Notre Dame Football: 3 Keys for Fighting Irish in Champs Sports Bowl

Technically, Florida State and Notre Dame will be playing in the Champs Sports Bowl on Thursday night. 

Personally, I prefer to call it the Who Wants to Salvage Some Dignity After a Disappointing Season? Bowl.

A bit of a mouthful, I know, but it gets the point across.

In all likelihood, Thursday night's contest between the Seminoles and the Irish will be the exact opposite of Wednesday's Military Bowl between Toledo and Air Force. It will be more of a defensive struggle, and it may not be very fun to behold.

If the Irish want to win the Who Wants to Salvage Some Dignity After a Disappointing Season? Bowl, there are three things in particular that they need to do.

Don't Let E.J. Manuel Overachieve 

Heading into the season, there were some who thought E.J. Manuel was going to make Florida State forget about Christian Ponder in his first season as the Seminoles starting quarterback.

So much for that. Manuel started hot, but he never really found his stride this season. As time went along, it became clear that Manuel is a good quarterback, but certainly not a great quarterback by any stretch of the imagination.

The Irish need to make sure that reputation holds. Because they've been vulnerable against the pass this season, that's something that the Notre Dame faithful should be concerned about. The Irish defense is by no means a brick wall, nor will it pile up turnovers.

If Notre Dame does keep Manuel in check, it's hard to imagine Florida State's offense going anywhere. Manuel isn't very great, and he doesn't have that many playmakers around him.

Air It Out

The last thing the Irish want to do on offense is try to run the ball too much. If they do, they won't go anywhere.

The only team that allowed fewer rushing yards this season than Florida State was Alabama. To boot, the Seminoles allowed just 2.3 yards per rush, the lowest figure in the nation. 

Florida State's pass defense is not horrible, but it's not quite as strong as its rush defense. The Seminoles allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete nearly 60 percent of their passes this season, and they allowed just short of 193 passing yards per game.

The task of negotiating Florida State's defense falls primarily on Tommy Rees, but the word from CSNChicago.com is that Andrew Hendrix will also see some action.

Both of them are going to have to produce, and the possibility exists that a two-QB system will be just what the Irish need to keep the Seminoles on their heels.

Don't Turn the Football Over

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person saying the Irish can't afford to turn the football over against Florida State. It is an important point.

That's because it is. Notre Dame's turnover margin this season was -13, and turnovers played a huge role in each of their four losses. They had five apiece in their first two losses to South Florida and Michigan, three more against USC and three again against Stanford.

A similar spike in turnovers is not going to cut it against Florida State. The Seminoles are a beatable team, but the Irish won't beat them if they give them extra chances.

In theory, not turning the ball over is simple enough. It's up to the Irish to execute the idea, and that's where you have to cross your fingers.