Notre Dame kept its College Football Playoff hopes alive on Saturday as they beat NC State 36-7. After a slow first half marked by questionable play-calling, the Irish turned it around in the second with hard-nosed defense and an effective passing game. Freshman quarterback CJ Carr exploded for 342 yards, while the defense notched a season-high four sacks and three interceptions. With the victory, the Irish improve to 4-2.
The Irish’s defense started the game off hot. Sophomore defensive lineman Boubacar Traore swarmed NC State’s shifty sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey for an early sack. Traore’s big play forced a Wolfpack three-and-out and set the tone for the Irish’s first offensive possession of the game.
Thanks to a lively pass rush, Notre Dame’s offense got the ball back just over a minute later. On the second play of the drive, senior wide receiver Will Pauling came up big once again for Notre Dame, hauling in a 42-yard reception. Notre Dame continued to move the ball with ease, feeding the ball to both junior running back Jeremiyah Love and the receivers as they marched towards the end zone.
To the surprise of many, Notre Dame opted to pass on a 4th-and-1. The decision backfired. Carr rolled out of the pocket and was forced out of bounds by the NC State defense for a 10 yard loss. That play deflated the Irish’s offense through the rest of the first half.
NC State’s offense, meanwhile, showed signs of life. Redshirt sophomore running back Hollywood Smothers made a few key plays after the Wolfpack got the ball back. A gutsy fourth down conversion later, Bailey found sophomore wideout Terrell Anderson for a 45-yard grab. Anderson darted by freshman cornerback Dallas Golden, leaving himself wide open on the right sideline.
The sudden touchdown drew silence from the home fans and an eruption from the small sea of red in the south section upper bowl at Notre Dame Stadium. However, the applause was short lived, as the score was NC State’s only one of the day.
The Irish’s half was characterized by tipped passes on third down and questionable calls from both the play-callers and referees, especially on the Irish’s 4th-and-3 with under two minutes left. In an eerily similar 4th-down situation from the first quarter, Freeman decided to go for it. The Irish faithful experienced deja vu as Carr rolled out to the right with pressure in his face. With nowhere to go, Carr heaved the ball into the end zone and was intercepted by redshirt freshman Asaad Brown Jr.
Although a flag was initially thrown on the play for pass interference on Carr’s intended target of senior wide receiver Malachi Fields, the referees conversed and instead elected to pick up their flag.
Boos echoed around the stadium after the decision. They were perhaps even louder when junior cornerback Christian Gray’s apparent interception was ruled incomplete on NC State’s next possession. The Irish fans’ displeasure quickly turned to jubilation on Notre Dame’s final drive, in which they quickly drove 40 yards downfield in 20 seconds to set up a field goal for senior kicker Noah Brunette. His low-kick just managed to sneak over the uprights, giving Notre Dame a 10-7 lead after one half.
At halftime, Freeman’s message in the locker room was clear.
“My message was stop beating Notre Dame. That was the message. You look at the touchdown drive in the first half, and bad technique, we give up an explosive play and they convert on two or three third-downs and that's the result,” Freeman said at his post-game press conference.
He continued to share what he asks from his players, “Your mindset has to just be, I don't care what happened last play, I don't care what happened — I've got to win this play. I've been trained to win this play, and I've got to go out there and do it, and then you've got to move on to the next one, and that's going to hopefully help you get the results you want.”
Freeman’s message was well-received. Notre Dame proceeded to outscore NC State 26-0 in the second half.
Both teams started the half with three-and-outs. The Irish offense then rediscovered their rhythm, thanks largely to senior quarterback Tyler Buchner. Buchner, whose botched point-after-touchdown hold against Texas A&M contributed to Notre Dame’s gut-wrenching loss, played the lead role in a fake punt midway through the second drive of the half. With senior punter James Rendell lined up to punt, the Irish rapidly changed their formation and put Buchner under center. Buchner received the snap, went up the gut and gained a pivotal first down.
When asked about the play-call, Freeman said, “We’re trying to always steal a possession, extend drives, and I thought we needed it at that moment because we went three-and-out the first drive of the second half, got a false start on that drive by Ashton, and I’m like, we need something, we need a plug and it was 4th-and-2 and I’m like, go run it.”
Freeman’s bet paid off, providing Notre Dame with the boost of energy they needed to produce offensively. The “Buchner-drive” ended up tallying 11 total plays for 90 yards and ending in an 18-yard receiving touchdown on a clever route through the middle of the end zone by sophomore wide receiver KK Smith. Smith had a career day, scoring his first career touchdown and gaining more receiving yards in one game than his entire career thus far.
NC State tried some trickery on their next drive, but the Irish defense displayed some hunger. Sophomore linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa made a nice read on the trick-play to stop Bailey, and senior defensive lineman Junior Tuihalamaka made his presence known throughout. Along with senior safety Jalen Stroman, junior defensive lineman Elijah Hughes and Traore, they had a monster day for Notre Dame. The contingent combined for two quarterback hurries and four sacks. The steady pressure allowed the Irish to also record three interceptions. As a collective, defense coordinator Chris Ash’s unit has come a long way from recording only one sack combined in the first two games of the season.
“Yeah, I think what I talked about after that week, maybe it was Purdue, is that there was two options … Chris Ash can blame the players and the staff, and in return the staff could blame him and the players can blame him, or you guys come together, you double down, you fix it, you have uncomfortable conversations and you really work tirelessly to get this thing to a better level, and that’s what they did,” Freeman said.
After Notre Dame’s defensive stand, the offense kept things humming. From their own 20-yard line, Love burst for 24 yards and Carr connected with Smith for a 31-yard gain to reach NC State’s 25.
Carr spoke about Smith’s emergence against the Wolfpack, saying, “That was awesome, just to see KK get the tap. We’ve always known he’s got a unique wiggle to him, and it was just the consistency of doing it in practice, catching the ball and running the right route every time. He’s just done that for the last few months, and has been really consistent. You guys saw it out there. It wasn’t only the touchdown, he had a few out routes, a great catch.”
The drive was capped off by another strong first-down run from Love, setting up a Pauling touchdown. Pauling beat his man off a nice cut towards the middle before reeling in Carr’s dime. The touchdown is Pauling's third consecutive game with a score. His 105 yard performance is his single-game best in a Notre Dame uniform.
The Irish put a stamp on the game early in the fourth quarter. Facing fourth-and-11 trailing by two scores, NC State went for it less than a minute into the quarter. Pressure forced Bailey to make an uncomfortable pass, which was intercepted and returned 44 yards by sophomore safety Adon Shuler, setting Notre Dame up at the NC State 17.
The Irish settled for another Brunette field goal, extending the lead to 27-7. On Notre Dame’s next drive, launched by a Viliamu-Asu interception, Price fumbled only two yards away from a touchdown. Luckily for Notre Dame, NC State’s play in response resulted in a safety as Bailey awkwardly fumbled the ball and accidentally downed it in the end zone.
Freeman’s team left their final mark on the game by driving 82 yards downfield en route to a Love touchdown. The score was set up by an impressive 36-yard reception from senior tight end Eli Raridon on an inch-perfect cross-field pass by Carr.
Raridon, who led all players with 109 receiving yards, sang Carr’s praises after the game, saying “I’ve never seen a quarterback see the field like he does.”
Sophomore cornerback Karson Hobbs effectively ended the game, recording an interception with just over a minute left.
Overall, Notre Dame outgained the Wolfpack 485 yards to 233. Carr’s efficiency in the air, coupled with the all-around effort defensively, inspired Notre Dame to their fourth win in a row. The Irish now turn their attention to the battle for the Shillelagh as they host USC next Saturday with kick off set for 7:30 p.m.
