Taking an 18-point lead on a one-yard touchdown run by sophomore Chris Tyree with 4:37 remaining in the third quarter Sunday night, No. 9 Notre Dame saw their three-score cushion over Florida State disappear before rallying to win in overtime, 41-38.

Speaking to ESPN’s Katie George on-field immediately following the win, Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly attempted to channel his inner John McKay, who coached USC from 1960-75 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1976-84.

The first coach in Buccaneer history, McKay once delivered the classic line, “I’m in favor of it,” when asked about his team’s execution.

Kelly’s delivery Sunday did not go quite as smoothly.

In his 12th-year at the helm of the South Bend-based program, Kelly was clearly joking about the remark and cleared up any confusion among people who took him too literally Monday morning.

As for the game itself, former Wisconsin Badger Jack Coan had a debut to remember for Notre Dame, completing 26-of-35 passes for 366 yards and four touchdowns. His yardage total is a new program-record for a player in a season-opener, breaking the mark of 346 coincidentally set by his current offensive coordinator/position coach Tommy Rees.

Likely the biggest storyline to emerge from the contest, however, was the triumph return of redshirt senior McKenzie Milton. Suffering a brutal right knee injury as a member of UCF on November 23, 2018, the native Hawaiian saw his first action in nearly three calendar years and led the Seminoles to their final 10 points of the night after redshirt junior Jordan Travis was forced to leave the field for a play due to his helmet coming off.

Up next, the Fighting Irish will return home to battle Toledo at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday on Peacock, while Florida State will play FCS Jacksonville State at 8 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.