Slow Start, Fast Finish: Notre Dame Handles Business
- Bruce Straughan
- Oct 13
- 5 min read
Any time a team at kickoff is a 22.5-point favorite (like Notre Dame was on Saturday), you expect that team to have no problem dominating both sides of the ball and scoring at will against its opponent. That looked like it would be the case on Saturday when, on the second play of the game, Boubacar Traore got home for a sack, and the defense made easy work of NC State’s offense on the opening series of the game.
Photo via Notre Dame Athletics
Notre Dame’s offense mirrored the defense’s dominant play by marching down the field on 6 plays for 58 yards, where once again, WR Will Pauling just seems to always find a way to get open. Jeremiyah Love capped off the drive with a 2-yard run for a touchdown, and it appeared it was going to be a flawless afternoon for the Irish.
Notre Dame’s defense came out for its second defensive series of the game and again made short work of NC State’s offense with a quick 3-and-out and a punt. CJ Carr and the offense rolled right down the field with ease until they got deep inside the red zone, when Jeremiyah Love was stuffed for no gain on a 3rd and 1 on NC State’s 7-yard line. This has been a problem all season long for the Irish. They just can’t seem to find an answer for short-yardage situations when they’re needed to extend a drive.
This is just as much on the players as it is on coaching, and Offensive Coordinator Mike Denbrock hasn’t exactly done the offense justice in a lot of these situations. Case in point, on the following play, the Irish chose to go for it on 4th and 1 at the 7-yard line in NC State’s territory. Instead of getting under center (using their north and south runner in Jadarian Price) and just pounding the rock for one yard, OC Mike Denbrock decided to get cute with the play call. CJ Carr rolled out to the right with nowhere to go and just threw it in the back of the end zone on a prayer. Instead, it was intercepted for a touchback, which wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but it cost the team points, and even worse, killed the momentum.
Speaking of killing momentum, it's hard to ever get anything going when you have to face not only your opponent, but also the officiating crew as well. This marks three weeks in a row that Notre Dame has had awful calls go against them, and Saturday's example was one of the absolute worst I've ever seen. NC State's receiver clearly did not have possession of the ball, as it hit the ground, and not only was it obvious, but it took the officiating crew what seemed like an eternity to review it and still get it wrong. Something has to be done when it comes to the officiating crews at Notre Dame games. It just seems to get worse and worse every week and is never addressed by the NCAA.
From here on out, it looked like it was going to be a dogfight against a 22.5-point underdog, a position you never want to find yourself in as a player, coach, or even a fan. The defense as a whole, as flawed at times as they were, held their own all day. However, they continue to look lost at times and allow mismatches, most notably having a true freshman cornerback, Dallas Golden, left one-on-one with no safety help over the top. Even more alarming was allowing linebacker Drayk Bowen to cover a speedster wide receiver downfield for 30 yards or more. Bowen did a great job in doing so, but he should never have been asked to do so in the first place. Notre Dame got lucky on that play, and in most cases, that LB gets beat and it's a touchdown.
Head Coach Marcus Freeman looked relieved to even get a FG going into the half and be up 10-7 against a team like NC State. When a coach looks relieved in that situation, it's alarming and shows how the day is really going. At the half, it's all about adjustments, and it was with great hope that this break would be a way for Notre Dame to reset and come out dominating the way you expect them to. That wasn't the case as the Irish came out for their first offensive series of the second half with a quick 3-and-out. At that point, it just had the vibe of it being a dogfight to the end, and you'd be lucky to come away with a win. It felt very much like a Brian Kelly game of the past, where they played down to their competition and considered themselves lucky if they just came away with the victory.
It wasn't until well into the 3rd quarter that it started to take a turn, and the Irish started to look confident and comfortable again. CJ Carr finished the day 19/31 for 342 yards for two touchdowns and an interception, which are respectable numbers. But for the second week in a row, he seemed to get rattled at times and has made some questionable throws. With that said, he threw some absolute dimes like the one he threw to KK Smith for a touchdown in the 3rd quarter. For Carr, it's understandable that off-plays will happen from time to time, but he has to find a way to be more consistent if Notre Dame wants to win out.
Notre Dame found themselves yet again starting hot and then hitting a wall before finally finding their identity and pouring it on late in the game. You can't continue to do this week in and week out and expect to win. Eventually, this just won't be enough, and they will run into a buzz saw. With a team like SoCal on the horizon, the margin for error will be much thinner. This game will be a defining moment for both teams and a must-win if either wants to make it into the playoffs.
For the team as a whole, consistency is key moving forward. Looking at the final score of the game and determining that everything is fine is shortsighted and often doesn't tell the whole story of just how good a team really is. Honesty is the best policy, and if this team doesn't find a way to be more consistent, figure out the short-yardage problem, and stop starting slow, then every week will be an up-and-down emotional rollercoaster.
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It was great seeing Hobbs grab that interception!