(Photo: Joe Weiser)
Phil’s Fighting Irish Focus
There was some ugly, there was some bad, but mostly there was a lot of good as Notre Dame rolled to a 36-7 win over North Carolina State on Saturday, pushing the Irish’s winning streak to four. The familiar mix of mistakes and mastery—red-zone miscues, short yardage woes, dominant defensive play—tells a story that has become typical under Marcus Freeman: teams that learn from their shortcomings while asserting itself when it matters most.
The Bad and the Ugly
First, the bad and the ugly, always good to get the negative stuff out of the way first. Short-yardage and red-zone struggles persisted for the second straight week. Notre Dame left at least three potential scores on the field, going just 5-of-8 in the red zone. On ND’s second drive, the Irish drove all the way down to the 7-yard line but picked up only one yard in two plays, ending on a 4th-and one sack of CJ Carr. Later, on a 4th-and-3 from the 16, Carr was forced into a pressured throw that resulted in an interception—the first since Texas A&M. At that point, the score was tied 7-7, and NC State briefly had visions of an upset coming into focus and the ND crowd grew restless.
Then came the third quarter: Jadarian Price fumbled at the goal line, and the Irish came away with nothing after an Adon Shuler interception. Ohhh lad, mortal sin! (For our younger readers, SEE: “Frank Leahy”.)
For the second straight week, perplexing replay and officiating decisions added to the frustration. The crowd made their feelings clear, loudly booing as the officiating crew left the field.
Overall, Notre Dame went just 6-of-14 on third down and 1-of-3 on fourth down. With USC looming next week, finding a reliable short-yardage solution is now critical. Last week in short yardage situations, it was the wildcat package with Jeremyiah Love that failed to deliver, this week trying to roll Carr out to make a play also failed. ND simply has too much firepower to keep leaving points on the field, and converting in short yardage situation should not be an issue, but here we are.
The Good
Despite the struggles, the good Saturday, far outweighed the bad. I said it repeatedly last week, “In South Bend defense is back in style”, and after the effort against the Wolfpack, it is even more obvious that the defense is back. set the tone, recording four sacks, three interceptions, and a safety—the first since the 2023 Sun Bowl. NC State was held to just 233 total yards, well below its season average of 447 yards per game. Running back Hollywood Smothers, who came into averaging 116 yards rushing per game, was limited to just 46 yards on 12 carries.
Chris Ash’s unit continues to rise nationally, ranking a respectable 47th in scoring defense. Over the past three games, Notre Dame has pitched second-half shutouts while generating a boat load of turnovers : 11 interceptions on the season, including seven in the last two games.
CJ Carr bounced back after early miscues, throwing for 342 yards and two touchdowns. He now has two 300+ yard games this season, becoming the first Notre Dame quarterback to accomplish that since Jack Coan in 2021. Carr’s 1,622 passing yards are the most by an Irish QB in a season’s first six games since Everett Golson in 2014.
Notre Dame also had two 100-yard receivers for the first time since the 2021 Fiesta Bowl: tight end Eli Raridon caught seven passes for 106 yards—his career high and the first Irish TE with 100+ receiving yards since 2023—while Will Pauling added 143 yards and a touchdown. Running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price combined for 152 yards and two touchdowns. Love scored his 31st career touchdown and became the second-fastest modern-era Irish RB to reach 2,000 career rushing yards, doing so in just 329 carries.
Notre Dame forced back-to-back three-and-outs to open the game and held the Wolfpack to just 51 yards in the third quarter, a stretch that produced 26 points that effectively put the game out of reach. Safety Adon Shuler, cornerback Karson Hobbs, and linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa each recorded the interceptions.
Special teams added a boost as well, with placekicker Noah Burnette hitting field goals from 48 and 34 yards and converting all extra points. Tyler Buchner picked up a momentum sparking first down with a 3 yard run on a fake punt.
Growth Amid Growing Pains
Even with another convincing win, there are plenty of lessons to be learned. Notre Dame failed to score a touchdown on four red-zone penetrations, and the short yardage game has been a fiasco the last two weeks. Carr is completing 67% of his passes with a 13-to-3 touchdown/interception ratio, but high expectations due to his significant talent magnify every time he is not perfect. The bottom line on Carr, he is good, really good, and he is getting better, but he will never be perfect.
Good, Bad, and Ugly, All in a Win
Saturday’s game encapsulated everything that has defined Notre Dame under Marcus Freeman: the good, the bad, and the ugly. The offense struggled at times, and red-zone execution faltered—but the defense dominated, turnovers piled up, and the Irish proved resilient. “Offensively there’s some bad, but there’s some really good. Like there’s some really good,” Freeman said, a reminder that while there is room for improvement, the positives far outweigh the negatives.
With 5-1 USC coming to town next week, Notre Dame will need to clean up its red-zone execution and develop a living, breathing short-yardage plan to have success. Still, the 36-7 win over NC State is solid evidence that the Irish are more than capable of taking advantage of what will prime opportunity to show they belong among college football’s elite.