Game Observations - Defense: Notre Dame D Handles NC State
RALEIGH, NC - Notre Dame (3-0) went on the road and handled its business, beat NC State (1-1) 45-24 in a game that was delayed for over an hour due to weather. The Irish defense carried the day until the offense woke up in the second half, and it was the defense that played the biggest role in putting the game away.
NOTRE DAME DEFENSE
Notre Dame limited NC State to 344 yards and 4.4 yards per play, but the dominance in this game was greater than that. NC State put 65 yards and a score on the board on the final drive with the game out of hand, and some bad Irish penalties on defense extended drives. There are things to clean up, but this was an outstanding performance by the Notre Dame defense.
*** DC Al Golden and the defensive staff had a very good read on what NC State was trying to do in this game. They sniffed out the outside runs, they were prepared for and handled several trick plays and mis-directions, and when the Irish offense was sputtering the defense helped put the game away.
*** NC State started to find answers on the Irish defense in the second half, getting the ball quickly outside and hitting multiple in cuts over the middle, which led to a score that made it a 24-17 game. How the defense responded over the next three drives was nothing short of brilliant. The offense fumbled on its next series and gave NC State the football at the Notre Dame 16-yard line. They threw three straight passes and the Irish defense didn't budge, forcing a field goal that was missed. Golden adjusted to NC State's adjustments on the next two series, resulting in a pair of interceptions. Xavier Watts jumped a pair of routes over the middle that had worked well earlier, and broke up a pass and then intercepted the next play, which set the offense up for a touchdown that made it 31-17. On the very next drive. Golden had DJ Brown in position to play another in cut, and Brown played it perfectly, stepping in front of the route and picking off the ball. Great call and excellent play by Brown, which resulted in the offense putting the game away five plays later with a touchdown to make it 38-17. NC State turned it over on downs on the next series, and the offense capped things off with a score to make it a 45-17 game, and the rout was on.
*** There were some blitzes that I could nitpick from a timing standpoint, and a late game deep safety blitz was frustrating, but don't let that take away from what was overall an outstanding defensive game plan, a very well called defensive game and a well-executed game from the Irish defense.
*** Speaking of the safeties, this was their best game of the season. Golden used them as weapons all game long and asked them to do a lot of things. They were alley players against the run and pass, they were effective playing the perimeter screens, they played over the top in the pass game and they were what Golden used to adjust to the effective in routes. Nickel Thomas Harper was probably the most up-and-down, giving up a few completions and drawing a questionable holding penalty, but he also had several big plays, including a well-played pass break up of a seam route in the first quarter. Overall I felt he had a quality performance in the game. Watts not only had the breakup and interception, but he was poised to blow up a quarterback run in the red zone, but the quarterback dropped the ball. He had two cover plays where he didn't transition well and got beat, but outside of that he played very good football. Brown had one of his best games in a Notre Dame uniform, and that was happening even before the big time interception in the fourth quarter.
*** I will need to get back in the film room, but overall I thought the defensive line played very good football against the Wolfpack. They were stout against the run, gap correct and were relatively disruptive. The DL didn't have a lot of dominant reps, but they were consistently effective throughout the game at doing a number of things. Whether it was stuffing inside runs, containing scramble lanes, pressuring the quarterback or even sniffing out shovel passes, the D-Line handled its business against NC State. I thought Howard Cross III and Rylie Mills (second half) were the best of the group, but ends Javontae Jean-Baptiste and NaNa Osafo-Mensah also were strong on the edge against the runs and played disciplined football.
*** Linebacker Marist Liufau had the best game I've ever seen him play. He was all over the field, and Golden asked him to do a lot. He was used as a blitzer, he was used to spy at times, he was used to attack the run game and he was tasked with reading the backs out of the backfield. Liufau was incredibly disciplined and assignment correct from what I could see, but he was also very disruptive. We saw the tackle for loss when he sniffed out the tunnel, he got multiple pressures on the quarterback and he was good in space, but him sniffing out some trick play attempts was big. NC State tried to test Liufau and hoped he would make mistakes, and they did this by trying to sneak their backs out of the backfield on wheel routes with mis-direction looks. Liufau sniffed it every single time, which was a big key to early stops on defense.
*** Cornerbacks Cam Hart, Benjamin Morrison and Jaden Mickey all had some mistakes in the game, but they were few. Hart misplayed a deep ball that allowed a 38-yard gain, Morrison got beat for a short touchdown and got a silly personal foul penalty, and Mickey misplayed an early in cut that moved the chains. Outside of that I was very impressed with the play of the corners. Morrison picked off one deep ball and should have had a second. Mickey was sticky in coverage and Hart was all over the NC State receivers, both in the vertical pass game and on the perimeter runs and quick throws.
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