Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 9, 2023 39 GAME PREVIEW: NORTH CAROLINA STATE bottle in 2022 against the run. The Wolfpack al- lowed a team to eclipse 200 yards on the ground only one time. Florida State gashed the Pack for 206 yards on 7.36 yards per carry. Notre Dame doesn't need to do that much dam- age to win this game. It just has to have another efficient game — between 150 and 200 yards and five or more yards per carry. With this Irish of- fensive line blocking for the five-headed monster of scholarship running backs, that is doable. Notre Dame gets the edge here even against a unit that had the advantage against the run in almost every game it played in 2022. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. NC STATE PASS DEFENSE NC State allowed 225.8 passing yards per game in 2022. That ranked 71st nationally. Quarterback Sam Hartman threw for 397 yards and 2 touch- downs for Wake Forest against NC State last year, but he also threw 3 costly interceptions. Two of the three players who picked off those passes are back as starters for NC State. Good news for Notre Dame: players who ac- counted for 3 of the 4 sacks the Wolfpack put on Hartman in that game, a 30-21 victory for NC State, have moved on. Thomas had 2, and Moore had 1. NC State averaged 2.2 sacks per game in 2022. That ranked 61st in the country. Notre Dame should do a better job of protecting Hartman than Wake Forest did. Even then, Hartman was 4-of-4 passing for 77 yards with 2 touchdowns when pressured against Navy in Week 0 according to SIS. He can make plays even in the face of tumult at Notre Dame because the Fighting Irish have weapons as pass catchers. Not all pressure looks the same, either. Hartman will find the pressure doesn't come barreling in on him as quickly at Notre Dame as it did at Wake Forest. Junior defensive lineman Davin Vann compiled 33 tackles, 8 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks in 2022. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP Todd D. Burlage: NC State 24, Notre Dame 21 Notre Dame puts its 28-game regular-season winning streak against ACC teams on the line in a true road game against a solid NC State team that went 8-5 last season, including a 6-1 mark at home. The Wolfpack has also won at least eight games in three straight seasons and it has lost only two of its last 20 games at Carter-Finley Stadium since 2020. An upset alert special, Notre Dame gets clipped in this one. Steve Downey: Notre Dame 27, NC State 20 NC State has won 19 of the past 21 games in which it has scored at least 21 points, including going 7-0 last year (they were 1-5 when it didn't). To remedy that, the Wolfpack brought in former Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong and reunited him with offensive coordinator Robert Anae. The last time those two hooked up in 2021, Armstrong threw for a UVA-record 4,449 yards and 31 touchdowns. However, NC State set Doeren-era lows for yards per carry (3.35) and rushing yards per game (113.8) last year. After holding Navy's triple option to just 126 rushing yards, the Irish defense should be able to make NC State one-dimensional and get to Armstrong enough to slow him down and escape with a hard-fought road win. Kyle Kelly: Notre Dame 38, NC State 30 Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman has averaged 36 points per game against NC State in three previous appearances at Wake Forest. I like him to lead the Irish slightly past that mark in a victory against the Wolfpack. Tyler Horka: Notre Dame 35, NC State 24 The Wolfpack have been a nemesis for Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman over the years. He had a 1-2 record against NC State while he was at Wake Forest. Two of the five games in which he's thrown three or more interceptions in his career came against the Pack, too. Hartman didn't have this strong of a supporting cast at Wake Forest, though, and the Notre Dame defense should be good enough to give him some breathing room in the Irish's first true road game of the season. Jack Soble: Notre Dame 31, NC State 24 NC State should be an excellent defensive team and Hartman has struggled against NC State in the past, but the luxury of Notre Dame's run game will go a long way. A balanced Irish offensive attack should put points on the board. Armstrong threw an interception in 16 out of 21 games in 2021 and 2022; expect Notre Dame to add one more. Staff Predictions