What To Look For: Notre Dame Defense vs. Florida State

Notre Dame is set to take on Florida State tonight as the Irish look to make yet another run at the College Football Playoff. The defense has been a driving force behind much of Notre Dame’s success in recent seasons, but will that continue with Marcus Freeman running the show?

Florida State will provide a good game one test for Freeman and the defense, which must remain one of the game’s best if the Irish are going to reach their full potential this season. Just like I said about the offense, we won’t have all the answers tonight no matter how the game goes, but we’ll certainly get a strong first impression, one way or the other.

With that in mind here are the things I’m looking for tonight to see if the Irish defense is ready to keep rolling.

1. Is the defensive line as good as advertised - Part of our expectation for the defense continuing to be outstanding is the belief that the defensive line will still be outstanding. There are, however, still a lot of questions about this unit, despite its talent and depth.

Will Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa be productive on the edge? Is Isaiah Foskey ready to take his game to another level? Is Jayson Ademilola ready to break out? Will the depth be able to provide disruption and playmaking ability?

Notre Dame needs its front four to make plays and dominate this matchup. Yes, Florida State is better up front this season but they still shouldn't be good enough to slow down or shut down a top defensive line. So, will Notre Dame have a top defensive line this season? We get our first evidence of that tonight!

2. Can the run defense be at its best - The defensive line needs to be at its best if it's going to slow down the Florida State ground attack, which was quite good last season despite the team's overall lack of success. Florida State has a big offensive line and Notre Dame is a bit undersized, so who will that play out?

Of course, the line can't do it all by itself. The second and third level players must be assignment correct, especially the linebackers. We expect them to be more aggressive under Freeman, but will that also come with being assignment correct and productive in the run game? We'll find out tonight.

Notre Dame must tackle better this season than it did a year ago, and that must start tonight.

3. Big first test for the new secondary starters - Cornerback Cam Hart and safety Houston Griffith will make their first starts tonight, and Notre Dame needs them to hit the ground running. Hart had a strong camp but he's an unknown, so you can expect Florida State to go after him early and often. The same will be true of Griffith, because we all know Florida State isn't going to go after All-American Kyle Hamilton.

The Irish secondary must limit the big plays and the new starters must be at their best. This is true not just tonight but for the rest of the season, but tonight is our first sample.

4. How much diversity will the defense show - Much has been made of the multiplicity that Freeman's defense will show. Three-down and four-down looks, unique personnel groupings, deep rotations, mixing up coverage looks, being more aggressive, all of it has been discussed throughout the summer.

But what will it actually look like against Florida State? That is question number one. Question number two is will it be effective and can the players execute the various looks at a high level. If they do the defense will shut Florida State down. If they don't you'll see the Seminoles rip off a lot of chunk plays.

5. What kind of adjustments will Freeman make - Former coordinators Mike Elko and Clark Lea were excellent in-game adjusters. That is the standard, and tonight is our first chance to see what Freeman does in this regard. Florida State is going to have formations, motions, personnel groupings and schemes that Notre Dame hasn't seen much of or isn't prepared for, or not as prepared for as they are for other things, that is how football goes.

How quickly Notre Dame recognizes that will determine just how good Freeman is as a game-day coach. He was quite good at this at Cincinnati, but will that continue at Notre Dame? Tonight will be our first glimpse.

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