SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Quick hits and notes from NC State’s 35-14 loss at No. 9 Notre Dame in front of 77,622 fans on a cold, with occasional flurries, Saturday afternoon at Notre Dame Stadium.
Rush defense shredded
Notre Dame became the first team this season to gain more yards rushing against NC State’s rush defense than it was averaging going into the game, albeit by the slimmest of margins. The Irish averaged 317.9 yards per game rushing coming into the contest and gained 318 yards on the Wolfpack.
The Irish’s 5.9 yards per carry were shy of the 7.1 they was averaging before Saturday, and every ball carrier who ran for Notre Dame rushed for less than his season average in yards per carry with the exception of sophomore Deon McIntosh (5.7 yards a rush Saturday vs. 5.5 on the season).
The doesn’t lessen the fact though that the Irish successfully ran at will on NC State’s defense for much of the game, and junior Josh Adams ripped off a 77-yard touchdown run that sealed the outcome of the game in the third quarter.
The last time a team ran so well on NC State was when UNC rushed for 374 yards in 2015 in Raleigh.
Offense sputtered
NC State was held to a season-low 14 points, and seven of them came on a blocked punt by redshirt junior defensive end James Smith-Williams in the end zone that was picked up by redshirt junior linebacker Germaine Pratt, who scored his second touchdown of the season, following his pick six against Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Ironically, it was the second straight year NC State blocked a punt for a touchdown against Notre Dame. The lone touchdown of the game last year, which was played during Hurricane Matthew, was redshirt junior safety Dexter Wright’s return of former defensive end Pharoah McKever’s blocked punt.
NC State set season lows in first downs (14), rushing yards (50) and total yards (263). It was over 100 yards fewer than the previous low for total yards of 365 at Florida State.
NCSU also almost set season-lows for passing yards (213) and time of possession (25:43). Both of those came at Pittsburgh, when NCSU threw for 198 yards and had the football for just 25:02.
Records Watch
Senior defensive end Bradley Chubb had three tackles for loss and a sack in the loss. He now has 51 tackles for loss in his career, moving him to within 4.5 of Mario Williams’ school record. He moved into a tie with former defensive end Art Norman for third place all-time in sacks with 23.5.
It was a relatively quiet game for senior H-back Jaylen Samuels, although he did have a nice 58-yard kickoff return in place of an injured junior running back Nyheim Hines. Samuels was held to two receptions for 21 yards and ran eight times for 18 yards.He now has 36-straight games with a catch and needs four more to set the school record.
Finley’s Streak Is Over
One record that will not be set: a new interception-free streak. Redshirt junior quarterback Ryan Finley’s consecutive passes without a pick ended in spectacular fashion with a pick six. His streak stopped at 339, 40 shy of tying Russell Wilson’s NCAA record of 379.
Another streak involving Finley was snapped. He was sacked for the first time since week three against Furman, although to be fair to the offensive line, it could be viewed as a coverage sack.
The Notable Performances
Sophomore receiver Kelvin Harmon caught seven passes for 97 yards and a touchdown. He now has 43 receptions for 644 yards and three scores on the season and is averaging 80.5 receiving yards per game. He needs to average 89.0 yards a game in the final four regular-season contests to get to 1,000, becoming the first Pack receiver since Jerricho Cotchery in 2003 to reach that level. Harmon will also have a bowl game.
Fifth-year senior linebacker Jerod Fernandez was one off his career-high with 13 tackles, including 1.5 for loss. He has assisted on at least one tackle for loss in six out of eight games this season.
Junior punter A.J. Cole III continues to punt well. He booted a season-high eight times for a 44.5 yards average, which actually brought his season average down just a tad to 44.7 yards. That would be the fourth best in a season in school history if it held.
Spotted at the game
There was a sizeable NC State contingent that made the trip from Raleigh and occupied much of the upper deck corner under the scoreboard on the NC State sideline.
Notre Dame also had a flyover after the national anthem before the game.
What the loss means
NC State is 6-2 on the season, while Notre Dame improved to 7-1 and continues its path towards a potential College Football Playoffs bid. NCSU also failed in its quest to be just the fifth team to win its first three games in the series history with Notre Dame (story here)
——
• Talk about it inside The Wolves' Den
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker
• Like us on Facebook
