At his Monday press conference, Florida State coach Mike Norvell uttered a series of words that I have to imagine are amongst what football players least want to hear their coach say about them.

He said there were moments during the Seminoles' 35-11 home loss to North Carolina Saturday where he did not like the physicality of his team's performance.

"There were times in the game where I did not like the physicality that we put on display," Norvell said.

The head coach didn't specify if he was referring to one side of the ball over the other or the team as a whole. But you could certainly see it has applied both to the Seminoles' offense and defense this season.

In the UNC loss alone, FSU managed just 42 rushing yards and allowed seven sacks on offense while allowing the Tar Heels to rush for 289 yards on defense. UNC standout running back Omarion Hampton became the first player to rush for four touchdowns against FSU since Lamar Jackson in 2016.

"I think there were some good moments. There were times that we were playing very physical but had maybe a lapse in judgment of whether it was a gap to fit or maybe trying to do too much that opened up a seam or an opportunity for our opponent. But there were definitely plays that going back and seeing them on Saturday that I was displeased with..." Norvell said. "I told the team (Sunday) there is an expectation of what it needs to look like and making sure that you put everything that you have into each play, even if it is after a negative. There's going to be times you might get beat on a play. You might have something that you didn't desire, you didn't want to happen to you. But Lord willing, you get one more play, what's it going to look like and how are you going to respond in that situation?"

When examining the FSU defense, you could make the case that they have been worn down as the season has progressed by an offense that has struggled to extend drives or put points on the board consistently. FSU's offense ranks 130th in yards per play (4.45), 132nd in yards per rush (2.67) and 133rd in points per game (14.4) this season.

Over the last few weeks as FSU's defense has gone up against a few more talented offenses, the Seminoles have struggled mightily to stop the run. Four of FSU's last five opponents have rushed for 200+ yards against the Seminoles. FSU now ranks 115th nationally in rushing yards allowed per game (191.44) and is allowing over 33 more rushing yards per game than any other ACC team.

"I'm sure there have been times in my career where maybe we've given up 30 and felt really good about the effort and physicality, but probably not much," FSU defensive coordinator Adam Fuller said. "Early in the game, I thought we showed up the right way. As the game wears on and they kept feeding the run game, I think there were times that we could have been much better. That's my job, to create that. There were some plays out there that are obviously unacceptable. There are unacceptable plays where the other team scores, you never want to allow that. But how it goes down is still important. Those are the things we have to make sure we have to address and either replace or correct."

One major problem for an FSU team dealing with interior questions about the consistency of its physicality this season? The Seminoles are facing probably the most physically-imposing team on their 2024 schedule this Saturday in No. 10 Notre Dame (7:30 p.m. on NBC).

Offensively, the Irish have more rushing yards (1,732) than passing yards this season (1,524). They rank sixth nationally in yards per carry (5.95) and tied for seventh in rushing touchdowns (26).

They have two players with nearly as many rushing yards and more rushing touchdowns as FSU does as a team this season. Featured running back Jeremiyah Love leads with 564 yards at 6.34 yards per carry while Duke transfer quarterback Riley Leonard has a team-high 11 touchdown runs in eight games this season.

"They're good enough on offense to be where they're at in this season. They've really relied on that quarterback..." Fuller said. "Good backs, the quarterback, he's carrying the load. I think he's got 11 rushing touchdowns. I'm not sure where that sits nationally, but I'd assume pretty high for a good quarterback to have more rushing touchdowns than throwing touchdowns on a good team. That's probably not a usual statistic.

"That's how they've decided to play their offense this year. They had one speedbump early in the year against Northern Illinois, but that Texas A&M game all the way through the Navy one, they've been executing when they need to on offense."

ND has forced 99 missed tackles in eight games this season according to Pro Football Focus, led by 41 from Love and 27 from Leonard. FSU has missed 84 tackles in nine games, including a few critical misses that allowed chunk gains in the UNC loss.

"We've been creating live tackle drills for DBs for the last four or five weeks. We try to do it in as much space as possible because, of course, we need them to make those plays," Fuller said. "Some of it has gotten better, some of it hasn't. In the back-end, when you miss one, it's normally 1-on-1 ... Is it the players, is it the technique, is it the coaching? The answer is yes. I feel that we're trying to work it because I've changed tackle drills throughout the year this year. We've done live tackle drills against guys, we're continuing to do them."

On the other side of the ball, the Irish are allowing just 3.57 yards per rush this season (27th nationally) and have allowed just five rushing touchdowns (tied for seventh). But they are probably even better in the secondary, allowing 5.7 yards per pass attempt (tied for fifth), 156.1 passing yards per game (fourth) and just six passing touchdowns (tied for sixth).

An FSU offense that has struggled to score this season will really be challenged by an ND defense that ranks fourth nationally allowing 12.1 points per game this season.

"They play defense the way it's supposed to be played. They run to the football, big, long, experienced," FSU offensive coordinator Alex Atkins said. "They play the game on defense the way it looks when you're playing against a good defense. They're going to present multiple challenges just like a good defense should. Especially with the guy that is the head coach (Marcus Freeman) is known for defense."

Takeaway Tuesday: No blue skies after loss to UNC

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