Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 16, 2023 21 twice, which were the first two first-half punts of the season for Freeman's team. Junior running back Audric Estimé had one hot dog, which was all that was necessary to come out of the lengthy pause to break off an 80-yard touchdown on the very first play following the delay. One dog was enough for the 233-pound mix of a bruising and burning back. "I tried to keep it easy," he joked. "I didn't want to get too bloated." Over two hours of real time later, Es- timé scored another touchdown that put Notre Dame ahead 38-17 with 10:42 remaining in the game. Literal raindrops were replaced with chants of "Let's go Irish!" raining down in enemy territory. The game was effectively over. It wasn't always easy for the Notre Dame offense, though, especially con- sidering the Irish rolled through their first two opponents without hardly breaking a sweat, but in the end the re- sult and accompanying statistics were more than satisfactory in a true road game against a respectable opponent. Estimé finished with 14 carries for 134 yards and the 2 touchdowns. Graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman, who once again led Notre Dame down the field for a touchdown in the final minute of the first half, completed 15 of 24 passes for 286 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. Sophomore tight end Holden Staes was on the receiving end of two of those touchdowns and led the Irish with 4 catches for 115 yards. Hartman was sacked 4 times and lost a fumble in his own territory, but NC State missed a field goal on the en- suing possession while the Irish led 24-17. The Irish got away with one there. Freeman called that sequence and the one that quickly followed the turn- ing point of the game. The Notre Dame defense intercepted veteran NC State quarterback Brennan Armstrong three times and scored two touchdowns on the following posses- sions. Sophomore cornerback Benjamin Morrison got his first pick of the season and the seventh of his career. The Irish did not make good of that takeaway, but they did score following picks from se- nior safety Xavier Watts and graduate student safety DJ Brown. Those are the takeaways Freeman said turned the tide. "That's when we scored and the game kind of got out of hand," he said. Notre Dame limited NC State to 344 total yards, 260 through the air and 84 on the ground. Armstrong never truly looked comfortable versus defensive coordinator Al Golden's unit, complet- ing only 22 of 47 throws (46.8 percent). Notre Dame didn't sack Armstrong un- til there were three minutes left in the game, and he still only ran 12 times for 26 yards after racking up 96 rushing yards the week prior against Connecticut. "We created different rush lanes to confuse him so he couldn't just step up [and run]," Freeman said. The task gets easier for Notre Dame, returning home to host Central Michi- gan. The Chippewas barely hung on to beat New Hampshire, 45-42, in Week 2. On his way out of the postgame press conference room, Freeman said it was his turn to take down some hot dogs. Central Michigan game planning could wait until Sunday. FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 3, NC STATE 0 Top Moment: Graduate student kicker Spencer Shrader made the lon- gest field goal in program history with a 54-yarder to give the Irish a 3-0 lead. Feature Performer: Tied between sophomore running back Jadarian Price and graduate student linebacker Marist Liufau. Price touched the ball four times on Notre Dame's scoring drive, totaling 32 yards. Liufau made 3 tackles, includ- ing a crushing hit for a 2-yard loss. Stats: Notre Dame averaged 2.3 yards per play to NC State's 3.4. The Irish con- trolled the ball for 9:35 to NC State's 5:25. Items: Each team started with two straight three-and-outs … Graduate student defensive back Thomas Harper broke up a near-perfect throw from NC State graduate student quarterback Brennan Armstrong on a third-and-6 … Notre Dame retained a Hartman fumble on an opening-drive sack. SECOND QUARTER NOTRE DAME 17, NC STATE 7 Top Moment: Tied between how it started and how it ended. On the first play out of the weather delay, junior running back Audric Estimé ran 80 yards for a touchdown. Later, Hartman went to work. He found senior wide re- ceiver Chris Tyree for a 65-yard catch- and-run, then hit freshman wide re- ceiver Jaden Greathouse for a 13-yard touchdown. Featured Performer: Graduate stu- dent defensive tackle Howard Cross III made 3 tackles in the quarter, all within five yards of the line of scrimmage. Stats: NC State fumbled twice in the second quarter and lost neither. Notre Dame gained 224 total yards to NC State's 78. Items: Armstrong found eighth- year wide receiver Bradley Rozner for a 9-yard touchdown pass with 1:16 left in the half. … On that scoring drive, the Irish defense committed three penalties in four plays. … Sophomore cornerback Benjamin Morrison intercepted his first pass of the season. Junior running back Audric Estimé set the tone for the Fighting Irish on the ground with 14 carries for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP