Notre Dame and Florida State face off Saturday night under the lights in South Bend at Notre Dame Stadium. This matchup provides very little gain for the Irish and gives Florida State an opportunity to get their first statement win of the 2024 season. These two historic programs are always top of mind when it comes to the recruiting board and battle it out for top recruits year in and year out. Let’s look at the recruiting comparison, using the On3 Consensus rankings to compare.
Notre Dame has eight four-stars, two three-stars, and an unranked player in their starting lineup for Saturday. Florida State has one five-star, four four-stars and six three-stars in their projected lineup.
On paper, this matchup is more even than what the overall records might suggest. The Irish have seven players who were Top 300 recruits coming out of high school which include running back Jeremiyah Love (No. 77), wide receiver Beaux Collins (No. 97), wide receiver Jaden Greathouse (No. 158), left tackle Anthonie Knapp (No. 265), left guard Billy Schrauth (No. 127), right guard Rocco Spindler (No. 65), and right tackle Aamil Wagner (No. 80).
Florida State enters this matchup with four former Top 300 recruits defensive end Patrick Payton (No. 180), linebacker Cam Riley (No. 257), cornerback Azareye’h Thomas (No. 92), and the lone five star of this matchup, defensive end Marvin Jones Jr. (No. 20). The Irish have the only unranked recruit in wide receiver Jordan Faison while the Seminoles have none.
Across the board, the recruiting matchup between the Irish receiving core and Florida State’s defensive backfield favors Notre Dame with having higher ranked recruits between starters and reserves. Florida State’s secondary recruiting ranks are heavily carried by four-star cornerback Thomas.
Notre Dame Defense vs Florida State Offense
Notre Dame has eight four-star players and three three-star players in their projected starting lineup for Saturday. Florida State has five four-star players, five three-star players, and one unranked player in their projected starting lineup. It is worth noting that these numbers would look slightly better if quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, former five-star (No. 12), didn’t injury his throwing hand earlier in the season.
The Irish have the advantage across the board with five starters and six reserves ranked as former Top 300 recruits highlighted by linebacker Drayk Bowen (No. 103), cornerback Christian Gray (No. 112), defensive end Joshua Burnham (No. 108), defensive end Bryce Young (No. 56), linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (No. 42), and linebacker Jaylen Sneed (No. 35). This will be one of the strongest matchups for Notre Dame’s secondary from a recruiting standpoint. Florida State has three starting wide receivers who are former four-star Top 300 recruits: Hykeem Williams (No. 34), Ja’Khi Douglas (No. 296), and Malik Benson (No. 1).
Looking at this matchup as a whole, Notre Dame holds the advantage on offense and defense from a recruiting perspective, but it’s closer than what the overall records might indicate. The Irish have more four star recruits, Top 300 recruits, and less three-star recruits across the board.
CLASS RANKINGS
Here are the class rankings of the two programs from the last five seasons. (247 Composite Ranking)
NOTRE DAME
2024 – 9
2023 – 12
2022 – 7
2021 – 9
2020 – 18
Florida State
2024 – 12
2023 – 19
2022 – 20
2021 – 23
2020 – 22
