NC State head coach Dave Doeren broke down #10 Notre Dame, their opponent in their home opener this Saturday, at his weekly press conference. Here’s a summary of what he had to say.

• 12 o’clock kickoff.
  • I know that’s not a thing people are excited about. It is what it is.
  • With that, we need Wolfpack Nation to set their alarms a little earlier. Get up early. Before you go to bed have everything ready to go. Get here on time so that you can get your tailgate on. Or come in the night before even, and have an overnight stay in the parking lot would be good. We need you to be a part of this one, big-time.
  • Complimentary football for us. It’s offense, defense, special teams and then that juice that we get from our sideline and our fans and our student section. We’re excited.
• We’re excited for you to see the new jumbotron andhear the new sound system.
  • I think both of those things are going to add to our gameday environment which is already electric as it is.
• For us as a team, we’re gonna stress the details and the fundamentals.
  • This is a game that’s going to be a physical game against a really good team.
  • To get better from week 1 to week 2, it’s the little things that matter most.
• We’re playing a 2-0 football team in Notre Dame.
  • They won their first 2 games combined 98-6. They’ve done well in their first two outings, very well.
• Exceptional Quarterback that we know a lot about in Sam Hartman.
  • He’s playing really good, not a surprise. He’s been a really good player for a long time.
  • He’s a winner. He was a champion in high school and we all know what we did at Wake.
  • You can see his confidence and how he manages their offense.
  • He gets the ball to the right people, makes plays with his feet when he needs to.
  • He’s got a nice cast around him.
  • They’re definitely able to help him in other ways with the Run game and big Tight Ends.
• Really good Offensive Line.
  • Maybe the best O-Line/Running Back combo that we’ll see all year.
• They play multiple Running Backs. They’re big guys that have good balance. They’re well coached.
• Defensively, they’re aggressive. They’re sound.
  • 2 really good Linebackers.
    • As a former Linebacker coach, I enjoy watching that.
      • J.D. Bertrand (#27) and Marist Liufau (#8), their 2 linebackers are active.
      • They use their hands and play hard.
    • Defensive End Javonte Jean-Baptiste (#1), who transferred from Ohio State, is a difference-maker.
    • Boundary Cornerback Benjamin Morrison (#20) had 6 interceptions last year. Really good football player last year.
• It’s a good team. It’s exciting to play against them. A team that we don’t get to play a lot. A team that rotates through our league and plays 5 games a year. It’s our turn to get an opportunity to compete with them. Super excited about the test.
• It’s going to be a really physical game, for sure.
• I think Marcus Freeman’s done a really good job as head coach.
  • Going into his 2nd year, he had some staff turnover.
  • Sometimes that’s hard, particularly in your coordinator positions.
  • He’s done a nice job replacing good coaches with good coaches.
    • Very familiar with some of them.
      • Joe Rudolph, their O-Line Coach is an exceptional coach. We were together at Wisconsin.
• Top 10 team coming to town.
  • This is what you play and coach for.
  • Looking forward to having them in our stadium.