Quarterback
Carlyle Holiday continues to evolve into the starting quarterback he has the talent to be. He looked comfortable in the pocket today. He made one error that could have been very costly in the first half when he didn't feel the pressure from behind and got stripped of the ball. He got the ball back however and completed a pass. For the day he was 13 of 21 for 185 yards and two touchdowns. He got the ball downfield more this week, but unlike earlier weeks when his deep ball was very good, he was a little behind his receivers. On the 65 yard TD to Arnaz Battle, Battle had to slow up to catch the ball. He had his man beat by more. On the 30+ yard completion to Clark, Clark also had to slow up a lot, if he hits Clark in stride it could have been 6. He didn't run nearly as much today as he has the rest of the season. There w ere a couple of designed QB draws he ran, but for the most part he stayed in the pocket and look for receivers. He is getting better at making the rush miss and hitting receivers as opposed to just taking off. He has gotten better each week and could be primed for a breakout game before season's end.
Grade: B

Runningback
Ryan Grant continues to show why he is the starter. He nearly eclipsed 100 yards again today gaining 94 yards on 19 carries with two more TDs. He is on pace for 1200+ yards this season and with upcoming games against Navy and Rutgers, could gain even more. Marcus Wilson looked ok, but it is clear that Grant is the best back on the team. Tommy Lopeinski continues to improve on his blocking from week to week as well, he helped create some nice holes for Grant to run through. Grant is only a sophomore so the best is yet to come from him.
Grade: B+

Wide Receivers
Someone other than Arnaz Battle caught the ball this week. Battle lead the team with 3 catches for 77 yards including the 65 yard TD to open the game. Omar Jenkins added a touchdown catch on a third down play after the 3rd turnover the Irish defense created. Maurice Stovall keeps seeing a lot of playing time and made a couple of catches. He is going to be a very special player for Notre Dame. Rhema McKnight is seeing the field more too and will also be a special player for the Irish. The starting duo of McKnight and Stovall is going to cause problems for many teams the next few years. Jared Clark made a nice catch from the tight end position. He could have gotten a lot more had he been hit in stride, but he still did a good job of getting open. He is another player would should make a big impact at ND before he leaves.
Grade: B

Offensive Line
The line is getting better and better each week (catching the trend on offense yet?). This week they gave Holiday plenty of time to pass and opened up some nice holes for the runningbacks. This was a big game for the OL since their dominant performance last week was chalked up to an undersized Air Force defensive front. This week they went up against a very talent defense and more than held their own. Both the pass and run blocking continues to improve and the running game is really starting to click. Notre Dame has the ability to run on any defense they between now and the end of the regular season. Jeff Faine is the best offensive linemen to be at Notre Dame in some time and should be a First Team All American this year because there is no other center who has played as good and as tough as Faine has. The rest of the line is finally starting to follow his lead and is starting to knock some people around.
Grade: B

Defensive Line
Notre Dame's defensive line held Greg Jones to 34 yards on 14 carries. The same Greg Jones that torched the highly touted Miami d-line for 189 yards two weeks ago. The front four didn't get too much pressure on Chris Rix alone, but Rix was getting rid of the ball quickly. They also come at the opposing o-line with everything they have on every play. They explode off the line and come right at you. Justin Tuck got shown he still has a lot of room for improvement by being handled rather easily by the FSU o-line. Big Ced went down with an injury, but his status is not yet known. It will be a HUGE loss if he is out for an extended period of time. The younger guys are capable of stepping in for him, but he has played so well this season at clogging running lanes and just being a disruptive force up front.
Grade: A

Linebackers
Courtney Watson shows week in and week out why he is a finalist for the Butkus Award as the best linebacker in the country. Watson started Notre Dame's third quarter outburst with a INT of Chris Rix that set up Nicholas Setta's second field goal that made the score 13-10. The linebackers played very well against the run. Mike Goolsby slipped on a play where he had a good chance to get a pick in the fourth quarter on a pass across the middle. Overall the linebackers had a couple of tipped balls that ended up being huge.
Linebackers: B

Secondary
The secondary gave up a lot of yards through the air, 325, but played well. There were not many occasions were the d-backs got burned. One most completions there was usually a d-back right there. Anquan Boldin is one hell of a receiver, he made some nice catches with d-backs all over him. Glen Earl continues to show why he is known as the head hunter of the squad, he is one of the hardest hitting safeties at ND in a while. Shane Walton and Duff played well, both got beat a couple times, but both have short memories and would come right back with a play.
Grade: B

Special Teams
Notre Dame didn't get much out of the return game but forced a turnover over on kick coverage. Joey Hildbold was HUGE. He pinned FSU deep all day long. Nicholas Setta came out of his slump with 2 field goals on 2 attempts. It was great to see Setta hit both of his attempts after being in an uncharacteristic slump most of the season. Notre Dame easily held the advantage in special teams against FSU with Hildbold having his best game in an ND uniform.
Grade: A

Coaching
Is there a better coached team in the country? The play calling remains a little vanilla at times, but this team is well prepared for every game. Tyrone Willingham and staff have done an amazing job with this squad and have then in site of a perfect season. No one thought Ty would be able to turn it around this fast, but he has. He is always in control and just wins. He was very upset over the late TD's the Irish gave up and will use that to keep the team level headed after what would have been a very lopsided win. This team will celebrate the win tonight and it will be back to business in preparing for Boston College.
Grade: A