The Irish emerged victorious following the Boise State performance with another strong defensive showing against the NC State Wolfpack. Here's how they were able to win:
Notre Dame stops NC State's offense
Chris Ash’s defense began the contest on a strong note in the opening drive of the game forcing a quick three-and-out. Pressure was the ticket in this game and it began with sophomore defensive lineman Boubacar Traore’s sack on second down. The play put NC State way behind the chains and forced a punt after an unsuccessful third down run play.
The Irish quickly turned defense into offense, beginning the drive at the NC State 48 yard line. It only took six plays to take the ball the distance. Senior wide receiver Will Pauling, who was filling in for Jaden Greathouse, caught two passes for 51 yards to help set up the Irish with a first and goal. The Irish punched in the touchdown on a two-yard scamper between tackles by junior running back Jeremiyah Love. The Irish led 7-0 with 12:53 in the first quarter.
On the next offensive drive, the Irish drove down from their 31 to the NC State 17. On fourth down, redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr rolled out to his right looking for a short yardage play in the red zone and cluelessly ran out of bounds. This was the first of three 4th-down attempts that was stifled by the NC State defense and gave the ball back to the Wolfpack.
Notre Dame takes the lead late in the second quarter
NC State began their next drive with backup quarterback Will Wilson converting a critical 4th-and-1, picking up two yards with a quarterback power run play for the first down. CJ Bailey followed the conversion by unloading a deep shot to Terrell Anderson who was well in front of freshman cornerback Dallas Golden. Anderson strolled into the end zone to even the game at seven with 13:48 in the second quarter.
With two minutes left in the second quarter, the Irish had another 4th-down opportunity from the NC State 8-yard line. This time Mike Denbrock called a play action look for Carr and he was flushed again to the right of the pocket with pressure. Forced to take a shot on fourth down, he threw the ball away into the endzone and it was picked off by freshman cornerback Asaad Brown, giving NC State 1:51 to take the lead before halftime.
The Irish picked up another critical sack with the Wolfpack driving. This time, senior Jalen Stroman got back to Bailey on an eight-yard sack on 3rd-and-7. This gave the Irish the ball back after a punt, and gave them 23 seconds to get into field goal range with one timeout. Carr threw a 23-yard strike over the middle to junior tight end Eli Raridon to get the ball past midfield. On the next play he lofted a ball perfectly over Raridon’s shoulder again for 30 yards to get the Irish comfortably within field goal range. Senior kicker Noah Burnette sank the 48-yard field goal as time expired to take a 10-7 lead heading into half time.
Irish special teams trick NC State
Marty Biagi dialed up another flawless special teams fake on the second Irish drive of the half on 4th-and-2 from their own 38. Motioning senior punter James Rendell out wide, senior quarterback Tyler Buchner shifted under center and ran the ball three yards for the first down. Carr cashed in the ticket as he delivered a 3rd-down strike to a wide open sophomore wide receiver KK Smith in the end zone. The Irish extended the lead 17-7 with 6:58 left in the 3rd quarter.
The third-quarter damage was not yet done as Pauling’s big day continued. He hauled in his second touchdown reception of the season on a 12-yard touchdown throw from Carr. This moved the score 24-7 in favor of the Irish as the defense continued shutting down the NC State offense.
Irish hold the Wolfpack in fourth quarter
NC State took the final two minutes of the third quarter with a six play drive that bled into the fourth. The consecutive first downs and growing momentum ended after CJ Bailey’s desperation 4th-and-11 pass was intercepted by sophomore safety Adon Shuler. The Irish got the ball back with 14:17 in the fourth quarter and were able to punch in a field goal.
Sophomore linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa followed up Shuler’s effort with another interception. In fact, every NC State fourth quarter drive ended in a takeaway for the Irish defense, with the defense forcing three interceptions and a safety. The safety came after a fumble on the goal line by junior running back Jadarian Price at the one yard line. On the first NC State snap of the next drive, Bailey fumbled the ball and recovered it while the ball was in the end zone and his knee was down, signifying a safety.
The Irish followed up the safety with more points on the board and a smooth 10-play 82-yard drive that gave Love his second rushing touchdown of the day and 86 yards on the ground.
The Irish defense put the cherry on top of this masterful performance against the 4-2 Wolfpack. Sophomore cornerback Karson Hobbs intercepted a pressured throw from Bailey on fourth down to seal the game. Outgaining NC State in every metric, the Irish won 36-7 in another defensive shutdown forcing three interceptions, four sacks and 51 yards rushing.
Heading into the contest against USC the Irish need to make another step towards defensive improvement, which Chris Ash has showed so far. The Irish will take on USC at home on Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m.
