Lack of 'complementary football' dooms Wolfpack in lopsided loss at Notre Dame, 36-7

By Noah Fleischman

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Caden Fordham walked into the visiting interview room at Notre Dame Stadium with a look of exhaustion while still donning his battered game uniform. NC State’s graduate linebacker had another sense of displeasure, stressing the importance of all three phases playing together as one unit. 

After all, the Wolfpack defense tried to do everything it could against No. 16 Notre Dame. But as it never had a chance to catch its breath on the bench, and the Irish offense was able to assert itself in the second half while rolling to a 36-7 win on Saturday afternoon in the 95-year-old cathedral of college football. 

In his two minutes, 39 seconds meeting with the less than half dozen Raleigh-based media members who made the trip to South Bend, Fordham mentioned the lack of “complementary football” six times. It was the message from Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren in the postgame locker room, one that seemed to resonate with Fordham.

“We just didn’t get it done. It’s simple,” said Fordham, who tied for the team lead with 10 tackles to go with 0.5 sacks. “We’ve got to play complementary football. We haven’t done that yet all year, in my opinion. I think we’re a great team, but we’ve got to play complementary, and we haven’t done that yet this year.”

Unlike in the Pack’s previous two losses where penalties and special teams mistakes doomed the team, this time around it was the offense’s inability to move the football. That hadn’t been an issue through the first six games with NC State scoring at least 23 points in each one (with 30 or more in three of them), but it was problem at Notre Dame. 

The Wolfpack set up shop in Notre Dame territory on just two drives in the second quarter. The first ended on a 45-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey to sophomore wideout Terrell Anderson, while the other was on the next drive series that ended with a punt from the Irish 47-yard line. NC State made it to the Notre Dame 29 on its final drive of the game, but turned the ball over on downs to effectively seal the 29-point defeat.  

In all, NC State had 7 punts — five consecutive from the midway point of the second quarter to late in the third — with 2 turnovers on downs and 3 interceptions. 

Bailey, who was 17-of-30 passing for 186 yards with a touchdown and 3 interceptions, believed it came down to “a lack of execution.”

“We were in the game the whole time,” Bailey said. “We just had to score more, that’s what it really was. We had to find ways to get the ball in the end zone. The turnovers came on the back end in crucial moments. … I’m a competitor. I’m not going to just take a sack on fourth down. I’m trying to make a play. Games flip and change, but we’ve got to be better. At my position, I’ve got to be better. The turnovers weren’t the reason we lost. We just had to score more.”

What exactly is the lack of execution? It was the result of ineffective deep shots from Bailey, who had completed 13-of-23 throws of 20 air yards or more entering the game, according to Pro Football Focus. He had just 3 completions of 20 yards or more in the loss at Notre Dame. And it wasn’t because the Irish’s defensive backs were all over the Wolfpack’s wideouts — Bailey wasn’t able to connect in one-on-one coverage on a consistent rate. 

Notre Dame played Cover 1 for much of the afternoon, loading the box to stop redshirt sophomore running back Hollywood Smothers. The ACC’s leading rusher posted a season-low 46 yards on 12 attempts, which made Bailey’s ability to take the top off the Irish defense critical. 

And since he wasn’t able to do that aside from the one touchdown pass, the offense sputtered and failed to generate momentum on many drives. 

“CJ was off a little today. There’s no other way to say it,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. “He’s a great player, and he’s played really good for us this year. I’m not blaming him at any point. He has huge expectations for himself, and so do we. I felt like we could run by their DBs, and we did. In every other game, guys have paid for that. And we didn’t make them pay today. 

“I hate to say it, but it’s just one of those days where he wasn’t as good as he’s been in some of our other games. Notre Dame did a good job in the box.”

Eventually, the lack of generating drives that could at least consistently eat the clock hurt the Wolfpack defense. The depleted bunch due to several injuries, including redshirt senior linebacker Sean Brown and redshirt freshman safety Brody Barnhardt (both of whom didn’t travel to Notre Dame), made it tough for the Pack to rebound drive after drive. 

The tired legs showed up in the second half, which weren’t aided by NC State’s 1-for-6 showing on third down in the final 30 minutes. That allowed Notre Dame to take what was a 10-7 game at the break and turned it into a 24-0 blitz between the third and fourth quarters.

“When you’re out there on defense for most of the third quarter … our depth isn’t great. it wore us down playing a lot of minutes,” Doeren said. “We had some manageable third downs, we didn’t stop them, and they executed offensively. You’ve got to give them credit for what they did in the second half.” 

Bailey, meanwhile, called it “frustrating” to keep sending the defense back out there after a quick series that led to a punt or turnover on offense. Fordham noted that his unit still needs to be able to keep the offense in the game. That lack of complementary football seemed to bug him.

“It’s tough. We all love to play ball, and we’re going to fight for them just like they fight for us,” Fordham said. “We’re a team. We’re going to play together, and we’re going to keep going back out there and give everything we’ve got for those guys.”

Now, after losing its last three games against FBS competition, NC State is ready to turn the page in its first of two open weeks. The beat-up Wolfpack could use the breather to replenish its defense with healthier players, but that isn’t an excuse for the team’s performance at Notre Dame. 

Not playing solidly on offense and defense at the same time appeared to affect the entire team. The Pack had a chance to hang with Notre Dame for much of the first three quarters, but once the wheels fell off, it was tough sledding. 

Complementary football is a buzzword for Doeren, but he knows it’s the recipe to winning, especially against a top-25 team. That is going to be a priority moving forward when the Wolfpack prepares for its final five games of the season, which feature two Associated Press Top-25 teams (No. 2 Miami and No. 12 Georgia Tech; Florida State fell out of the Top 25 this week after its loss to Pitt, which is currently unranked but next up on the Wolfpack’s schedule).

“I wish I had the answer. It’s not because we don’t talk about it every week,” Doeren said as he opined on what it will take to correct it. “We’ve had games where we play lights-out on defense, games where we play lights-out on offense, and games where special teams were really poor. We need to put all three phases together. It’s a five-game season now. That’s going to be the focus of this thing. Finishing with three-phase football and getting better.”