Early season lessons learned: Quick takes from No. 10 Notre Dame's blowout win over Florida State

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Notre Dame had a day on Saturday.

The defense got to Florida State early and often, and the offense took care of business against a struggling Seminole defense.

The Irish cruised to 8-1 with a 52-3 win over Florida State. Quarterback Riley Leonard scored his 12th and 13th touchdowns of the season, coming within one touchdown of tying Brandon Wimbush for all-time single-season record for rushing touchdowns in a season.

Here are some quick takes from Notre Dame's win over Florida State on a chilly Saturday night in South Bend.

Notre Dame is better running through defenses

Notre Dame's first drive of the game was textbook. Six plays, 75 yards, touchdown. That's the right way to open up a game in any pretense, but even more so against the 1-8 Seminoles. 

After that, Notre Dame's second and third drives of the game totaled -1 yards of offense. They didn't attack any specific spot of the FSU defense and sputtered.

On drive No. 4, Notre Dame woke up. Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock dialed up a run for Jadarian Price who sliced through the Seminole defense for a 65-yard touchdown run.

Instead of going around the FSU defense, the Irish went through it.

Price and Leonard were the main rushing catalysts, and they created offense and kept the FSU defense honest by going through the middle and wearing down the Seminoles.

Rylie Mills is arriving

Early on in the third quarter, Notre Dame defensive end Rylie Mills recorded his third sack of the evening.

At that point in time, Florida State had just two passing completions as a team.

Mills doubled his season sack output Saturday night. He had three sacks coming into the game against Florida State and finished the game with three sacks.

Mills had sacks on consecutive plays in the first half to force third and fourth down, too.

Getting an uptick from Mills now would be a massive boon for Notre Dame. Howard Cross III is already the Irish's standout defensive tackle. He was a preseason All-American.

Getting Mills at a high-level as a pass rusher to compliment Cross can push the Notre Dame defense to another level at a time where the College Football Playoff is in sight.

A season's lesson aren't lost on Notre Dame

Notre Dame has learned.

The loss to Northern Illinois hurt. It hurt so bad, the Irish used it as their rallying cry for the rest of the season. "Remember the pain," they say.

Lesson learned.

A 1-8 Florida State team should not have provided any issue for Notre Dame Saturday. The Seminoles did not. Notre Dame doubled up FSU in yardage at halftime and just took care of business.

Since that fateful Saturday against NIU, all Notre Dame has done is take care of business. Head coach Marcus Freeman will be the first to say Notre Dame cannot overlook opponents.

They didn't on Saturday. 

Notre Dame's history with FSU is easily noted. There was the Game of the Century in 1993, plus the primetime top-five showdown in 2014. The Irish have been on both sides of big wins and deflating losses in this series.

Saturday was nothing close to that. Florida State is not good this year. Notre Dame still couldn't afford a loss. Another stumble and ND would be out of the College Football Playoff race, even with an extended 12 teams.

They took care of business on Saturday. That's a different team that took the field earlier this season.

Eyes turn to Howard Cross III

In blowout wins, teams vie for quick outcomes without any injuries at all. 

Notre Dame's preseason All-American defensive tackle Howard Cross III left the game with an injury where he was a lot of pain.

He got up and left on his own power, which is a good sign, however his status will come clear at a later time.

After losing standout defensive back and fellow preseaosn All-American Benjamin Morrison for the year with a lower body injury, Notre Dame can't afford to keep losing its best defensive players.