Three things to know about Notre Dame Week 2 opponent NC State
This Notre Dame football article was written last week in advance of NC State’s 24-14 victory over UConn and the Fighting Irish’s 56-3 win over Tennessee State. It was packaged and included in the most recent edition of Blue & Gold Illustrated the magazine, which you can subscribe to or buy single issues of right here.
1. Reuniting Of QB And OC
Some things just go together.
Peanut butter and jelly. Popcorn and the movies. Lemonade and sunshine. Offensive coordinator Robert Anae and quarterback Brennan Armstrong. Yup. We went there.
Here are Armstrong’s career numbers in four seasons with Anae as Virginia’s offensive coordinator: 500-of-793 passing (63.1 percent) for 6,824 yards with 51 touchdowns and 23 interceptions in 31 contests. In one season without Anae last year, Armstrong completed just 185 of 338 passes (54.7 percent) for 2,210 yards with 7 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 10 games. In 11 games in 2021, Anae’s final year at UVA, Armstrong threw for 4,449 yards and 31 touchdowns with 10 interceptions.
It doesn’t help Armstrong’s label as a system quarterback by following Anae to North Carolina State, but he’s pretty much assured himself of playing better in his final season of college ball than he did in his penultimate one. It could be a legit quarterback battle between Armstrong and Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman. On that front, Armstrong and Anae are looking to avenge a 37-17 loss to Hartman and Wake Forest in 2021.
2. Controllable Ground Game
The Notre Dame defensive line could be set up for success against North Carolina State.
The Wolfpack’s No. 1 running back, senior Jordan Houston, did not score a single touchdown on the ground in 2022 on a team-high 136 carries. North Carolina State had only 8 rushing scores as a team last year. That ranked tied with Bowling Green for No. 127 in the FBS.
It wasn’t just an inability to get into the end zone for the Wolfpack’s rushing attack. The Pack averaged 3.35 yards per carry, which was tied with San Jose State for 115th in the country.
Sophomore Michael Allen is Houston’s complement as North Carolina State’s No. 2 back. He had 53 carries for 268 yards as a true freshman last year in addition to 11 catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. Those numbers aren’t terrible, but they’re not anything the Fighting Irish can’t handle. Allen didn’t have a rushing touchdown in 2022 either.
3. Award-Winning Special Teams Loss
Hartman and the Demon Deacons lost to North Carolina State by nine points last year. That’s how many Lou Groza Award winner Christopher Dunn accounted for on field goals. Dunn, now with the Los Angeles Rams, made 28 of 29 field goal attempts overall in 2022.
His 51-yard connection to put North Carolina State up by 13 late in the third quarter of the Wake Forest game last year felt like a massive moment for the Wolfpack. That’s when the Pack put it on Hartman to have to score two more touchdowns instead of a touchdown and a field goal.
Then, with 2:54 to play in the fourth quarter, Dunn put a chip-shot 25-yard field goal through the uprights to make it a two-score game again at 30-21, which ended up being the final score.
North Carolina State will start Western Kentucky transfer Brayden Narveson as Dunn’s successor. Narveson is 53 of 68 (77.9 percent) in his career. He went 15 of 21 for the Hilltoppers last season.
