SOUTH BEND — Like a scene from “The Incredible Hulk,” Rylie Mills went on a quarterback-tormenting rampage Saturday night for 10^th-ranked Notre Dame football.

Early in the second quarter of this 52-3 blasting of woeful Florida State, Mills saw his fellow defensive tackle and close friend Howard Cross III suffer an ankle injury that would end his night. One of five team captains, Mills was immediately impacted on an emotional level.

“When Howard went down, I was just gutted for him because I know how much he put in this week and how much he makes everyone better,” Mills said. “I think that kind gave me a little frustration. We saw a guy go down, which you never want to see.”

Last month it was junior cornerback and fellow team captain Benjamin Morrison going out for the year with hip surgery. In September, the defense lost its top two Vyper ends, Jordan Botelho and Boubacar Traore, to season-ending knee injuries.

Now it was Cross, his running mate on the defensive interior, who was slowly hobbling off the field.

“I just wanted to make sure Howard was OK,” Mills said of the preseason All-American.

Then Mills saw green.

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As team trainers examined Cross in the privacy of a popup medical tent on the home sideline, Mills suddenly became an unblockable force in what was a 14-3 game. On the next snap, he roared through the porous Seminole offensive line for a sack of backup quarterback Luke Kromenhoek.

Now, on third-and-17 from close to midfield, Mills broke through again for his second sack in as many snaps.

He was just getting started.

Near-record night for Notre Dame defense

Before the night was through, the 6-foot-5, 295-pound Mills would record a third sack, that one coming early in the second half against Seminoles starter Brock Glenn. One play after that, a jumpy Glenn threw an interception over the middle right into the waiting arms of Jordan Clark.

The rout was on.

Donovan Hinish, Cross’ understudy at nose tackle, bagged a pair of sacks for himself.

And the hits kept coming on an eventual eight-sack night for an Irish defense that came in with just 18 sacks through the first eight games. That was tied for 56^th in the country, same as Cross’ jersey number.

A team-leading four of those 18 sacks before Saturday belonged to Cross, who spent the rest of this game with his ankle in a brace and his eyes scanning the field for helpful clues he could relay to his fellow linemen.

“Howard was great,” said Mills, now the team leader with six sacks. “He was a leader on the sideline. He talked to the young guys, talked to me. He just gave everyone words of encouragement.”

Six different players on coordinator Al Golden’s defense contributed to a sack total that fell one shy of the modern program record, set in a 21-20 win at Michigan State in 1994.

Besides Mills and Hinish, sacks (or portions thereof) went to defensive ends Bryce Young and Junior Tuihalamaka along with linebackers Jaylen Sneed and Jaiden Ausberry.

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Saturday’s output tied the 1987 showing in a 31-8 Irish win over the Spartans. It exceeded a pair of six-sack outbursts at USC in wins over 31-23 (1992) and 10-6 (1999).

It also left a shellshocked Florida State outfit with a 1-9 record and 38 sacks allowed on the season. Only Oklahoma, with 41, has allowed more.

“I think for the whole defense it was dominant,” Mills said. “My opinion, that shows when the front end and the back end are on the same page, when you see the back side is covering like they did, it’s hard to get completions on us.”

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After holding the Seminoles to 10-of-26 passing (38.5%) for 88 yards and a per-attempt average of 3.4 yards, Notre Dame trails only Texas in the nation’s pass-efficiency defensive ratings. Under defensive pass-game coordinator Mike Mickens, the Irish led the nation in that category a year ago.

“That’s one of the great things about our defense is we feed off each other,” Mills said. “The D-line is doing really good, and the corners are coming up to us: ‘You guys are killing it. This is great.’ And vice-versa. They’re getting picks, and we’re like, ‘Dude, this is great. Make them hold the ball.’ “

Clark, the sixth-year nickelback and Arizona State graduate transfer, was effusive in his praise of the pass rush and Al Washington’s defensive line in general.

“I mean, it’s everything,” Clark said. “I didn’t have to work too long or too hard tonight. All credit to those guys. Coach Wash does such a great job just keeping them ready, keeping them dialed. You’ve really seen that all year. They make our job as a secondary easy.”

And those anemic passing stats for the Seminoles, who now rank fourth-worst out of 134 FBS teams in passing efficiency, ahead of only Kennesaw State, Air Force and New Mexico State?

“It was really the D-line, honestly,” Clark said. “We’d like to take credit for it, but when you have guys pass rushing like Rylie Mills was pass rushing tonight and the rest of those guys, it makes it really easy for us.”

At 11.1 points allowed per game, Notre Dame has climbed to No. 3 in national scoring defense. Only unbeaten Army (10.3) and one-loss Ohio State (10.7) have been stingier.

“DMM — Deny My Man— that’s our creed,” Clark said. “That’s what we say we’re going to do. That’s our role, so we try to do it to the best of our ability.”

With three games left in the regular season, including a Nov. 23 showdown with 25th-ranked Army at Yankee Stadium, the Irish can smell the finish line.

The hope now is that Cross, who played through a high ankle sprain for much of 2022, will be able to return soon to the buddy movie he and Mills have been filming for the past few years.

Saturday marked the 57th career game in a Notre Dame uniform for Mills, the product of Lake Bluff, Ill. Cross has reached 60 career games, two shy of the program record now shared by sixth-year linebacker Jack Kiser and former safety Houston Griffith.

“From the start of the season, me and Howard knew we had to step up our game,” Mills said. “Clearly, there were times it wasn’t enough.”

The Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois in the home opener was foremost among those.

“That just sparked a fire in both of us that we have another level we can hit,” Mills said. “It goes back to why did we come back in the first place? We came back to be better versions of ourselves and play for a dominant defense. We had to put it together.”

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Sack man Rylie Mills keys near-record night for Notre Dame football