Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 18, 2025 21 NOTRE DAME PASSING OFFENSE: B+ The final numbers looked very good for Notre Dame's passing attack, but the Irish failed to con- vert a couple of fourth-down attempts through the air. Those were particularly unfortunate blem- ishes on an otherwise strong performance by redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr and his pass catchers. Carr finished 19 of 31 passing (61.3 percent) for 342 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 intercep- tion. Senior tight end Eli Raridon (7 catches for 109 yards) and redshirt senior wide receiver Will Pauling (4 catches for 105 yards) became the first Notre Dame duo to surpass 100 receiving yards since a loss to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1, 2022. The passing game helped the Irish take control of the game in the third quarter with Carr's 18- yard touchdown pass to redshirt sophomore wide receiver KK Smith and 12-yard touchdown pass to Pauling. Carr was sacked twice, and the first came on a failed fourth-and-1 at NC State's 7-yard line. Carr ran out of bounds after his initial read was cov- ered well. His interception came on a fourth-and-3 heave into the end zone when redshirt senior wide receiver Malachi Fields was his only option running a route. NOTRE DAME RUSHING OFFENSE: B- The Irish couldn't trust their running game to convert short-yardage situations once again. Junior running back Jeremiyah Love converted a third- and-goal from the 2-yard line to end Notre Dame's first scoring drive. But NC State stuffed Love on third-and-1 for no gain on the Irish's next pos- session, and tackled redshirt junior running back Jadarian Price for a 1-yard loss on third-and-2 in the second quarter. That was emblematic of a slow start for Notre Dame's rushing attack. The Irish rushed for a total of 11 yards in the first quarter and just 59 yards in the first half. Notre Dame ended the game with 143 yards on 39 carries for an average of 3.7 yards per carry — the worst average for the Irish since 3.5 yards per carry against Texas A&M Sept. 13. Love led the Irish in rushing with 18 carries for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns with 54 of those yards coming in the second half. Price, who finished with 15 carries for 66 yards, ripped off runs of 20, 10 and 11 yards. He fumbled at NC State's 3-yard line in the fourth quarter. NOTRE DAME PASSING DEFENSE: A NC State quarterback CJ Bailey will be happy he won't have to play against the Irish again this season. Notre Dame sacked Bailey four times and intercepted him three times. He finished 17 of 30 passing (56.7 percent) for 186 yards with 1 touch- down and the 3 interceptions. Bailey's 45-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Terrell Anderson tied the game early in the second quarter. Notre Dame freshman nickel back Dallas Golden fell for a double move and allowed Ander- son to beat him deep down the sideline. The Irish allowed two other passing plays of 20-plus yards, but the positive plays for the pass defense far out- weighed the negative ones. NOTRE DAME RUSHING DEFENSE: A NC State running back Hollywood Smothers felt the weight of Notre Dame's defense swarming to limit his big plays. The Irish limited Smothers to a season-low 46 yards on 12 carries after entering the game averaging 115.5 yards. Smothers failed to rush for more than 10 yards on any carry against the Irish. Twenty yards of his rushing total came on a pair of 10-yard gains. NC State didn't even net half of Smothers' rushing average as an entire team. The Wolfpack rushed 28 times for 51 yards. That's the fewest rushing yards Notre Dame has allowed in a game since Purdue totaled 38 on Sept. 14, 2024. NOTRE DAME SPECIAL TEAMS: B+ Notre Dame needed to see a pair of field goals go through the uprights from redshirt senior kicker Noah Burnette in his healthy return from a linger- ing right hip injury. He delivered with a 48-yard field goal as time expired in the first half and a 34-yarder in the fourth quarter. The special teams unit gave the Irish a needed fourth-down conversion, when a punt formation shifted into a shotgun formation with redshirt se- nior quarterback Tyler Buchner running the ball for 3 yards when Notre Dame needed two. The Irish scored 26 points following that conversion late in the third quarter. NOTRE DAME COACHING: B- Notre Dame still can't seem to figure out a short- yardage solution on offense. And yet it hasn't stopped head coach Marcus Freeman from going for it on fourth-and-short. The fourth-and-1 pass- ing play was so predictable that NC State dropped a defensive end into the flat in anticipation of a short throw. Freeman's decision to attempt a fourth-and-3 at NC State's 8-yard line was a bit of a head-scratcher, too. The play call — a one-man route for Fields — didn't help either. Notre Dame may have been better served with a field goal and then attempt to score again before the half, which it eventually did on Burnette's field goal. ✦ REPORT CARD BY TYLER JAMES Redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr tossed a pair of touchdown passes in Notre Dame's 36-7 win over North Carolina State. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER