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Previewing NC State’s Opponent: #10 Notre Dame

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#10 Notre Dame has been dominant in their first two games. In two games, the Irish have scored a combined 98 points, and have only given a field goal in each game.

Sure, the games were against Navy (42-3) and Tennessee St. (56-3), but there is no denying they handled business.

The Irish are averaging 500 yards of offense per contest. The play calling has been fairly balanced, rushing the ball 63 times and passing the ball 55 times.

Former Wake Forest Quarterback Sam Hartman will be a familiar face for the Wolfpack defense. Through the first two games, Hartman’s ProFootballFocus grade of 90.9 is the best on the Notre Dame offense, and the 7th best in College Football. He has completed 82.5% of his passes for 445 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 0 interceptions. For good measure, he even logged a rushing touchdown.

Jayden Thomas has been Hartman’s #1 target through 2 games (8 targets), catching 8 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown. Thomas also has the best PFF grade of all the Irish receivers.

After Thomas, Hartman has spread the wealth, targeting 5 separate players 5 times: Rico Flores Jr., Tobias Merriweather, Jaden Greathouse, Mitchell Evans (TE), and Chris Tyree. Greathouse leads the team with 2 touchdown receptions, and also has 5 receptions for 98 yards.

Hartman has also involved the Running Backs in the passing game, targeting them 24% of the time.

As good as Hartman has been, the Irish have been bullies in the running game, averaging 206 rushing yards per game. Audric Estime is clearly the lead Running Back for Notre Dame. He has rushed for 211 yards and 2 touchdowns in 2 games, averaging 7.3 yards per carry. But don’t get it twisted…even though Estime is averaging roughly 15 carries per game, the Irish’s rushing attack isn’t a one-man show.

Jeremiyah Love has averaged 9.6 yards per carry (86 yards), and has logged 1 touchdown. Gi’Bran Payne has rushed the ball 12 times for 58 yards, and has 4 receptions for 40 yards and a touchdown. Jadarian Price has rushed the ball 6 times for 30 yards, and has 2 receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown.

On the defensive side of the ball, the three players tied for the most tackles (10) happen to also be the three players with the three highest grades according to PFF: DT Howard Cross III (90.1), LB Marist Liufau (82.8)  and LB Jack Kiser (82.0).

3rd String Defensive End Joshua Burnham leads the Irish with 4 pressures, and his PFF grade of 80.6 is the 4th best on the team. Defensive End Javontae Jean-Baptiste ranks 5th on the defense with a PFF grade of 78.5.

Linebacker J.D. Bertrand and Cornerback Cam Hart are the defensive captains. Bertrand has 8 tackles through 2 games. Benjamin Morrison, the other Cornerback on the other side of Hart was a Freshman All-American last year.

 

Matthew is Publisher and Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He is also the Lead Pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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NC State Football

CBS Sports Ranks Dave Doeren as 1 of the Top-20 Coaches in College Football

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CBS Sports released their Top-25 Power 4 Coaches in College Football, and NC State’s Dave Doeren came in at #16. Heading into last season, he went into the season ranked #25.

16) Dave Doeren: The NC State coach finally gets some overdue credit. He’s always hovered around the bottom of our top 25 or just outside it, and now he finds himself firmly entrenched in it thanks to all the changes at the top. Coaches who take mid-tier programs and overachieve never get enough credit, in my estimation, and the consistency Doeren has established at NC State — where he spent most of his time in a division with Clemson and Florida State — is one of the most impressive things any coach in the country has done. I’m glad to see Doeren getting closer to the top 15. 2023 rank: 25 (+9) (CBS Sports)

Numerous CBS Sports’ analysts voted in the poll, and Tom Fornelli actually ranked Doeren #8.

ACC Coaches that made the Top-25

3. Dabo Swinney (Clemson)

8. Mike Norvell (FSU)

16. Dave Doeren (NC State)

19. Jeff Brohm (Louisville)

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NC State vs. Tennessee Kickoff Time & TV Network Revealed

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Kickoff time and TV Channel details have been revealed for NC State and Tennessee’s game in the Duke Mayo Classic in Week 2 of next season.

The game will be a primetime game on Saturday 7th, at 7:30pm on ABC.

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This game has the makings to be a Top-25 matchup.

Here’s a look at some of the Way-Too-Early Preseason rankings for the Wolfpack and the Volunteers:

Action Network: NC State #24/Tennessee #17

ON3: NC State #22/Tennessee #15

247: NC State #21/Tennessee #11

ESPN: NC State #17/Tennessee #15

DraftKings released their way-too-early odds for the game, and Tennessee is currently a 5.5-point favorite.

Here’s the deal, as NC State fans, if we want to be a big time Football program, NC State fans need to gobble up tickets to this game. Let’s do our part and make sure that Bank of America Stadium is painted RED. Buy Tickets HERE.

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NC State and UVA Agree to Home-and-Home Non-Conference Games

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NC State announced this morning that the Wolfpack and UVA will play in a home-and-home non-conference series, with the game in 2025 being in Raleigh, and the game in 2026 being in Charlottesville.

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To reiterate, despite the fact that both teams are in the ACC, these games are considered non-conference games, and won’t count toward conference records. This is similar to what UNC and Wake Forest did a few years back.

Here’s what’s interesting about the addition of these games in 2025 and 2026. Prior to the announcement, NC State already had 4 non-conference games scheduled for both years.

It would be my assumption that one of the previously scheduled non-conference games for each season will not take place now.

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NC State’s 2024 Transfer Class Rankings After Carter Commitment

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