Notre Dame Football: 3 takeaways from thrilling win at Florida State

What a game fans got on Sunday night of an opening college football weekend. Notre Dame football held on in overtime to top the Florida State Seminoles at Doak Campbell, 41-38.

The Irish built an 18-point lead heading into the fourth quarter and it looked like that was going to be enough to start the season 1-0 with a strong road win against an improved Florida State team, but the Seminoles roared back.

Florida State stormed back on the back of McKenzie Milton who replaced Jordan Travis in the fourth and led the Seminoles to 18 unanswered points and a trip to overtime.

The overtime was won thanks to a defensive stand from the Irish and a missed field goal by Florida State.

What’d we learn from this thrilling opener in Tallahassee?

3. Kyren Williams will be just fine

Seeing Kyren Williams struggle may have worried some Notre Dame fans, but there’s no reason for that. He faced a strong defensive front in Florida State which added some big-time transfers this offseason and they really showed out.

Williams finished with 1,000 yards in a breakout season in 2020 and really drew some Heisman hype this preseason but his opening performance has forced some to jump off the bandwagon.

The sophomore running back is going to be one of the best rushers in the country this season and he may surpass his total from a year ago, but a bad first game shouldn’t turn anyone off. The offensive line will get better throughout the season and Williams is going to put up numbers.

One thing that he had going for him was his pass-catching prowess, finishing with six catches for 83 yards and a touchdown, so over 100 total yards being an “off game” is a good sign.