The 3-2-1: A gritty defensive effort, and a team FSU fans can embrace again

1. Defense was disciplined and gritty

When Notre Dame's star tight end, Michael Mayer, ran free through Florida State's secondary and hauled in a 41-yard touchdown pass on the game's opening drive Sunday night, the entire FSU fan base likely encountered a collective case of PTSD.

After months of hearing about how improved the defense would be after getting a full offseason to prepare -- as opposed to last year's COVID-shortened spring and summer -- that one play brought back memories of a season's worth of busted coverages and broken assignments. Mayer ran right past cornerback Travis Jay, who apparently thought the tight end was somebody else's responsibility, and waltzed uncovered into the end zone.

From then on, however, we might have witnessed the most disciplined and gritty defensive performance from a Florida State football team in years.

Unlike the last few seasons, when the Seminoles often looked unorganized and dispassionate, this group came to play for a full four quarters -- and then some. They were assignment sound, limiting the Irish running game to 65 yards on 35 carries (1.9 yards per attempt), and they laid the lumber on many of their hits. They also made a bunch of solo tackles in the open field; stops that prevented short gains from turning into big plays.

It wasn't a flawless performance by any stretch. Notre Dame did rack up 366 passing yards, and Irish quarterback Jack Coan completed 26 of 35 attempts with four touchdowns and one interception. But on most of Notre Dame's biggest plays, Florida State had defenders in position. Coan simply made some outstanding throws, and his receivers -- who were expected to be a strength of their team -- came through with big-time catches.

Coming into this game, many of us in the media and fan base said we could understand if Notre Dame's skill players won a lot of their one-on-one matchups. After all, that is a very mature program that has been racking up 10-win seasons and recruiting at a high level for years, whereas Mike Norvell and his staff have had to cobble together a roster with mostly young players and transfers.

What we all agreed couldn't be tolerated was another year of players either not understanding their assignments and techniques or just refusing to compete. It was only one game, but those issues appear to be long gone.

Yes, the Irish scored a lot of points and amassed a lot of yards, but they had to fight for most of them. There were very few free passes.

One year ago, 15 of Notre Dame's 26 first downs against Florida State came on the ground. On Sunday night, the Irish rushed for just one first down; 14 others came through the air, and two were via penalty.

Florida State also played with a violence and tenacity we haven't seen much of in recent seasons. They fought. They competed. And there clearly is a lot to work with as the season progresses.