ESPN College Football

Miami offensive line coach Art Kehoe talks about the state of college football in Florida.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida State scored 15 points in the final frame to storm back and beat Notre Dame 18-14 to win the Champs Sports Bowl. Here's how it went down:

Turning point: In a less-than-two-minute span to start the fourth quarter, Florida State made up for the first three. EJ Manuel hit Bert Reed for an 18-yard score, Nigel Bradham picked off Andrew Hendrix on the ensuing drive and Manuel then hit Rashad Greene for a 15-yard score to make it 15-14 with 13:18 left. Twelve quick points after just three through the first 45 minutes were enough for the Seminoles.

Stat of the game: Pick your poison: Ten combined penalties or four combined turnovers? This game was sloppy on both ends for three quarters, and Florida State was able to capitalize on the miscues at the end and come out victorious.

Player of the game: Greene proved a tough man to stop in the second half. He finished the game with five catches for 99 yards and a touchdown, including an outstanding 42-yard grab that he bobbled and hung onto near the sideline on a third-and-6 in the fourth quarter. (It was challenged and upheld.)

Second guessing: Tommy Rees threw two interceptions in the end zone and might have had a third if not for a spectacular touchdown grab by Michael Floyd. In a game that was dominated by both defenses, Notre Dame simply could not afford to give away its precious few opportunities.

What it means: Florida State got its ninth victory and will likely finish the season ranked. Notre Dame falls to 8-5, its same record as last season, and questions will continue to mount about the quarterback position, which has nearly as many questions to end the season as it did to begin.

Record performance: Jamoris Slaughter's two sacks were two more than he had his entire career and were a Champs Sports Bowl record. The 68,305 in attendance made up the bowl's biggest crowd since it moved to Orlando.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The fourth quarter begins with the Notre Dame holding a two-possession lead over Florida State, with the Seminoles offense finally putting together a nice drive.

FSU has gained 63 yards on nine plays and has reached the Irish 21, giving the offense as good a chance to get into the end zone as it has had all night.

Notre Dame, meanwhile, could not get anything going after a productive half-opening drive that ended with Michael Floyd's circus touchdown catch.

The Seminoles defense has been as good as advertised and is capable of making a game-changing play, something it might need to do if the offense cannot keep up this newfound burst of consistency. It will be without Xavier Rhodes and Greg Reid, however, who have suffered a leg injury and concussion, respectively. That is a big blow for the Seminoles' secondary, and you wonder if Notre Dame might take some chances downfield despite having the lead the next time it gets the ball.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Bowl season has found its best play of 2011.

Michael Floyd's 5-yard touchdown grab was anything but simple, as Tommy Rees' fade pass was underthrown and nearly picked off by Greg Reid. Floyd managed to pry it loose from Reid before engaging in a juggling act — all the while absorbing a hit from Nigel Bradham just as he secured the ball.

Touchdown, Irish.

Floyd's 100th catch of the season made it 14-0 Notre Dame, which is anything but your conventional two-score lead in a game that has lacked for offensive fire power.

The Seminoles appeared to be on the verge of closing the gap after Lamarcus Joyner's 77-yard kickoff return, but the offense followed with a three-and-out that was punctuated by a — you guessed it — sack of EJ Manuel, this time by Aaron Lynch for a loss of 15.

Dustin Hopkins kicked a 42-yard field goal to get FSU on the board and cut the lead to 14-3.

The Irish offense, meanwhile, went with both quarterbacks on its first drive of the half, putting Andrew Hendrix in at the 23 yard line. He carried it three times for 18 yards before Rees entered at first-and-goal from the 5, setting up the touchdown play.

George Atkinson deserves credit for setting the Irish up so well with a 37-yard kickoff return to open the half, as well as stopping Joyner from going all the way on the ensuing kickoff.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Four sacks, two false starts, one surrendered touchdown and 3.16 yards per play.

Not the best first half for Florida State's offense.

E.J. Manuel's 23-yard pass to Kenny Shaw helped the Seminoles reach 79 yards of offense this half, but Manuel has been running around like a madman as the Notre Dame front-seven makes its presence felt in the backfield.

As a team, FSU has 9 rushing yards on 14 carries.

Chad Abram's sneak on a fake punt went for nearly 4 yards, but that came up inches short of a first down.

The Seminoles need to get creative if they ever want to move the ball with any sort of consistency the rest of the way.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A red zone turnover, an Aaron Lynch penalty ... typical Notre Dame game, right?

Not so fast.

Manti Te'o forced a Devonta Freeman fumble and Zeke Motta scooped it up and scored a 29-yard touchdown to provide the difference after the first quarter, as the Irish lead Florida State 7-0. The score came one play after Tommy Rees fired a pick to Lamarcus Joyner in the end zone on first-and-goal.

Andrew Hendrix entered on Notre Dame's third series and brought the Irish to the Seminoles' 30 before David Ruffer's field goal attempt sailed wide right.

Defensively, the Irish front-seven has made life miserable for E.J. Manuel, recording a pair of sacks and forcing the Seminoles to fight for every yard. They have just 18 total yards so far and will need to make some adjustments if they want any hope of handling Notre Dame's pass rush.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Here are a couple of items worth nothing as we approach kickoff:

• Ethan Johnson, Louis Nix and Aaron Lynch took reps with the first-team defensive line. This is as healthy as the group has been since the middle of the season. Johnson says he is fully recovered from a sprained right ankle that sidelined him for four games this season, and freshman end Stephon Tuitt is expected to be fine after missing the last two games because of an illness. Against an undermanned Florida State offensive line, this could be key.
• Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher was given a one-year contract extension earlier today, locking him up through 2016.
• This crowd is PUMPED. The fans went wild during a few pee-wee touchdowns when kids took the field before the game, and several parachuters into the stadium only amped them up even more. Hopefully the play on the field can live up to the excitement.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Greetings from the Sunshine State, where Notre Dame and Florida State will take the field in the Champs Sports Bowl just less than an hour from now.

The game certainly has a different feel for a December bowl. It is a sellout, for one. Fans from both schools packed the parking lots from the early-afternoon on, an impressive showing for a mid-week, late-afternoon contest.

The game also has seemed to draw more interest than its sister bowl, the Capital One Bowl, to be played here Tuesday between Nebraska and South Carolina.

Notre Dame is officially the home team, and the Irish players are wearing their blue jerseys with names on the back for just the third time in school history, after doing it in the 2008 Hawaii bowl and 1973 Orange Bowl.

The seats are filling up as fans take in a pair of pee-wee games on the field right now. Don't go anywhere, as we'll have complete coverage from the main event throughout the evening.

A pre-January bowl meeting and regular seasons that failed to meet lofty preseason expectations have provided no hiding for Brian Kelly and Jimbo Fisher. Just look at Wednesday, when the second-year head coaches were asked during their final pre-bowl press conferences about restoring their respective programs back to glory.

No, a Dec. 29 finale in the Champs Sports Bowl is not what Notre Dame or Florida State had in mind when summer talk focused on BCS bowl berths and returns to greatness. But the pair of 8-4 teams have found consolation in the opportunity to take down the other and go into 2012 on a high note.

"I think it starts with the ability to keep your football team together for another month," Kelly said of what it will take bring Notre Dame back to its prominent status. "The ability to build more relationships and bonds with your players. You’re still evaluating and giving opportunities to freshmen that may not have that chance to go out and prove themselves. I think there’s a lot of things that go into having a bowl game. The game itself as a win/loss is not going to change the direction of your program. Certainly it’s going to make you feel good about yourself going into the offseason, but all of those other things are much more important than actually singularly one game."

Said Fisher, in response to a similar question: “Recruiting, a little bit of luck, and staying healthy. You have to understand the culture. It’s not been two years or three years since we’ve been on the top, it’s been 10. That’s something we have to change. I’ve said all year that I’ve been pleased with how our players practice. Their effort, their tenacity, they break out the distractions. And then the football gods have to be on your side a little bit, too. Sometimes the ball’s got to bounce your way. We’ve got a good recruiting class this year and I think we’ll have another great year next year. And hopefully a great game tomorrow.”

Ten turnovers and two mind-boggling defeats to start 2011 all but sealed Notre Dame's fate for Orlando, Fla., from the early going. An 8-2 finish that featured a brief return to the national rankings showed what the Irish were capable of, but the sour taste from an 0-2 start lingered.

Florida State, meanwhile, saw a 2-0 start give way to three consecutive losses, dampening its BCS-bowl hopes and, like the Irish, leaving many to wonder what could have been.

The offensive-minded Kelly saw the Irish notch at least 500 yards of offense five different times this season, as they averaged better than 45 more yards per game than a season ago. But that was tempered by 26 turnovers and the fact Notre Dame is closing the season with another quarterback controversy (Tommy Rees or Andrew Hendrix), albeit a different one from the beginning of the campaign (Rees or Dayne Crist).

"I would look at it as we’re still evolving," Kelly said. "From last year to this time there has been a process of evolution for our entire offense and it’s still ongoing. It’s ongoing as we speak relative to our offensive players understanding our system and of course in the recruiting area.”

The Seminoles saw their growth on the defensive side of the ball, where they finished the regular season sixth in the nation in total defense, fourth in points allowed and second against the run — way up in all categories from last season (when they finished 39th, 24th and 26th, respectively).

“Are we disappointed about the wins?" Fisher said. "Yes, we wish we would’ve won more games. I mean, you’d like to win them all. But for a young football team to deal with distractions, with criticisms, the things that come with not winning as many games as you’d like to, they never lost faith in each other. In fact, it maybe made them closer. I feel very good about the future.”

But the future must wait until this season is finished, and Thursday's matchup will provide one last opportunity for each side's seniors to end their careers on high notes.

And for Notre Dame, it's a chance to notch a nine-win campaign for the first time since 2006, before any current players came aboard.

"I feel like it's all that matters," senior end Ethan Johnson said of win No. 9. "It's all that matters. It's what we're focused on right now. Everyone says you take each game as it comes. That's very true. But there's a limited amount of time you can focus on each game in a season. And for this game we've had a long time to focus on it, and we're going to stay focused on it, and we're gonna continue to work and prepare and get ready to play our best football. And there's no reason why we shouldn't do that. No reason why we're not going to do that. We're going to do that.

"We're gonna continue to focus and practice hard and have fun while we're doing it. But yeah, it's really all that matters is getting this win, especially for the seniors. For the juniors, sophomores, freshmen, high school kids coming in — we're all pulling for it and we're all just gonna do the best we can because I came here my freshman year. And I'm a guy who believes you leave something better than it was when you came. I definitely wanna do that. I wanna leave this place better than when I found it."

If you look at the Associated Press top 25, the USA Today poll, and ESPN.com's latest power rankings, Florida State checks in at No. 25.

If you look at my poll, Notre Dame is No. 25, and has been for three of the past four weeks.

Fortunately, this will be settled on the field in the Champs Sports Bowl, but here are my two biggest reasons for choosing the Irish over the Noles as the last team in:

1. Offense. FSU hasn't had much of it lately. The Noles were 3 of 13 on third-down conversions in the loss to Virginia, and had just 95 total yards against Florida. FSU has had four offensive touchdowns in the past three games. Notre Dame hasn't been a spectacular offense, but Florida State has been more dependent upon its defense and special teams to do the scoring lately.

2. Schedule. Both teams have four losses and one bad home loss (Notre Dame to South Florida, and Florida State to Virginia). Florida State also lost to Wake Forest, though, and has no wins over ranked opponents. Notre Dame beat a very good Michigan State team, and lost to two teams that are playing in BCS bowls in Stanford and Michigan. And of course, USC isn't a bad loss, either.

Heather Dinich talks about the Coastal Division race, the Atlantic Division letdown, FSU-Miami and the ACC title game.

Before Notre Dame can get to its regular-season finale at Stanford, it has to get through the ACC.

The Irish's next three games are against Wake Forest, Maryland and Boston College. Two of the three are away from South Bend, but two of the three serve as Irish home games. (Confusing, we know.)

With the Irish 5-3 and set for confere ... er, ACC, play, Notre Dame blogger Matt Fortuna and ACC blogger Heather Dinich preview this week's matchup in Winston-Salem, along with the other two contests.

Matt Fortuna: Heather, first off, what do you make of this Wake Forest team? It is tough to judge from the Midwest -- it beats FSU, gets rocked by UNC and Virginia Tech. Also, the decision to make this a night game struck me as interesting. Are the folks down there treating this one like their biggest home game of the season?

Heather Dinich: Matt, there’s no question the Deacs are taking this one seriously, especially after such a poor performance against North Carolina. What to make of Wake Forest? This is a much, much better team than the one that finished 3-9 a year ago. They’re one win away from bowl eligibility and would like nothing more than to wrap that up this weekend against the Irish. Heading into this game, I thought Wake was overmatched, but now I think they’ll make it an interesting game. With both teams at 5-3, are they more alike than many thought they’d be? It’s hard to tell with such different schedules, but I think Notre Dame has the better win over Michigan State. Turnovers were a huge factor last week for the Deacs. Wake had turned it over just five times all season and then against UNC it had five turnovers. It was an uncharacteristic performance, to say the least. If the Deacs can take care of the ball and get the passing game going, they stand a chance. The bigger question to me is, are the next three weeks a foreshadowing of what’s to come with Notre Dame and the ACC? What are you hearing out of South Bend?

MF: Five turnovers in one game? No kidding, they really are alike. As for your question, Notre Dame will strive to remain independent in football at all costs. Right now I think the Irish are content to watch the dominoes fall in front of them until they are forced to make a move. If that time does come, however, I do think the ACC would be its best bet. For one, Notre Dame would be marginalized in the Big Ten, serving as just another regional power along with Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State. In the ACC it can still expand its recruiting bases from as South as Florida to as North as New York and Boston. Mike Brey, the men's basketball coach, has stated his preference is to remain somewhere East if Notre Dame is forced to move. Also, it is pretty funny that, in addition to this slate of games, the Irish have already traveled to future ACC member Pitt this season, and they currently seem bound for the Champs Sports Bowl, where they would face another ACC school. That would be five out of 13 games this season against current or future ACC schools, for those keeping count at home. While we're at it, Heather, who do you think looks like Notre Dame's likely bowl opponent should it find itself in Orlando?

HD: Right now I’ve got Florida State heading to the Champs Sports Bowl, Matt, and it seems like the most likely scenario. That would be a great matchup of two traditional programs, but let’s stick with the ones we know right now. Heading into this season, I predicted the ACC would strike out against the Irish with an 0-3 record. I still don’t see BC winning at Notre Dame on Nov. 19, considering what a dreadful season it’s been for the Eagles, and if BC isn’t going to get the W, there’s no reason to think Maryland can, even though that game is a virtual home game for the Terps in FedEx Field in Landover, Md. Maryland can’t even fill its own stadium, though, let alone a pro venue, and the Terps just lost at home to Boston College. It’s been a rough first season for Randy Edsall. So, it looks like the Deacs are the ACC’s best hope at picking up a W against Notre Dame, at least from my perspective. What are you predicting the Irish do against the ACC in three games?

MF: I'm with you, Heather. I just cannot see Maryland or Boston College beating Notre Dame, making Wake the favorite among the ACC teams to do so. Even then, the Deacs are clearly overmatched and will have a tough time keeping up with the Irish on both sides of the ball. I circled this one as a potential upset when making second-half predictions a little more than three weeks ago, but Wake has done little since (its only win was over Duke ... by 1) to convince me it can pull off the victory. Who do you got?

HD: I’m sticking with my preseason prediction, Matt, and going with the Irish. I’ll leave the score for tomorrow’s predictions post, but I just don’t see Wake Forest beating Notre Dame’s offensive line or slowing down that running game. Notre Dame’s offense line averages 305.6 pounds. Wake Forest’s undersized D-line checks in at an average of 247.5. No wonder Jonas Gray is averaging 8 yards per carry, and the Irish didn’t allow one sack in October. And of course, they’ve got one of the top linebackers in the country in Manti Te’o. Wake Forest will correct a lot of the mistakes it made last week against North Carolina, but it will come up short in a close game. Since you’re the visitor to ACC country, though, I’ll give you the final word.

MF: Not sure if that qualifies as southern hospitality, but it is appreciated nonetheless. I expect Gray to have a huge game as well. He's a guy who had zero career touchdowns until Week 4 at Pitt. He has had eight since, including three this past Saturday. Brian Kelly's teams are built for November and December, as evidenced by his 21-6 mark in the regular season's final two months. I think Wake Forest has a chance to keep it close early, but it lacks the depth and size to hang with the Irish throughout the night.

Pat Forde and Heather Dinich break down the biggest storylines from Week 3, including the ACC’s big day, Notre Dame’s win and Auburn’s loss.

In-state bragging rights are on the line once again when Florida travels to Florida State on Saturday, but this year is different for both programs. In Tallahassee, first-year coach Jimbo Fisher has the Seminoles sitting at 6-2 in ACC play, good for at least a share of the Atlantic Division title. In Gainesville, it’s been a trying year for Urban Meyer, as the unranked Gators have been humbled by four losses. Have the tables finally turned in this series, which Florida has dominated for most of the decade? SEC blogger Chris Low and ACC blogger Heather Dinich -- who have a friendly little rivalry of their own going on in the blogosphere -- hash it out:

Heather Dinich: I know it’s tough over there in SEC land to actually talk about football, with so much off-the-field drama occupying your time these days, but I thought it would be a good time to revisit the state of the state in Florida. It appears the balance of power has the potential to shift now that Jimbo Fisher has taken over at Florida State and the Seminoles are the state’s lone ranked team in the BCS standings. They’re coming off an important Atlantic Division win over Maryland and were already talkin’ ‘bout the Gators before they left Byrd Stadium. With the way Florida has struggled this year, it looks like the perfect time for the Noles to reclaim the unofficial state championship. Is there any reason to think otherwise, C-Low?

Chris Low: Heather, you're right. There has been a flurry of activity off the field in the SEC that has kept me busy. You know the drill, though. You can probably hear basketballs bouncing in your ears now that the "real" season has begun in the ACC. Florida has been a glimmer of the team this season that piled up 22 straight wins during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. Of course, it's hard to win in any league -- even the ACC -- when you don't have a passing game to speak of and aren't making any explosive plays in the running game. Still, there's some young talent on this team. The Gators just have to figure out who they are offensively. Don't get too ahead of yourself on the Seminoles being poised to reclaim the unofficial state championship. There's a reason the Gators have won six in a row in this series. Urban Meyer has never lost to Florida State, and the closest game the last three seasons was 27 points. Even in a down year, I could see how the Gators might be in the Seminoles' heads.

HD: They might be in their heads, but can they get in the end zone? Florida State has the No. 15 scoring defense in the country, allowing just 18.82 points per game. This isn’t App State, or any of the other cupcakes on Florida’s notoriously “grueling” schedule. I know the Gators have been playing well on special teams and defense, but there appears to be some weaknesses Florida State can expose. I think we can at least agree that the Gators aren’t invincible this year. A win over Florida would be huge for Fisher in his first year -- big for recruiting, big for national respect and the direction of the program. The only way for the Seminoles to re-establish themselves as one of the best in the country is to first own the state. What kind of an impact, if any, do you think would have on Florida’s program if they lost this one this year?

CL: Meyer makes a big deal out of beating his rivals, and he's 17-1 against the Gators' traditional rivals (Florida State, Georgia, Miami and Tennessee). You can bet that he and his coaches remind all those talented prospects in the state of Florida when they're recruiting them that they've never lost to Florida State or Miami. So, yes, this game always has and always will have some recruiting ramifications. But I think more important for the Gators this season is getting back to where they're playing with that same edge Meyer's teams have always played with and playing with the kind of confidence and precision that have defined his program. We've only seen that team in stretches this season. If they're going to put it together for an entire game, this is the game to do it.

HD: The same can be said for Florida State. The Seminoles have been hot and cold -- looking dominant against Miami and just good enough against Boston College and Maryland. Quarterback Christian Ponder has been injured and hasn’t lived up to the Heisman hype this year. Earlier this week, I said that it’s more important for Florida State to beat Florida this year than it is for the Noles to make an appearance in the ACC title game. Florida is the program to be measured by in the state -- even in a year in which the Gators aren’t ranked -- and I’m not sure the Noles can stack up just yet. I say Meyer gets ‘em again, this time 28-24. See? I could boost my picks percentage if I covered the SEC, too.

CL: Boost your picks percentage? Come on, you'd go the other way if you had to pick games in this league. Similar to the way the grind takes its toll on the actual teams in the SEC, it also gets to those of us who have to pick games in this league. The Gators should have a healthier Jeff Demps for this game, although he's still not 100 percent. Chris Rainey has also made a big difference ever since he was allowed to rejoin the team. At the end of the day, though, I have a sneaking suspicion that this game may mean a little more to Florida State this year than it does to Florida, so I'm going with the Seminoles at home, 24-17, and Fisher ending Florida State's drought in this series in his first season as head coach. But, hey, remember that Fisher did cut his teeth in the SEC when he was at LSU under Nick Saban. Imagine that, Heather. You're picking the SEC team, and I'm picking the ACC team. What's next? The ACC making a run at the SEC in off-the-field scandals? Oh yeah, I forgot about that little deal at North Carolina earlier this year.

What could possibly be better than ACC links for lunch? If you know the answer, your boss wants you to take the rest of the afternoon off.

• Clemson's coaching clinic is about more than Xs and Os. Why is Bobby Bowden heading to Nebraska?
• FSU is about "average" as it prepares for its second scrimmage.
• Tony Barnhart: Can Georgia Tech repeat?
• Maybe Virginia's Quintin Hunter has found a permanent home at receiver.
• How would one describe Virginia Tech's backfield? Perhaps "bodacious."
• Wake Forest center Russ Nenon is unhappy not hitting anyone this spring.