Notre Dame, Ind. - On a day that saw a pair of top 10 teams upset, Notre Dame rolled to a 52-3 win over Florida State on a cool November night. The Fighting Irish (8-1) stifled the Seminoles (1-9) to pick up their seventh consecutive victory while handing the visitors home with their sixth straight loss.
Rylie Mills was the tip of the spear for an Irish defense that collected 8.0 sacks and 4.0 pressures on FSU quarterbacks Brock Glenn and Luke Kromenhoek. Mills had a career high 3.0 sacks, 3.0 tackles for loss and one QB pressure by himself.
The Irish amassed 453 total yards to Florida State's 208. The Seminoles kicked a field goal on their opening drive and did not score again on their next 12 possessions. Florida State's two quarterbacks combined to go 10 of 26 for 88 yards and two interceptions.
Riley Leonard accounted for three touchdowns and 275, 215 passing and 70 rushing, total yards in the win. He ran for a pair of scores and threw for another for his fifth game of the season with at least three total touchdowns. He has rushed for 13 touchdowns this season, which is just one short of Brandon Wimbush's single season program record for a Notre Dame quarterback.
The Irish had the ball first and hit pay dirt in just five plays when Leonard faked a handoff to Jeremiyah Love and then raced to his left. He ran 32 yards and dove across the goal line for the final two of a 34-yard score, his 12th rushing TD of the season. Two plays earlier, Leonard hit running back Aneyas Williams for a 28-yard pass to convert on 3rd and 6.
Florida State used the next 7:52 in 16 plays to drive to the Irish 4 before settling for a 24-yard field goal from Ryan Fitzgerald. A week after converting 10 first downs in a loss to North Carolina, the Seminoles picked up five first downs on the opening drive.
The teams stalemated and each forced a pair of 3 and out possessions for the rest of the first quarter. Then Jadarian Price started the second quarter with a bang. The Irish running back raced 65 yards down the left sideline and just managed to stay in bounds to score his fourth touchdown of the season to make it 14-3. Price led the Irish with a season high 95 yards on the ground.
Mills was a one-man wrecking crew after FSU got the ball back. The 'Noles moved the ball to midfield, but Mills came up with sacks on back-to-back plays to force the third consecutive punt by the visitors. The sacks came right after nose guard Howard Cross limped off the field with an injury.
The Irish closed an otherwise sluggish offensive first half when Leonard hit Mitchell Evans with a 12-yard touchdown pass to finish a 12-play, 77-yard drive that lasted 1:37. It was the first touchdown since Oct. 7, 2024 against Louisville. It put Notre Dame up 21-3 at halftime.
Jordan Clark intercepted Glenn to end FSU's first drive of the second half quickly. It gave the Irish the ball at the Seminole 38 and set up Leonard's second touchdown run of the night from six yards out to make it 28-3. Mills came up with his third sack of the night a play before Clark's first interception at Notre Dame and the fourth of his career.
After the Irish defense got sacks from Jaylen Sneed and Donovan Hinish to stop Florida State's next drive, Mitch Jeter nailed a 28-yard field goal to put the Irish up 31-3 with 1:05 left in the third quarter.
Love got in the act with a one-yard touchdown run that made it 38-3 with 10:53 to play. It gave the Irish running back a TD run in his 10th consecutive game, dating back to last season's Sun Bowl.
Steve Angeli took over at quarterback after the Irish defense stopped the Seminoles cold for a tenth straight drive. Angeli hooked up with Deion Colzie for a 7-yard touchdown pass with 4:06 to play to make it 45-3. It marked the fourth straight time Notre Dame has scored at least 40 points against Florida State.
Reserve safety Luke Talich put the icing on the cake when he jumped a pass and raced 79 yards to the opposite end zone for his first career touchdown with 1:23 remaining.
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