College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Notre Dame 41, Florida State 38
When: 7:44 PM ET, Sunday, September 5, 2021
Where: Doak S. Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida
Temperature: 85°
Head Official: Jeff Flanagan
Attendance: 68316

Jonathan Doerer hit a 41-yard field goal in overtime Sunday night as No. 9 Notre Dame survived blowing an 18-point, fourth-quarter lead, edging Florida State 41-38 in Tallahassee in each team's season opener.

The Seminoles missed a chance to take the lead when Ryan Fitzgerald hooked a 37-yard field goal wide left on their overtime possession. After three plays, Doerer calmly made the winning kick on 4th-and-8 after a Florida State timeout.

Florida State forced overtime when Fitzgerald hit a 43-yard field goal with 40 seconds left in regulation, his career long. Travis Jay intercepted Jack Coan's Hail Mary pass at the Seminoles' 11 as time expired.

Coan, a Wisconsin transfer, set a Fighting Irish record for a first-time starting quarterback with 366 yards on 26-of-35 passing.

Florida State quarterback McKenzie Milton, playing his first game since a devastating knee injury three years ago while playing for Central Florida, helped force overtime after replacing Jordan Travis in the fourth quarter.

Milton was 5-of-7 for 48 yards, finishing a touchdown drive and leading the tying field-goal march. Travis completed 9-of-19 passes for 130 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Notre Dame initiated scoring just 2:14 into the game when Coan found Michael Mayer on 4th-and-1 for a 41-yard touchdown pass.

After doing nothing on its first two possessions, Florida State equalized with one dynamic play -- an 89-yard scoring run by Jashaun Corbin.

The Seminoles took their first lead with 10:05 left in the first half on a 2-yard run by Travis, but the Irish rallied to take the halftime lead. Doerer connected on a 48-yard field goal, followed by Coan's 23-yard pass to Joe Wilkins that made it 17-14.

Florida State regained the advantage just 1:24 into the third quarter when Travis found Ja'Khi Douglas for a 60-yard scoring strike. But Notre Dame answered with three touchdowns in just over seven minutes.

Coan found Kevin Austin and Kyren Williams for 37 and 6-yard scores, respectively, and Chris Tyree punched in from the 1 with 4:37 left for a 38-20 Notre Dame lead.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Rushing
Notre Dame   Florida State
Kyren Williams Player Jashaun Corbin
18 Attempts 15
42 Yards 144
2.3 Avg Yards 9.6
0 Touchdowns 1
0 Long 0
Receiving
Notre Dame   Florida State
Michael Mayer Player Ja'khi Douglas
9 Receptions 3
120 Yards 80
13.3 Avg Yards 26.7
1 Touchdowns 1
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Notre Dame 431 65 366 5 2 1 5.0 0
Florida State 442 264 178 5 1 1 4.0 0