Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/894058
30 NOV. 6, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED What Worked Keep Pounding The Rock: There is an expression about what happens when an im- movable object meets an ir- resistible force. That was the best way to explain the NC State run defense — the immovable object — meeting the Notre Dame ground game — the irresistible force. Notre Dame entered the game with the nation's sixth- best rushing offense (317.9 yards per game) and the Wolf- pack featured the sixth best rushing defense (91.3 yards al- lowed per game) in the country. Early on, it seemed that NC State would carry the day. Junior running back Josh Ad- ams ripped off a 21-yard gain on the first play of the game, but the Wolfpack quickly set- tled down and forced a punt three plays later. On Notre Dame's second offensive series, Adams was dropped for a seven-yard loss, which immediately killed the Irish drive and led to a three-and-out. Notre Dame didn't back down and kept grinding against the NC State defense. Trailing 14-7 in the second quarter, the Irish went on a 14-play drive that covered 72 yards, and 11 of those plays were on the ground and produced 54 yards. On its next possession, Notre Dame went 60 yards on eight plays. The Irish ran the ball four times for 19 yards en route to taking their first lead of the game at 21-14. By the end of the first quarter, the NC State defenders had their hands on their hips and were gasping for air against an Irish offense that had toughed out 136 rushing yards on 28 attempts, the most yards NC State had given up all season. The physical first half helped Notre Dame blow the game open in the second half, notably when Adams ripped off a 77-yard touchdown to make it 35-14. Irish Defense Gets NC State Out Of Sync: NC State's potent and ef- ficient pass game could never re- ally get going against Notre Dame. Quarterback Ryan Finley entered the game averaging 281.1 yards per game through the air while complet- ing 69.4 percent of his passes. Against Notre Dame, Finley com- pleted only 17 of 37 passes (45.9 per- cent) for just 213 yards. Finley also threw his first interception of the sea- son, which Notre Dame ran back for a touchdown. The Irish couldn't get much pres- sure early, but defensive coordina- tor Mike Elko had his cornerbacks play more press coverage, which took away some of NC State's favor- ite quick throws. When the corners played off they would read Finley's drop, and when he took a three-step drop they would plant and drive on the ball, and the result was seven passes broken up. With Finley was forced to go deeper as the game wore on, the Irish pass rush was finally able to start getting to him, sacking him once and registering six hurries. What Didn't Work Special Teams Miscues: Notre Dame's special teams gave up its sec- ond touchdown in as many games against NC State, when senior punter Tyler Newsome's second punt of the contest was blocked and then recov- ered by NC State in the end zone. After jumping out to a 28-14 lead, Notre Dame's kick cov- erage unit allowed senior Jaylen Samuels to rip off a 58- yard return to get the ball into Irish territory. Fortunately, the Notre Dame defense came up with a crucial fourth-and- one stop to end the following NC State drive. Vertical Pass Game Can't Connect: Offensive coordina- tor Chip Long wanted to go deep in the game, and the of- fense had plenty of opportuni- ties to do just that. Notre Dame had a number of receivers open in one-on- ones down the field, but it could not connect on any of the seven downfield throws. Junior receiver Equanimeous St. Brown dropped a deep ball over the middle, and junior quarterback Brandon Wim- bush missed two vertical throws short and missed three on overthrows. Play Of The Game Adams Puts It Away: Notre Dame iced the game in the fourth quarter when Adams ripped off a 77-yard touchdown to make it 35-14. NC State could not recover from that deficit. The design and execution of the play was flawless. Notre Dame spread four receivers out wide, with two to the quarterback's left and two to his right. At that point Wimbush had a decision to make: throw the ball outside or hand it off to Adams. If NC State lined up with six players between the offensive tackles (in the box) he would throw the ball outside. If the Wolfpack lined up with five play- ers in the box, he would hand it off. NC State bumped one of its line- backers outside expecting pass, leaving five players in the box, so Wimbush handed it off to Adams, who cut behind a brilliant block from senior center Sam Mustipher and im- mediately broke into the open field for the touchdown. ✦ NC State: What Worked And What Didn't Work CLOSER LOOK BRYAN DRISKELL Bryan Driskell has been a football analyst for Blue & Gold Illustrated since April 2015. He can be reached at bdriskell@blueandgold.com. The Notre Dame defense shut down North Carolina State's prolific pass attack, limiting redshirt junior quarterback Ryan Finley to 17-of-37 pass- ing for 213 yards. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA