Notre Dame Football: 5 toughest opponents in 2018

Florida State is one of the few teams that Notre Dame has never figured out how to beat, at least not consistently. The Irish have played the Seminoles eight times and can claim two wins, the most recent coming in 2002. A lot has changed since the teams last met in 2014, the most notable being Florida State’s new head coach Willie Taggart.

The departure of Jimbo Fisher, while not unforeseen, still hit the program hard. Players and fans are deservedly frustrated with how he left, but have already moved on to what promises to be a new era of Florida State Football. Taggart was the perfect hire. His recruiting connections, player-friendly attitude and innovative offenses will keep the Seminoles relevant in the years to come, but how fast can he orchestrated the bounce back?

The Irish will meet the Seminoles in the middle of one of their toughest stretches of the season. FSU hosts Clemson before playing back-to-back road games against NC State and Notre Dame. However, the Noles, even beat up over the course of a long season, are too talented to overlook.

What happened at Florida State last season was an outlier. Jimbo Fisher’s aloofness, the program’s decline and the injury woes were the perfect storm which knocked the Seminoles out cold. They’ll be ready to go in 2018.