Tallahassee, Florida (UHND) - Last week the general feeling was that the Notre Dame Air Force game wasn't as close as the score indicated. The same can be said this week as the #6 Fighting Irish beat the #12 Seminoles 34-24. The game was 34-10 with 2 minutes remaining but Florida State added 2 late scores when the game was a;ready over. This gives Tyrone Willingham something to harp on for the next week though as he improved to 8-0 as head coach of Notre Dame.

Notre Dame started off the game right - they forced a three and out on defense and then Carlyle Holiday performed a nice play action pass and hooked up with Arnaz Battle for 65 yards and a quick 7-0 lead. After that score the Irish used a tough defense that forced Florida State to earn every yard it got until their lapse in the final few minutes. Before the Irish gave up the 2 late TD's, it took Florida State 20 plays to score their lone first half touchdown - just the 2nd Notre Dame gave up all year.

Notre Dame capitalized off 3 FSU third quarter turnovers as well to break open the game with 17 points (a Setta field goal, a Ryan Grant touchdown run, and an Omar Jenkins touchdown reception). The Irish then added a 31 yard touchdown run by Ryan Grant. On the day Grant gained 94 yards on 19 carries which pushed his total to 813 yards on the season and his 2 touchdown runs give him 8.

For the second week in a row the offense looked like that of a top 10 team. The Irish gained 116 on the ground and 185 through the air - not great numbers, but when you consider that they had great field position most of the day they aren't bad. Holiday completed over 50% of his passes (13 of 21 for 62%) and 2 touchdown passes with no interceptions. That puts his numbers at 74 of 144 (51%) for 956 yards and 4 touchdowns and 2 INTs.

The Irish took over the game with their third quarter burst after Florida State had controlled the tempo for the first half with their 20 play 7+ minute touchdown drive in the second quarter. The Seminoles had the ball for over 18 minutes in the first half, but only came away with 10 points on a Notre Dame defense that had surrendered only 7 offensive touchdowns all season.

This game was supposed to expose the over rated Fighting Irish who only held their ranking because of their name and tradition. Well, all those experts who said this or something similar this past week and a nice helping of their own words for dinner tonight because the Irish dominated the second half and cruised to their 8th victory over the season, their third win against a ranked opponent on the rod this season.

This win puts Notre Dame in control of their own destiny for the BCS. The Irish have a home game against Boston College this week and then travel to Baltimore to face Navy then its back to South Bend for a home game against Rutgers before they finish off the season with a trip to Southern California to play USC. The Irish should be favored in all these contests and the only opponent who will be ranked when they play might be USC. If the Irish win out, book a room in Tempe for the first week of January, because they will be in the Fiesta Bowl.

With Notre Dame's top loaded schedule where they played some of their tougher opponents of the season (Maryland, Purdue, Michigan, and Michigan State), the Irish now face an easier road to Tempe than some of their fellow undefeated teams. Miami has to play Virginia Tech and Tennessee, Ohio State has a bout with Michigan after getting by PSU today, Virginia Tech has their showdown with Miami at the end of the season, Oklahoma still has Colorado, Texas A&M, and the Big 12 Championship, and Georgia has Florida and the SEC Championship ahead of them.

The best part of this win is that not only is Notre Dame at 8-0 now, but they also are continuing to improve each week. The Irish couldn't score an offensive touchdown the first two weeks of the season against Purdue and Maryland, they scored 5 of them today against Florida State. Granted three were set up nicely by turnovers, but that is what great teams do - make you pay for your mistakes. This is a special team and this team has a real chance to be 12-0 when the season ends - itsimportant Notre Dame takes 1 game at a time and you know that Ty was very upset about the 2 TD's at the end. That's just more motivation for next week though.