Dame did what they needed to do to earn a 31-21 victory over Northwestern last weekend and leave Chicago 9-0. The win coupled with Alabama’s beat down of (previously) No. 3 LSU helped the Irish jump up a spot in the College Football Playoff rankings.

With only three games remaining in the regular season, the finish line is within reach. The Irish still control their own destiny as they are favored in the remainder of their games, but they certainly won’t be cupcakes. The path to the postseason will go back through South Bend this weekend, as Notre Dame returns for their final home game of the season against a struggling Florida State squad. The final home game means it will be Senior Day as the Irish look to finish the season unbeaten in South Bend, which hasn’t happened since 2015.

Under first year head coach Willie Taggert, the Seminoles are 4-5 and have dropped three of their last four. Florida State is a young team that is still trying to rebuild and develop an identity under Taggert, and they’ve experienced some tough growing pains throughout the season.

Only one of their five losses  — a 28-27 meltdown to Miami — has been by less than 19 points. They have struggled offensively all season, ranking 105th in total offense and almost dead last in the country with 77 rushing yards per game. The defense hasn’t helped the cause either, as they rank 121st in passing yards allowed per game and are giving up 30 points per contest.

This will be Florida State’s second top-3 opponent in three weeks, suffering the worst home loss in school history to No. 2 Clemson 59-10 two weeks ago. There is no doubt about it that this is a team limping into South Bend, and the Irish should handily take care of business.

Here are the top storylines for this week’s matchup with the Seminoles.

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