Notre Dame Handles NC State Behind Dominate Defensive Effort

Liam Farrell
Oct 11
3 min read

No. 16 Notre Dame took control and dominated the second half to take down NC State 36-7 at Notre Dame Stadium.

Photo by Notre Dame Athletics

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Notre Dame and Chris Ash's defense caught a lot of flack after the first two games of the season. Since the second half of the Purdue game, the Fighting Irish defense has been firing on all cylinders.

While the game at Arkansas may have been skewed and Boise State gained 315 yards, the Fighting Irish held NC State in every which way today. The Wolfpack only totaled 233 yards, as Notre Dame held the ACC's leading rusher, Hollywood Smothers, to 45 yards. The Notre Dame secondary played phenomenally today as well, as they held the ever-dangerous CJ Bailey to 186 yards and three interceptions.

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Much of the success of Notre Dame's secondary can be attributed to the pressure presented by the Notre Dame defensive line. Boubacar Traore has officially taken off and has proven to be Notre Dame's best weapon on the edge of this line. He ended the game with four tackles and two sacks. Junior Tuihalamaka played wonderfully as well, and single-handedly derailed an NC State drive.

In yesterday's preview, linebacker play was one of the main keys to the game and they performed. Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa recorded an interception and was tied for the lead in total tackles alongside Tae Johnson. Drayk Bowen and Jaiden Ausberry were filling run gaps perfectly, and were also showing off their athletic ability covering Smothers in open field.

"Our captains like Adon [Shuler], Donnie [Donovan Hinish] and Drayk [Bowen] have done an unbelievable job continuing to make sure our guys are practicing the right way, but their mindset is right," said Marcus Freeman.

Offensively, the Irish stalled again in the first half, which was attributed to two empty red zone possessions after failing to convert on 4th and short. If there was one glaring weakness to the Irish offensive attack, their inability to convert on fourth and short is an obvious answer.

Without those two empty possessions, Notre Dame was moving the ball with great success. CJ Carr ended the game 19/31 for 342 yards and two touchdowns. Carr made some unbelievable throws, specifically to tight end Eli Raridon, but the young quarterback sometimes looks for the big play too often. These unnecessary deep shots on 2nd and 10 keep Notre Dame behind the sticks and make it hard to convert on fourth down, as the Irish were just 6/14 today.

Raridon led Notre Dame pass catcher with 109 yards, while Will Pauling and KK Smith were the Irish's two receiving touchdown scorers. Pauling ended the game with 105 yards and Smith finished with 59 yards.

"KK's been a guy that has been practicing at a high level," said Marcus Freeman.

On the ground, the Notre Dame offensive line didn't give many holes for Jadarian Price and Jeremiyah Love, but the two superstars still found a way to make an impact. Love ended the game with 86 yards and two touchdowns, while Price added 66 yards of his own.

Special teams continued to make an impact, as Noah Burnette made a clutch 48-yard field goal at the end of the 1st half to give Notre Dame a 10-7 lead. Then later in the game, Tyler Buchner converted on a fake punt that led to an Irish touchdown drive.

"Shoutout coach Biagi and the special teams... to steal a possession," said Freeman.

In the end, it was another game in which the Irish came out sluggish in the first half, but dominated its opponent in the 2nd. Notre Dame has still yet to play a complementary football game on all three cylinders as the matchup against USC will prove to be the perfect occasion to piece it all together.

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