Notre Dame’s Takeaways from Season Debut

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Florida State Seminoles 41-38 in their season opener.

WHAT A GAME 🤯

NO. 9 NOTRE DAME HOLDS OFF FSU TO WIN IN OT! pic.twitter.com/VZAeGTryTV

— ESPN (@espn) September 6, 2021

Despite the Irish kicking off their season with a win, they still have plenty of corrections to make on the field to ensure a successful season. The game was extremely close and was even sent into overtime. Florida State’s downfall was a missed field goal in overtime, while Notre Dame’s Jonathan Doerer made a 41-yard field goal.

Notable Players

Notre Dame quarterback Jack Coan definitely carried the team. They fell behind in the second quarter 14-7, and Coan led the offense in back-to-back scoring that allowed the Fighting Irish to led the scoreboard once more heading into halftime. In the third quarter, Jack Coan was 8-8 for 175 yards, while also completing 3 touchdowns. Coan took back the reins in the second half of the game with two very prominent throws to Wide Receiver Kevin Austin, one resulting in a touchdown pass. Coan finished with a 74.3% completion rate, as well as completed 26 of 35 passes for 366 yards. He also ended with four touchdowns.

4 TDs for Jack Coan in his 1st game.

Look away, Wisco fans. https://t.co/HKb5ssCR1y

— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) September 6, 2021

Other notable players include Junior and sophomore Running Backs, Kyren Williams and Chris Tyree. They completed a combined 3.2 yards per carry on 25 attempts.

Coaching Staff

Marcus Freeman made his defensive coordinator debut at this matchup in Tallahassee. Fans noticed a big red flag for defense was their inability to make in-game adjustments. However, it is the first game with a new defensive lineup.

Notre Dame head Coach Brian Kelly evaluated the team’s performance postgame and chalked up most of their struggles to weak defensive play.

Kelly also comments on Coan’s performance.

He explains that Florida State presented them with many challenges, but all in all pushed the team to work harder.

Notre Dame is set to host the Toledo Rockets in week 2.