TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The blood pressure surely reached uncomfortable levels in Notre Dame friendly households and among the blue and green-clad folks in Doak Campbell Stadium.

But not fatal ones.

Notre Dame pulled out a 41-38 overtime win over Florida State in its opener after squandering an 18-point second-half lead. Here are five initial thoughts from the game.

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This was the Marcus Freeman debut everyone envisioned, until it wasn’t.

For the first three quarters, it felt like Florida State’s best chance for explosive runs against Notre Dame’s defense fooling the front seven, primarily with misdirection. Outside of one deep shot touchdown and several missed tackles that led to an 89-yard touchdown run, Freeman’s first 45 minutes as Notre Dame defensive coordinator were strong.

Then it all unraveled in the final quarter.

The Seminoles gashed Notre Dame’s three-man fronts in the run game, exploited leaky contain and scored 18 unanswered points to tie the score at 38 with 40 seconds left in regulation. Notre Dame seemed to give up a 5-yard hole on just about every play. Edge defenders consistently lost contain. The havoc plays Notre Dame generated in the first half disappeared.

Florida State marched at least 10 plays on its three fourth-quarter scoring drives after zero double-digit play drives in the first three quarters. Two of them started at its own 25 yard line or worse.

Equally strange was a breakdown in reliability from sophomore tight end Michael Mayer, whose drop inside the Florida State 40-yard line with five seconds to go prevented the Irish from attempting a game-winning field goal in regulation. Instead, Coan was intercepted on a Hail Mary and the game went to overtime.

All told, Notre Dame looked very much like a team with a lot of roster turnover playing its first game.

The Notre Dame quarterback’s mindset was easy to sense: go make plays. From the start, he wanted to be a big reason, if not the reason, the Irish won the game.

He succeeded by leading a five-play, 48-yard scoring drive capped by his 23-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Joe Wilkins Jr. that gave the Irish a 17-14 lead with 2:21 left in the first half. It was a daring throw near two defenders and demonstrated trust in his receiver.

Coan and Notre Dame couldn’t mount another scoring drive right before halftime, but he took a shot for senior wide receiver Braden Lenzy on a play that sent three receivers downfield on third-and-5. It fell incomplete.

The theme continued in the second half. Notre Dame’s first possession came after Florida State took a 21-17 lead, and Coan immediately looked to push the ball. He connected with senior receiver Kevin Austin Jr. on a 29-yard reception on the first play. He lofted a fade to Austin later on the drive for a 37-yard touchdown.

There were mistakes, of course. Coan short-hopped sophomore tight end Michael Mayer on a third-and-4 in the first half, was off-target on a throw to junior running back Kyren Williams that prevented him from reaching the first-down marker on fourth-and-2 and nearly threw an interception on Notre Dame’s second series. He missed Mayer on a short out route on second-and-4 late in the fourth quarter. He was sacked four times.

Those paled in comparison, though, to his standout throws. Coan ended the game with 366 passing yards, four touchdowns and interception. He completed 26 of his 35 pass attempts.

Notre Dame could lean on its ground game a year ago. It’s not clear the Irish will be able to in 2021.

A dip in reliability is not a complete surprise, given the turnover on the offensive line and the inevitable step back when a team loses three top-100 draft picks on the offensive line. But Notre Dame’s run game isn’t a consistent yard-gaining, explosive play operation yet. Williams and sophomore running back Chris Tyree combined for 73 yards on 25 carries, with a long of 12 yards.

Four times in the first half, Notre Dame faced a third or fourth down with three or fewer yards to gain. It threw the ball three of those times. That’s a contrast to a year ago, when those were usually run situations and successful conversions.

Perhaps it was just a way to break tendency from last season. Or perhaps it’s in indication the Irish know they won’t be quite as automatic in that area this year or in the early season.

Coan wouldn’t have had the success he did without capable receivers. Notre Dame appears to have a go-to target in Austin, who had six career catches for 108 yards entering the game but nonetheless was viewed as the key to pass-game explosiveness. After one game, that seems like a fitting description. Austin caught four passes for 91 yards and a touchdown, nearly equaling his career output.

He was a steady downfield threat, with two receptions on passes thrown at least 20 yards past the line of scrimmage. Both were contested catches that highlighted his physicality. He added a 17-yard reception.

A bonus demonstration of his physicality: On Lenzy’s 24-yard third-quarter catch that set up a first-and-goal, he blocked a defensive back just about into the side wall.

Notre Dame has to give Tyree a chance on kick returns at some point.

He’s the Irish’s fastest player and deployed as a returner because of his home-run ability. Twice, though, he fair caught what looked like returnable, line-drive kicks with blockers in front of him – including on the final possession of regulation. The other was the kickoff that began Notre Dame’s first possession of the second half.

It’s understandable for Notre Dame to want to avoid disaster in both situations and take the ball at the 25-yard line. It’s also understandable to let a dynamic player try to break off a big return in a situation where one would’ve been helpful.

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