Notre Dame made its share of head-scratching mistakes, mostly in a very sloppy third quarter, but Florida State was far too busy shooting itself in the foot to make a game of it as the Irish cruised to a 42-13 victory on Saturday night. Dexter Williams ran for 202 yards and two rushing touchdowns, and Alize Mack had two superb scoring receptions to lead the Irish. Brandon Wimbush performed extremely well at times, although there were moments when he was erratic. The net result was positive, however, as the senior connected on some well-thrown passes and used his legs in key moments to move the chains.

Wimbush played a clean first half as Notre Dame took advantage of two early Seminole turnovers to race to a 17-0 lead in the first nine minutes. He hit Miles Boykin with a short touchdown pass just over one minute into the game after Nick Coleman picked off a Deondre Francois pass on the second play from scrimmage. Wimbush then directed an 81-yard march that was capped by the first of the two great catches by Mack in the end zone. An FSU fumble on the next series was recovered by Daelin Hayes, leading to a Justin Yoon field goal. Hayes turned in a strong performance and looked to be fully recovered from the injuries he has been battling in the middle of the season.

Florida State’s lone first half touchdown yielded a lowlight for the visitors when Notre Dame blocked the extra point attempt and Julian Love returned it for two points. With Wimbush leading the way, the hosts used that play as a springboard to run away to a 32-6 halftime advantage. The Irish faced a third and long after the Noles had cut the deficit to 19-6, but Wimbush converted with a 17-yard dash to maintain possession. Williams ripped off a 58-yard scoring burst on the next play, and Wimbush later hit Mack again for a score to account for the commanding lead at intermission.

The Irish took the ball to open the second half, but Brian Kelly elected to have Wimbush continue to throw the ball. The strategy backfired not once but twice in the third period as Wimbush threw a pair of head-scratching interceptions. The first led to a Cam Akers score to narrow the gap to 32-13, and the second came moments later with Notre Dame ahead by 35-13. A goal line stand by the Irish defense kept the contest from getting much more interesting. Kelly then realized that running the ball and the clock was his best option, and Williams rewarded him with another long touchdown run to ice the game.

The final statistics reflected the Irish dominance. Wimbush hit only 12 of 25 passes for 130 yards, but the ground game racked up 365. Florida State completed only 23 of 47 passes for 216 yards, and ran for just 106. Notre Dame moved to 10-0 on the season in its final home game, and now must prepare for a coast-to-coast finish against Syracuse and USC.

Let’s review the answers to our pregame questions.

Can either team generate a productive running game against a stout defensive front? Notre Dame ran extremely well, especially after the first quarter. Akers and Jacques Patrick had a few nice runs for the Seminoles, but they were too far behind on the scoreboard to stay balanced on offense.

Will the Irish offense break a negative trend by avoiding an early turnover? Yes, and they even managed to infect Florida State with that virus.

Which secondary will best defend the third down passes? Notre Dame gave up a few too many, but the impact was far from catastrophic. Meanwhile, Wimbush hit a few clutch third down throws in the first half that made the FSU secondary look overmatched.

Can Notre Dame’s special teams finally turn in a clean performance? Another mixed bag, but more positive than negative. Chris Finke had a terrific punt return and Love’s two-pointer stopped the Noles momentum in its tracks. The Irish missed an extra point, shanked a kickoff out of bounds, and gave up too many yards on a couple of kickoff returns. Baby steps.

Which set of receivers will be able to get open against tight coverage? Notre Dame performed well, led by Mack and Finke. The Seminoles had some excellent catches as well but dropped several catchable balls.

Will Wimbush be able to ignite the offense? He started well and got his team and the crowd going, although he unwittingly threatened to ignite a Florida State comeback in the third quarter with a pair of ill-advised throws.

Which team will avoid critical mistakes and penalties? Both teams made numerous errors, but the Seminole miscues proved to be much more costly. Regarding penalties, it’s difficult to assess how each team fared, although Notre Dame jumped offside twice and committed multiple false starts. On the other hand, the referees inexplicably missed flagrant fouls by Florida State that would have benefitted Notre Dame, and flagged the Irish for several penalties (including a ridiculous chop block call) that their performance crossed over into the surreal.

The Seminoles managed to showcase some of their individual talent, but they proved to be every bit as dysfunctional from a team standpoint as their recent games would indicate. I thought they would regroup and play with more poise and determination in this venue, but they never gave themselves a chance. The Irish appeared to survive the contest intact, except that Drue Tranquill aggravated his ankle injury and had to leave the game. Love also went down but Kelly assured the media that he was fine after the game. The showdown with a hot Syracuse team in New York looms as a highly dangerous task, and all hands will need to be on deck for that one. Hopefully, the team can leave the silly mistakes at home as well.