Notre Dame fans spent 3 quarters mostly fretting, complaining, maybe even doubting as the Irish slopped to a 7-point lead against NC State.
ND won by three touchdowns, 45-24.
It’s a choose-your-own-adventure type of day in the Irish fan base!
Secondary is primary
Remember barely a year ago, when ND was entering the Ohio State game and we were all convinced that with the green and (relatively) untalented secondary the Irish were fielding, there was no way they could be competitive?
Things have changed quite a bit. The secondary has been the rock of the defense, and especially today. The Irish picked off Brennan Armstrong three times (one each by three guys) and played terrific in coverage all day. Benjamin Morrison and Cam Hart are as good a CB duo as there is in the country, Xavier Watts had a fine game at safety, and Ramon Henderson flashed at times as well.
It’s rarely been more important in recent years for ND’s secondary to be good, given the Irish are still waiting for a game-wrecking defensive lineman to emerge. Today was the first time ND’s secondary faced a test, and it’s safe to say it passed. NC State’s scoring drives were all heavily aided by penalties, garbage time, or in one case, just a perfect throw and catch by Armstrong and Keyon Lesane. Hard to complain much about that.
Play-action success
Grinding an opponent down is nice and all, and Notre Dame had some success doing that over time, even if it was a bit frustrating at times along the way. (If you’re going to line up in that goofy wishbone set on a short-yardage play, you’d better block better.)
But the great thing about the running game (and having a good quarterback), is it turns the play-action game into a massive weapon. The key touchdown pass from Sam Hartman to Davis Sherwood in the fourth quarter was but the most obvious example. Mitchell Evans also went uncovered on the play, had Hartman decided to go that route.
1st career touchdown for @Davis_Sherwood6 #GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/oS6vFtlZaw
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 9, 2023
The actual running game itself was not what you’d hope; outside of the badly needed 80-yard explosion by Audric Estime coming out of the weather delay, ND didn’t do a lot on the ground. But it was good enough to create opportunities in the pass game, and Hartman is obviously good enough to take advantage.
The 2nd-year HC continues to grow
No one enters a football game planning for a 2-hour weather delay, and it certainly seems ND didn’t; the report that the Irish had to go to the stadium concessions for food to keep the players fueled during the delay wasn’t the best look. However, on the field, the Irish came out and ran better offense after the delay. And while the penalty situation was abominable in the first half, ND only committed one in the second half, and that one was the shoulder-shrug, what-can-you-do roughing the passer for Jason Onye touching the quarterback’s helmet.
For whatever else you can say about these Irish, they seem very capable of avoiding driving into a ditch and also getting out of the ditch when they’re approaching it. That’s no doubt a reflection of the experience level of the team, but it feels like an endorsement of Marcus Freeman’s rapid growth as a head coach as well.
Also nice to see: The late touchdowns in games that are pretty much decided but not quite. ND seemed to actively avoid such things under the previous regime, but today we saw Hartman lob a TD to Holden Staes (and what a game for Staes, eh?) that temporarily put ND up 45-17. Necessary? Not really. But there’s nothing wrong with continuing to play to win.
One more scrimmage
ND has one more chance to prepare for Ohio State when Central Michigan comes to town next Saturday. Is this a team that can beat the Buckeyes? I still don’t know. Maybe there’s nothing I could’ve realistically seen today that would’ve led me to be confident in that one. But we do know that barring absolute disaster next week, it’ll be the biggest game at Notre Dame Stadium in some time. Relish that day when it comes.
Disorganized thoughts:
-I grant NC State the Narduzzi-Niumatalolo Award for Excellence in Ineffective Try-Hard Annoyance.
-Freeman’s timeout useage at the end of the half was excellent, game changing, and a direct lesson from the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma State. Great to see. He is definitely growing as a HC.
-Secondary was excellent as well. Whatever concerns we have about Golden – and I don’t have many anymore – they don’t seem to manifest in ways that actually matter in the end.
-NC State had a chance to tie late, we denied it, then steamrolled them. That’s good shit. A lot about that game was NC State’s best-case scenario and ND’s worst, and we still blew them out.
-I have some concerns about the OL handling pressure, but there aren’t many opponents who can pull off NC State’s defensive gameplan.
-Playing 3 quarters after eating stadium concessions bratwurst is 10/10 Midwest.
-The refs were…interesting. The ACC really, really, REALLY wants to beat ND. But lo, an OPI call on an ACC opponent! Truly we live in an age of wonders.
And oddly enough, that OPI call on NCSU was maybe the weakest flag of the day on either side (though there was ample competition for that spot).
I’m just sad that the rain delay UFO from South Florida 2011 didn’t stop in for a visit.
Disagree, the weakest call was on Onye, especially compared to the ’round the throat sack that Hartman took.
On the TO usage, I wonder how much also has to do with Freeman’s confidence in Hartman. To put another way, is he calling those TOs if Pyne is still our QB? Regardless, it was savvy coaching on his part to recognize that we could still attack before the break.
1. I liked that the team looked like they were going to beat themselves, refocused and took command of the game. Not exactly the first part but I liked that they didn’t continue that trajectory. I feel like under the old regime it would have continued and we’d be pissed about an L or how we squeaked out a win.
2. I hate ESPN.
3. What’s up with the clock? It’s always running sometimes and not others. I think I understand the new rules but on NCST’s last drive of the half they completed a pass with ~2.30 on the clock and it stopped for like 15 sec and started once the ball was spotted that confused me.
4. The officiating seem atrocious in real time. Maybe it wasn’t, I’m not really sure.
The rules are made up and the points don’t matter
The old clock rules – stop for a first down and start when the ball is spotted for play – still apply at the end of a half. Outside those couple of minutes the clock runs.
Yes I thought it was the last 2 minutes? This was not inside the last 2 minutes but was close to it.
Did the player go out of bounds after the completion? The clock stops when a player goes out of bounds and then starts again when the ball is set, except in the last 2 minutes.
That was probably the case, and I didn’t realize it. Thank you for clarifying
Things were dicey for a while but they stepped up…..officials were atrocious – but in fairness in ended up being atrocious on both sides
Oh, and Tobias sighting today!!!!!
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Who’d like a banger in the mouth?
Yeah I don’t know what that means….sorry, I’m not part of the good ole boys 18 stripes club
Oh it’s not an old joke, it’s just pictures of Tobias Funke from Arrested Development, which I’ve had in reserve ever since we got a receiver named Tobias.
Gotcha….lol
Anustart
It’s Dr. Tobias Funke, thank you
ND looked sloppy and disorganized and also won by 3 TDs, so… I don’t know! They’re at least a lot better than the middle-upper tier of the ACC but I don’t think that says a lot. OSU hasn’t been tested but has also looked pretty pedestrian so far. Should be a fun game in 2 weeks (also my boss is a Columbus native and Buckeyes fan)
Cent. Mich. 45 New Hampshire 42.
Looking forward to more offensive efficiency next week, some more peanut butter jelly time
Everyone seems kind of down on the win or that there were wisconsin vibes. the offense wasn’t great and hartman had some questionable decisions and left point on the board, but heading into the 4th nd was +3.5 YPP and bc state had recovered 4 of the 5 fumbles. nd was the better team all day
That’s definitely the right way to look at it. But this was a particularly stressful 21-point win. ND let them stick around waaaaaay too long when they could have put it away right after the game picked up after the delay. There were so many missed opportunities and stupid penalties and mistakes. But given all that, anD wins in a blowout which is the important bit. One that I’m incapable of seeing until the game is actually over, ha. I’m definitely guilty of negative vibes in a game ND never was down.
WinCover your clunkersHa, that’s the next level. Though I think this might qualify as a crockpotting
Is USC this good, Stanford is this bad, or yes?
We may have to win a shootout for that game
Stanford was bad last year and is 129th in FBS in returning production this year (there are 130 teams). FCS Sacramento State next week might – and I stress might – be the last win on their schedule. Arizona, the week after that, is their highest remaining FBS win probability per ESPN at 35%.
All that said, USC’s offense is definitely elite and will be a problem. We’re going to have to score on them, so it’s a good thing they have a papier mache defense.