Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1540307
20 OCT. 18, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED NC State converted a fourth-and-1 of its own with a 2-yard run up the middle. SECOND QUARTER NOTRE DAME 10, NC STATE 7 Top Moment: Everyone in the sta- dium thought Bailey's third-and-4 conversion inside the two-minute warning to sophomore wide receiver Terrell Anderson would be overturned — except those making the decision. Two plays later, junior Irish cornerback Christian Gray caught what appeared to be an interception, but the officials thought otherwise and overturned it on replay review. The Notre Dame Stadium crowd was not pleased. Feature Performer: Senior tight end Eli Raridon caught 4 passes for 58 yards, including back-to-back receptions at the end of the half to inch the Irish into field goal range. Stats: NC State converted 3 of 6 third-down attempts, while Notre Dame went 0 of 4. Items: The Wolfpack tied the game at 7-7 on a 45-yard deep ball from Bailey to Anderson … NC State made a second fourth-down stop, intercepting Carr on a prayer intended for redshirt senior wideout Malachi Fields … Redshirt se- nior kicker Noah Burnette just sneaked a 48-yard field goal over the crossbar, giving the Irish the lead for good. THIRD QUARTER NOTRE DAME 24, NC STATE 7 Top Moment: Notre Dame's offense appeared to be stalling when its punt team trotted onto the field on fourth- and-2 from its own 38-yard line. But the Irish had something up their sleeve: Red- shirt senior quarterback Tyler Buchner. They shifted out of punt formation and snapped it to Buchner, who picked up the first down on a quarterback keeper. Feature Performer: Later in the series, Carr found redshirt sophomore wide receiver KK Smith for an 18-yard touchdown, the first of Smith's college career. The seldom used wideout played almost the entire quarter and finished it with 3 receptions for 59 yards. Stats: Notre Dame outgained NC State 145-42. The Irish picked up 10 first downs to the Wolfpack's 3. Items: Carr hit Pauling for a 12-yard score, giving the Wisconsin transfer his third touchdown in as many weeks … Senior defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka killed a drive by snuffing out a trick play for a loss of 4 … Traore brought down Bailey for his second sack of the game. FOURTH QUARTER NOTRE DAME 36, NC STATE 7 Top Moment: With a chance to put the game away, Carr dropped a dime to Raridon on a corner route to the 1-yard line. Despite pretty good coverage by the NC State defender, Carr laid the ball where only Raridon could come up with it. Love scored from 1 yard out on the next play. Feature Performer: Impossible to pick just one on the Notre Dame de- fense, which intercepted Bailey not one, not two but three times. Redshirt soph- omore safety Adon Shuler, sophomore linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and redshirt freshman cornerback Karson Hobbs each took the ball away. Stats: Notre Dame totaled 69 return yards on its 3 interceptions. Items: Burnette drilled a 34-yard field goal after Shuler's interception set the Irish up in the red zone … Bailey dropped a snap and picked it up while his knee was down and the ball was in the end zone, resulting in a safety … Carr added 74 passing yards to finish with 342. ✦ Redshirt sophomore safety Adon Shuler made 3 tackles and had 1 of the Fighting Irish's 3 interceptions against North Carolina State quarterback CJ Bailey. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER