Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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40 OCT. 11, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: NORTH CAROLINA STATE (43.83 yards per punt) through the first five weeks of the season. The Irish need kicker Noah Burnette to stay healthy, but North Carolina State has been dealing with kicking issues of its own. Redshirt freshman Nick Koniec- zynski went 1 of 3 in the first game of the season, which led to graduate student Kanoah Vinesett, the starter last season, receiving opportunities once again. It's hard to anticipate when and how Notre Dame will attempt a fake punt or field goal, but the Wolfpack will have to be prepared for possible trick plays from special teams coordinator Marty Biagi. That makes it even harder for teams to be aggressive with block attempts or re- turns. Advantage: Notre Dame COACHING North Carolina State head coach Dave Doeren could be coaching for his job this season. He survived a losing record last year in his 12th season leading the Wolf- pack, but Doeren already has a pair of ACC losses on his record this season. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Free- man and his staff outcoached Doeren's crew in the 45-24 Notre Dame win at North Carolina State in 2023. That could be the case again. Like Freeman, Doeren's coaching background came on the defensive side. And much like Freeman, his team's de- fense hasn't been good enough this sea- son. The coaching matchup may come down to which offensive coordinator — Mike Denbrock for Notre Dame or Kurt Roper for North Carolina State — can better expose defensive weaknesses. Denbrock's game plans have been aces since some struggles in the opener, so expect the Irish to have the advantage. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES When Notre Dame and North Carolina State met in Raleigh, N.C., in 2016 and 2023, weather impacted both games. The two teams won't have to play through hurricane conditions, and hopefully the Irish have already had enough lightning delays in Notre Dame Stadium so far this season. If the Wolfpack is going to find a way to beat Notre Dame, it will likely need something unforeseen to swing the game in its direction. The trip to Notre Dame will be North Carolina State's longest of the season to date. The Wolfpack better use its travel time to figure out how to overcome a motivated team in its home stadium. Notre Dame's already been battle- tested this season, and it's hard to find an intangible that will work against the Irish. Advantage: Notre Dame Staff Predictions Todd D. Burlage: Notre Dame 42, North Carolina State 24 Heading into the 2025 season, the biggest question mark for NC State was how successfully veteran head coach Dave Doeren could refortify his depleted defensive backfield. Through his first five games, the answer was a resounding, "not very well." The Wolfpack entered play last weekend ranked 117th nationally in passing yards allowed per game (267.6) and 99th in points allowed per game (28.0). It's not a good defensive profile against a Notre Dame team that features one of the most prolific passing and scoring offenses in the country. The Irish have too much firepower for NC State to think upset. Steve Downey: Notre Dame 48, NC State 14 After a 3-0 start, the Wolfpack suffered a mistake-filled loss to Duke, followed by a stunning defeat to a struggling Virginia Tech team that was blown out by Old Dominion two weeks prior. The biggest culprit has been a defense that is one of just three nationally to give up an 80-yard rush and one of eight that has allowed four or more carries of 40-plus yards. Missed tackles are mounting with a season-high 14 in the loss to the Hokies bringing the five-game total to 49 (9.8 per game). That's bad news for a team that has to face the dynamic Irish running back tandem of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. Notre Dame will, quite literally, run away with this one. Eric Hansen: Notre Dame 44, NC State 23 Familiarity breeds? Lots of points, likely, in the reunion of NC State head coach Dave Doeren and Notre Dame defensive coordinator Chris Ash, former college teammates at Drake and coaching staff co-conspirators multiple times thereafter. But as the Irish defense may be figuring things out, NC State's defense continues to struggle, while its potent offense suddenly has started to regress. On top of all that, the Wolfpack community had to deal with the personal tragedy of first-year defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot losing his daughter, Drue, to pediatric cancer. Eliot missed NC State's 23-21 home loss to Virginia Tech Sept. 27 because of that situation, ahead of an Oct. 4 matchup with Campbell, an FCS school with one of the weakest defenses in that division. Tyler Horka: Notre Dame 49, NC State 21 This is another one of those games in which the opponent's weakness matches up with Notre Dame's strength; the Wolfpack's defense, if you could even call it that, versus the Fighting Irish's offense, which is clearly one of the best in the country. Notre Dame's defense is steadily improving, too, which isn't a good thing for the visitors as well. Not much more to write about this one other than it will be another productive day at the office for CJ Carr and company. Irish win big. Then it's on to Southern Cal. Tyler James: Notre Dame 45, NC State 27 Notre Dame's defensive improvements will be tested again with an intriguing offense from NC State. The Irish will need to limit explosive passing plays from quarterback CJ Bailey and explosive runs by running back Hollywood Smothers. But Notre Dame's offense should continue to keep the pressure off the defense by scoring at a high rate. The Wolfpack will have a hard time containing the Irish's rushing attack or quarterback CJ Carr. The Notre Dame Stadium scoreboard operator will stay busy. Kyle Kelly: Notre Dame 56, NC State 17 The last time the Wolfpack played on the road, they let up 45 points to a Duke team that only scored 46 points combined in its two games prior. With Notre Dame's prolific offense, I like the Irish to explode in the points category once again. After all, the only other time the Irish played NC State in the Marcus Freeman era — in 2023 — they won 45-24. Look for the Irish to win big again. Jack Soble: Notre Dame 34, NC State 20 Notre Dame is hitting its stride at the right time, just as it did last season. But last season wasn't all blowouts and putting backups in for the fourth quarter; there was still the occasional comfortable but closer-than-it-should-be win. That will be NC State, who comes to South Bend the week before Southern Cal, this season. The Wolf- pack are a middling ACC squad, but they face the Irish at a time when they might be looking forward to the Trojans. It won't be enough of a trap game for Notre Dame to lose, but it will be just enough to give the Irish a brief scare.