Notre Dame football: Irish survive major scare, beat FSU in OT, 41-38
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team was able to get the job done against Florida State in the opener, but it took overtime to pick up the victory on the road.
The Notre Dame football team kicked off their 2021 regular season on the road, traveling to Florida to take on the Florida State Seminoles. With a brand new quarterback under center, the Irish wasted no time getting the party started, and they did so on a gutsy fourth-down call by offensive coordinator Tommy Rees.
On fourth-and-1, the Irish called Michael Mayer’s number, and he responded with a 41-yard touchdown haul from Jack Coan. It was Coan’s first touchdown as the quarterback for the Irish, and he would go on to finish the first half 14-of-19 for 160 yards and two touchdowns, but he was shaky early.
After the touchdown by Mayer, and two big stops by the defense, the Irish looked like they could be headed towards a blowout victory, before a Jashaun Corbin 89-yard run tied the game at 7-7. Florida State would take their first lead of the game early in the second when Jordan Travis found the end zone on the ground from two yards out.
From there, the Irish would bounce back, thanks to a Jonathan Doerer field goal, and a beautiful catch by Joe Wilkins Jr. for a deep touchdown with a little over two minutes left in the half. Wilkins rose up and hauled in a nice ball from Coan in double-coverage, sending the Irish into halftime with a 17-14 lead.