Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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28 SEPT. 16, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED The senior safety was playing the deep middle, right behind the first- down marker on third-and-17 with the Irish up 24-17 just after the start of the fourth quarter. NC State graduate stu- dent quarterback Brennan Armstrong fired a pass over the middle to fresh- man wide receiver Kevin Concepcion, but the ball bounced off his hands and careened in Watts' direction. Watts dove, got two hands under the ball and secured the catch. It was his first career interception, but most im- portantly for Notre Dame, it helped turn the tide. "The turning point, to me, in the game was when we fumbled in our own territory [near the end of the third quarter], and the defense forces a missed field goal," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said after the game. "But then we go three-and- out, right, and then the defense has an interception." Shortly after Watts picked off Arm- strong, graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman found junior tight end Davis Sherwood for a touchdown to ex- tend the Irish lead to 14. "Yeah, it was an exciting moment for the team, to give us a boost," Watts said. "And myself as well, to get more confi- dence to make more plays in the game." On the next NC State possession, an- other veteran Notre Dame safety made a play on the ball. Graduate student DJ Brown jumped a route as Armstrong threw the middle and came down with another interception. Junior running back Audric Estimé scored on the en- suing Notre Dame drive, and the rout was on. The first Irish interception of the game came early in the second quarter, when Armstrong tested sophomore cor- nerback Benjamin Morrison down the right sideline. Morrison, who dropped a pick earlier in the game, didn't drop this one. He stayed with senior wide receiver Keyon Lesane the entire way down the field, keeping his eyes on the ball and hauling it in. The pick was Morrison's first of the season after six last year as a true freshman. Notre Dame talked in fall camp about creating more turnovers as a defense, particularly early in the season. The Irish did not force a turnover until the NC STATE VS. NOTRE DAME QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON NC State 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 5:25 6:15 9:03 6:24 11:40 15:27 27:07 Third-Down Conversions 1-4 1-4 3-6 3-5 2-8 6-11 8-19 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 0-1 Average Field Position NCSU-39 NCSU-33 NCSU-42 NCSU-27 NCSU-35 NCSU-35 NCSU-35 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 9:35 8:45 5:57 8:36 18:20 14:33 32:53 Third-Down Conversions 1-4 1-4 0-2 3-4 2-8 3-6 5-14 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Average Field Position ND-16 ND-19 ND-21 NCSU-36 ND-18 ND-42 ND-31 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards NCS ND Nega ve 4 4 0-5 51 32 6-9 10 11 10-19 6 7 20-29 3 1 30-39 1 1 40-49 0 2 50 or more 0 2 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score NC State 3 2 0 1 Notre Dame 3 3 0 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-10 ND20 Estimé 80 yards run for a touchdown • 1-20 ND20 Hartman pass to Merriweather for 45 yards to NCS32 • 2-10 ND22 Hartman pass to Tyree for 65 yards to NCS13 • 3-1 NCS40 Hartman pass to Staes for 40 yards and a touch- down • 3-2 NCS35 Hartman pass to Sates for 35 yards and a touch- down North Carolina State • 1-10 NCS41 Armstrong pass to Lesane for 38 yards to ND 21 Graduate student safety DJ Brown was one of three Irish play- ers to intercept NC State quarterback Brennan Armstrong. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP