For the third time in five games, #2 Florida State trailed at halftime, but again rallied to top fifth-ranked Notre Dame 31-27 at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday night.
Notre Dame looked to have scored the potential game-winning touchdown with 13 seconds left as Everett Golson hit Corey Robinson from three yards out, but an offensive pass interference call pushed the Fighting Irish back to the 18. Jacob Pugh’s second interception of the night iced the game one play later.
Golson had kept the Fighting Irish alive earlier in the drive with a 20-yard completion to Robinson on 4th-and-18. Golson finished the night with 313 yards passing and three touchdowns.
Notre Dame led for most of the night and took a 17-10 lead into the locker room. After a sluggish first half, embattled Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston was 15-for-16 passing in the second half, finishing with 273 yards and a pair of scores.
Karlos Williams finished with just 25 yards rushing, but scored two second half touchdowns including the 1-yard run with 7:39 to play that put Florida State ahead for good.
FSU senior Rashad Greene finished with eight catches for 108 yards to lead all receivers while freshman Travis Rudolph tallied six catches for 80 yards. Each caught touchdowns.
Robinson led the Irish with 99 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Notre Dame sophomore running back Tarean Folston led all rushers with 120 yards.
Notre Dame finished with 470 yards compared to 323 for Florida State, but still suffered its first loss of the season.
With the victory, Florida State runs a school-record and the nation’s longest winning streak to 23 games. The Seminoles improved to 7-0 on the year and will be idle next week before visiting Louisville on a Thursday night.
Notre Dame (6-1) will also be idle before traveling to FedEx Field to face Navy to open November.
