FSU football: 3 thoughts on defensive performance against Notre Dame

FSU football has found an identity in two of the three phases of the program. Here are three thoughts on FSU’s defensive performance against Notre Dame.

We went into the Notre Dame game, not expecting to win but hoping the team would be competitive, as they looked to build on the momentum from the Jacksonville State game.

There were some bright spots, especially on the offensive side of the ball, as Jordan Travis proved he’s capable of leading a productive offense.

The expectations for the defense were fairly low, as most fans were hoping to see effort and desire instead of halfway doing things.

Let me be clear, this is arguably the worst FSU defense I’ve ever seen through four games. They are allowing teams to average 33.5 ppg and 6.51 yards per play.

Teams are averaging 5.55 yards per carry and converting third downs at a 48 percent clip.

However, one of the more alarming stats is the defense only has three sacks and 17 tackles for loss through four games.

That’s not going to get it done, and one of the biggest reasons the defense has been run through like kids running through water sprinklers.

How bad was the defense against Notre Dame? Well, they gave up over 300 rushing yards and only had one tackle for loss. They did hold Notre Dame to 2 of 8 on third-down conversions, but at least two were dropped passes where the Notre Dame receiver would have run for days before getting tackled.

I’m not sure if things will get much better as the season goes, but here are my three thoughts from their performance Saturday night.