Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 11, 2025 35 GAME PREVIEW: NORTH CAROLINA STATE I don't know that there's noise," Doeren said of the mounting heat after going 6-7 last season and the Wolfpack losing its fifth successive bowl game. "I know that there is, because that's what our world does right now, but I don't pay attention to any of that. "My job is to stay focused on what's go- ing on inside these walls with these young men. Externally, besides being a husband and a father, my job is to recruit. My job is not to listen to you or the media or anyone else about their opinion of our program. "It's to do everything that I can to help these guys win the next game, and that's the same thing I'm telling them. And you find out who your friends are. "You'll find out who's loyal and who isn't during tough times, and you have to block the people out of your life that aren't that way. You don't need to read negative things. You don't need to pay at- tention to negative things." The positive things for the Wolfpack start with sophomore quarterback CJ Bai- ley, a 6-foot-6, 213-pound act-alike of Arkansas' Taylen Green, though not as advanced as a passer and who uses his legs more to extend players than to be part of a Wolfpack running game that ranked 77th nationally heading into the matchup with Campbell. Bailey, redshirt sophomore running back Hollywood Smothers and sopho- more deep threat Terrell Anderson helped the Wolfpack get out to a 3-0 start by out- scoring North Carolina State's defensive mistakes and shortcomings, including in a 35-31 takedown of 24th-ranked Virginia in Game 2. But against the Hokies, Bailey got sacked five times, and the Wolfpack was outrushed 222 yards to 59. "As I said after the game, I felt like we lost the line of scrimmage enough in that game to prevent us from being efficient on offense," Doeren said. Trying to add to North Carolina State's sudden backward offensive regression is Doeren's longtime friend, Chris Ash, Notre Dame's first-year defensive coor- dinator and who experienced his own un- friendly fire from the Irish fan base com- ing out of the gate this season. Ash and Doeren were college team- mates at Drake and later coached together at Drake and Wisconsin. Meanwhile, North Carolina State's problems on defense are compounded by a thinning corps of linebackers and de- fensive backs. "A lot of guys that are getting play- ing time now that are inexperienced and young, and that's not an excuse," Doeren said. "That's the reality, and we're going to have to work really hard as coaches to get these guys the best opportunities that we can to play well, and for them, it's their opportunity." The special teams units don't help the Wolfpack win in the margins, ranking 84th in net punting nationally heading into the game with Campbell, and no higher than 95th in any coverage or return statistical category. Turnover margin has become an issue, too (91st nationally). Now, will North Carolina State's resolve be as well? "It's about fighting even harder," Do- eren asserted. "And when things get tough, you've got to level up — whether it's the things that were made public last week about Coach Eliot and his family to the injuries that we have in the secondary and linebacker. Facts & Figures NORTH CAROLINA STATE AT NOTRE DAME Date: Oct. 11, 2025 Site (Capacity): Notre Dame Stadium (77,622) Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET Television: Peacock Radio: This game can be heard on Notre Dame IMG affiliates. Series Facts: Series tied 2-2. Head coaches: North Carolina State — Dave Doeren (91-67, 13th season); Notre Dame — Marcus Freeman (36-12, 4th season). Noting North Carolina State: Redshirt sophomore running back Hollywood Smothers entered the Campbell game as the ACC's leader in rushing yards (570), which placed him fourth in the FBS … The Wolfpack has lost five players to injury at the nickel/safety position, three of whom are now out for the season. The latest to go down was Brody Barnhardt in Game 5, a 23-21 loss to Virginia Tech Sept. 27 … Since 2020, the Wolfpack has been involved in 33 one-score games (eight points or fewer). That's fourth-most in the FBS. The Pack is 20-13 in those games. 2025 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET)/Result Aug. 31 at Miami L, 27-24 Sept. 13 Texas A&M L, 41-40 Sept. 20 Purdue W, 56-30 Sept. 27 at Arkansas W, 56-13 Oct. 4 Boise State W, 28-7 Oct. 11 NC State (Peacock) 3:30 p.m. Oct. 18 Southern Cal (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Nov. 1 at Boston College TBA Nov. 8 Navy (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15 at Pittsburgh TBA Nov. 22 Syracuse (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 29 at Stanford TBA 2025 NC STATE SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET)/Result Aug. 28 East Carolina W, 24-17 Sept. 6 Virginia W, 35-31 Sept. 11 at Wake Forest W, 34-24 Sept. 20 at Duke L, 45-33 Sept. 27 Virginia Tech L, 23-21 Oct. 4 Campbell W, 56-10 Oct. 11 at Notre Dame (Peacock) 3:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at Pittsburgh TBA Nov. 1 Georgia Tech TBA Nov. 15 at Miami TBA Nov. 21 Florida State (ESPN) 8 p.m. Nov. 29 North Carolina TBA ESPN rated sophomore CJ Bailey as the No. 32 quarter- back in college football through the first five weeks of the season. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS