First look: Notre Dame has young nucleus on both sides of ball

Notre Dame rolled to a 28-7 win over Boise State on Saturday behind a stout rushing attack and a defense that created four interceptions.

Notre Dame improved to 3-2 after early-season losses to Miami (Fla.) and Texas A&M by a combined four points. The 3:30 p.m. game against NC State (4-2 overall) will be on Peacock rather than NBC, so that will be an adjustment for fans.

Ground and pound

Notre Dame for 30 years seemingly recruits all offensive lineman that are tall with big wing spans that hover around 300 pounds, and that is no different this season.

All five offensive linemen are non-seniors, and it’s a offense that thrives behind junior running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, with the latter a threat as a kick returner.

Love missed a few plays against Boise State with an early injury, but came back and finished with 16 carries for 103 yards and one touchdown. Price added eight carries for 83 yards and an electric 49-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Love has rushed 82 times for 444 yards and six touchdowns this season, and Price isn’t far behind with 48 carries for 356 yards and seven scores. Love is maybe more physical at 6-0 and 214 pounds, and Price is explosive at 5-11 and 209 pounds.

Love and Price were both backups to Audric Estime when NC State lost to Notre Dame 45-24 on Sept. 9, 2023. Love had had six carries for 24 yards and Price added seven carries for 31 yards. Estime had an 80-yard touchdown for the bulk of his 134 rushing yards. Price has four kickoff returns for 188 yards and a 10-yard touchdown against Purdue.

Love and Price should be the best duo NC State has faced in years, and none of the 2025 opponents can claim a duo that is close to them. Miami (Fla.) would be the next best squad with Mark Fletcher and CharMar Brown combining for 653 rushing yards and nine scores.

Passing game coming around

Redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Carr was ranked by On3.com No. 232 overall in the class of 2024 coming out of Saline (Mich.) High. He picked Notre Dame over Michigan among others, and is the grandson of Lloyd Carr, who coached the Wolverines from 1995-07. Carr was also an assistant coach at Michigan from 1980-94.

The 6-3, 210-pound Carr is in the enviable position where he can rely on the running game, but he’s getting better with each week. He has thrown for 1,280 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and two interceptions in five games.

Carr scrambles to buy time in the pocket and is completing 67.7 percent of his passes this season. He has a nice array of targets led by junior wide receiver Jordan Faison, who arrived as a walk-on, who plays lacrosse. He has 31 goals and 13 assists in 29 lacrosse games, and he leads ND with 25 catches for 327 yards and two scores.

Returning receiver Jaden Greathouse has been out with an injury. In his place, Virginia transfer Malachi Fields, an outside receiver, and Cincinnati/Wisconsin slot receiver transfer Will Pauling have filled the void. Fields has 17 catches for 319 yards and two scores, and Pauling has nine catches for 138 yards and two tocuhdowns. Both Fields and Pauling caught touchdowns against Boise State.

The 6-4, 223-pound Fields had three catches for 60 yards in a 24-21 Virginia loss on Sept. 22, 2023. He had 55 catches for 808 yards for five scores at Virginia in 2024.

Pauling caught 74 passes for 837 yards and six touchdowns at Wisconsin in 2023.

Senior tight end Eli Raridon is a big target at 6-7 and 251 pounds, and has 13 catches for 233 yards.

Opportunistic defense

Sophomore cornerback Leonard Moore had two interceptions against Boise State in a return from injury.

Freshman safety Tae Johnson added an interception and junior safety Luke Talich also snagged one.

What’s scary about Notre Dame is that nose tackle Jason Onye and defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio were the lone seniors in the starting lineup against the Broncos.

The game-changer in the pass rush is sophomore edge rusher Boubacar Traore. The Boston native has 20 tackles, 3.5 sacks and one forced fumble this season. Opponents have to know where he is lining up.

Junior linebacker Drayk Bowen leads the linebacker core and has 24 tackles, which is right behind leading tackler, sophomore safety Adon Shuler, who has 26 tackles.

Notre Dame kicker Noah Burnette is a familiar name and he missed the Boise State game due to injury. The former Raleigh Leesville Road High kicker went 49 of 62 on field goals in three years at North Carolina, but he also missed some big kicks against NC State over the years. He missed a field goal and extra point in NC State’s 35-30 win over UNC last year, and he missed two field goals in the Tar Heels’ 30-27 double-overtime loss against the Wolfpack in 2022.

Freshman kicker Erik Schmidt filled in for Burnette against Boise State and missed his lone field-goal attempt against Purdue on Sept. 20.