Irish run wild on Seminoles
Williams rolls up 185 yards rushing as ND moves to 3-0
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Kyren Williams ran for 185 yards and two touchdowns, and safety Shaun Crawford helped thwart a potential Florida State rally with a goal-line interception in No. 5 Notre Dame’s 42-26 victory Saturday.
Williams fumbled at the Irish 32 on the second play from scrimmage, then riddled the Seminoles the rest of the way, picking up 130 yards and both his touchdowns by halftime as Notre Dame (3-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) opened a 35-20 lead.
Irish quarterback Ian Book completed 16 of 25 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 58 yards and another score.
With Notre Dame leading 42-26, Florida State (1-3, 0-3) drove 73 yards to the Irish 5, but Crawford picked off a pass by Jordan Travis with 8:21 left.
‘‘First and foremost, winning is hard,’’ said Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, whose team was playing after two idle weeks, one of them because of a COVID-19 outbreak in the program. ‘‘Just to be here talking about a victory is really satisfying, given the fact that just about 10 days ago we had 36 guys that were unavailable to us.
‘‘In short order, to prepare our team and have our guys be selfless and take care of themselves and put themselves in position to win a football game today, I couldn’t be more proud of our group.’’
The Irish were too powerful despite a solid performance by Travis, who was making his first start for the Seminoles after shining in relief last week against Jacksonville State. Travis completed 13 of 24 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown and led Florida State in rushing with 96 yards on 19 carries, despite a pair of sacks.
‘‘We’re all disappointed,’’ Seminoles coach Mike Norvell said. ‘‘You invest so much time and effort into a game to win that contest. We didn’t do that, and we didn’t do [things] consistently enough, even with some bright spots.’’
Florida State receiver Tamorrion Terry caught seven passes for 121 yards and a touchdown. Notre Dame receiver Javon McKinley had five receptions for 107 yards, and running back Chris Tyree rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown.