Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1507383
24 SEPT. 16, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT On the first offensive play following a one-hour and 45-minute weather delay, junior tailback Audric Estimé took a handoff and scampered 80 yards nearly untouched for the first touchdown of the game that gave Notre Dame a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. The two-score lead for the Fighting Irish was never seriously threatened by the Wolfpack the rest of the game. Estimé rightfully gets the glory for the rush- ing touchdown. But this turning-point play was made possible by junior Notre Dame tackle Joe Alt, who pulled all the way from his left side to pave an open lane on the right side that Estimé didn't miss. STATS OF THE GAME Some good and some bad in this category. The good was the big plays Notre Dame hit against NC State. The Irish hit five plays of at least 35 yards in the game: the 80-yard touchdown run from Estimé; a 45-yard toss and catch from graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman to sophomore wide receiver Tobias Merriweather in the second quarter; a 65-yard connection from Hartman to senior wideout Chris Tyree in the second quarter; a 40-yard touchdown pass from Hartman to sophomore tight end Holden Staes in the third quarter; and a 35-yard touchdown strike from Hartman to Staes in the fourth quarter. On the downside, Notre Dame committed 10 penalties that cost it 82 yards and stalled some offensive drives and extended a couple of NC State offensive drives. The Irish also finished only 5 of 14 (35.7 per- cent) on third down conversions after entering the game ranked third in the country with a 77.8 percent third-down conversion rate. DEFENSIVE CONSISTENCY The Fighting Irish defense gave up a handful of big plays and committed more than its share of ill-timed penalties against NC State. But the bend-don't-break approach held up in this third straight blowout win. Following Notre Dame's 42-3 win over Navy and 56-3 victory over Tennessee State, it was presumed that those two dominating defensive performances were only a reflection of the qual- ity of competition. Notre Dame put that theory to rest when it dominated most of the game at NC State, outside of a couple of plays. The Irish turned 3 intercep- tions of Wolfpack graduate quarterback Brennan Armstrong into 14 points and they allowed only 84 rushing yards to NC State. Collectively, the Irish defensive backs held Arm- strong to only 22-of-47 passing with 2 touch- downs and 3 interceptions. It also held the Wolf- pack to an average of only 4.4 yards per play in the game, compared to the 7.5 yards the Irish offense managed. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY TODD D. BURLAGE TAILBACK AUDRIC ESTIMÉ The Irish junior busted an 80-yard touchdown run on the first offensive play of the second quarter on his way to 134 rushing yards. Notre Dame again went deep into its running back rota- tion, which limited Estimé to only 14 carries against NC State but he made the most of them by averaging 9.6 yards per carry. This marked the second straight 100-yard rushing game for Estimé — who recorded 116 yards against Tennessee State on Sept. 2 — and the fifth 100-yard rushing game of his career. He added a 7-yard rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter. QUARTERBACK SAM HARTMAN For the third straight game, the graduate student signal- caller earned a game ball after connecting on 15 of 24 passes for 286 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions against NC State. Two of Hartman's scoring tosses went to sophomore tight end Holden Staes. Targeted five times by Hartman, Staes finished with 4 catches for 115 yards and the 2 touchdowns (40 yards and 35 yards), the second and third scoring grabs of his career. Despite facing more pass pressure than he did in the previous two games against Navy and Tennessee State, Hartman coolly and efficiently led five touchdown drives on his final eight of- fensive possessions. IRISH DEFENSIVE SECONDARY It is difficult to single out one individual player from this unit, which finished the game with 3 interceptions and 8 passes broken up while holding NC State to 46.8 percent passing (22 of 47). Perhaps its biggest moment came early in the fourth quarter when senior safety Xavier Watts intercepted a pass that the Irish converted five plays later into a touchdown that pushed their lead to 31-17 and essentially put this game on ice. Graduate student safety DJ Brown added 5 tackles and an athletic fourth-quarter interception that set up another Irish touchdown. Graduate student safety Thomas Harper finished with a team-best 7 tackles along with two timely passes broken up. And sophomore cornerback Benjamin Morrison chipped in with 3 tackles and his first interception of the season. GAME BALLS BY TODD D. BURLAGE Sophomore cornerback Benjamin Morrison had 3 solo stops and grabbed one of the 3 intercep- tions that the Irish secondary collected against NC State. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP