Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book
At 9-0, the No. 3 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish are one of college football’s last remaining unbeaten teams, but head coach Brian Kelly and the rest of the team will need to step up this week as they welcome Willie Taggart and the struggling Florida State Seminoles (4-5) into South Bend, Indiana in primetime on Saturday night.
The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on NBC. If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can still watch a live stream of the game (or DVR it) on your computer, phone or streaming device by signing up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
NBC (live in most markets) is included in FuboTV’s main package, which includes 85 total channels and is largely tailored towards sports fans. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of Cloud DVR (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours), as well as a handy “72-Hour Lookback” feature, which will allow you to watch the game on-demand up to three days after it airs even if you forgot to record it.
In addition to their extensive Netflix-like streaming library, Hulu now also offers a bundle of 50-plus live TV channels, including NBC (live in most markets). You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, “Hulu with Live TV” also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
NBC (live in select markets) is included in the “Sling Blue” channel package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you can’t watch live, you can get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage as an additional add-on.
NBC Sports Live
Additionally, you can watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the NBC Sports Live website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the NBC Sports app. You’ll need to log in to a cable provider to watch this way, but if you don’t have that, you can still sign up for one of the above options and then use your FuboTV, Hulu or Sling TV credentials to sign in and watch on the NBC Sports digital platforms.
Preview
The Fighting Irish will be without junior quarterback Ian Book, who sustained a rib injury in last week’s 31-21 road victory against Northwestern. Book was a long shot to play this week, and now that head coach Brian Kelly confirmed senior Brandon Wimbush will start again. Kelly told reporters this week the injury is day to day, and reports say Book will be available to play when the Fighting Irish travel to take on No. 13 Syracuse next week.
Book’s stellar season (1,824 yards, 15 touchdowns, four interceptions) thus far came at the expense of an underwhelming Wimbush earlier this season. Now, it is Kelly’s job to motivate Notre Dame into a complete-game performance to weather this unexpected storm.
“It seems like when this team is pushed, they really play well. So it’s my job now to get them to play with that sense of urgency for 72 plays, if that’s the average number of plays that you play. I think that’s what I’ve learned about this football team, is when they play with a sense of urgency, it’s a really, really fine football team.”
For the Fighting Irish, it is simple. With wins against Michigan, Stanford, Virginia Tech and Northwestern, win out and in you’re in the College Football Playoff.
Matchup to Watch: Florida State junior quarterback Deondre Francois has the talent to make Notre Dame fans uneasy on Saturday night. Francois was bad last week against Clemson with just 180 yards and an interception, but nobody has looked against the Tigers in weeks. Prior to last Saturday, Francois was having a good season — despite the team’s overall record — coming off a torn ACL which cost him all of the 2017 season.
Notre Dame’s defense will swallow the run, but can be vulnerable against the pass here. The Fighting Irish allow just 188.4 passing yards per game, which ranks 26th in the nation.