Notre Dame 41, Florida State 38
When: 7:44 PM ET, Sunday, September 5, 2021
Where: Doak S. Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida
Temperature:
85°
Head Official:
Jeff Flanagan
Attendance:
68316
By Field Level Media
Jonathan Doerer hit a 41-yard field goal in overtime Sunday night as No. 9 Notre Dame survived blowing an 18-point, fourth-quarter lead, edging Florida State 41-38 in Tallahassee in each team's season opener.
The Seminoles missed a chance to take the lead when Ryan Fitzgerald hooked a 37-yard field goal wide left on their overtime possession. After three plays, Doerer calmly made the winning kick on 4th-and-8 after a Florida State timeout.
Florida State forced overtime when Fitzgerald hit a 43-yard field goal with 40 seconds left in regulation, his career long. Travis Jay intercepted Jack Coan's Hail Mary pass at the Seminoles' 11 as time expired.
Coan, a Wisconsin transfer, set a Fighting Irish record for a first-time starting quarterback with 366 yards on 26-of-35 passing.
Florida State quarterback McKenzie Milton, playing his first game since a devastating knee injury three years ago while playing for Central Florida, helped force overtime after replacing Jordan Travis in the fourth quarter.
Milton was 5-of-7 for 48 yards, finishing a touchdown drive and leading the tying field-goal march. Travis completed 9-of-19 passes for 130 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Notre Dame initiated scoring just 2:14 into the game when Coan found Michael Mayer on 4th-and-1 for a 41-yard touchdown pass.
After doing nothing on its first two possessions, Florida State equalized with one dynamic play -- an 89-yard scoring run by Jashaun Corbin.
The Seminoles took their first lead with 10:05 left in the first half on a 2-yard run by Travis, but the Irish rallied to take the halftime lead. Doerer connected on a 48-yard field goal, followed by Coan's 23-yard pass to Joe Wilkins that made it 17-14.
Florida State regained the advantage just 1:24 into the third quarter when Travis found Ja'Khi Douglas for a 60-yard scoring strike. But Notre Dame answered with three touchdowns in just over seven minutes.
Coan found Kevin Austin and Kyren Williams for 37 and 6-yard scores, respectively, and Chris Tyree punched in from the 1 with 4:37 left for a 38-20 Notre Dame lead.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
| |
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
| Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
| Notre Dame
|
431 |
65 |
366 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
5.0 |
0 |
| Florida State
|
442 |
264 |
178 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
4.0 |
0 |
For more information, contact us