N.C. State downs Notre Dame in monsoon-type conditions

North Carolina State safety Dexter Wright picked up a blocked punt and returned it 16 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown as the Wolfpack defeated Notre Dame 10-3 in a game played in monsoon-type conditions caused by bands of downpours from Hurricane Matthew on Saturday afternoon at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C.N.C. State defensive end Pharoah McKever blocked Tyler Newsome’s punt on the game’s biggest play with 12:43 to play.It was Notre Dame’s first football game in Raleigh, where N.C. State was celebrating the exact 50-year anniversary of the first game at Carter-Finley Stadium.There was a delay of about 30 minutes prior the start of the second half, accompanied by what was called a voluntary evacuation of the stadium.The Irish (2-4) moved into N.C. State territory and picked up a fourth-and-2 conversion with more than three minutes to play but couldn’t do it on fourth-and-8 because of a botched snap. The Irish never got the ball back.N.C. State running back Matt Dayes picked up 84 of his 126 rushing yards in the first half. He carried 23 times as the Wolfpack (4-1) won their third game in a row.Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer completed 9 of 26 passes for 54 yards. The Irish’s three points marked the fewest under coach Brian Kelly.N.C. State’s Kyle Bambard kicked a 38-yard field goal in the first quarter for the only first-half scoring.Notre Dame tied it on Justin Yoon’s 40-yard field goal with 11:03 left in the third quarter, with the Irish benefitting from Wolfpack punter A.J. Cole slipping while taking a snap and his knee touching the turf.N.C. State reached the 3-yard line in the third quarter, but a wayward snap on third down and a fumbled snap on what would have been a field-goal attempt kept the score at 3-3 despite the Wolfpack’s possession lasting nearly eight minutes.Bambard missed his first attempt from 31 yards out before connecting on his next chance.Notre Dame, going with the wind, had possession in N.C. State territory twice in the second quarter, losing the ball on a fumble and an interception after a first-and-goal from the 6.N.C. State safety Jarius Morehead, a redshirt freshman making his first start because of the first-half suspension served by Shawn Boone for a targeting ejection a week earlier, made the pick at the 1-yard line.Kizer, who connected on five of his first seven passes, hit only one of his last seven throws in the first half.