RALEIGH — It’s a new year for NC State with a new quarterback, a new offensive coordinator and new hopes. But in its Saturday afternoon home opener against 10th-ranked Notre Dame, the Wolfpack had the same old offensive problems.
Sixth-year quarterback Brennan Armstrong — expected to bring stability to NC State’s offense as he did when he was teamed with new Wolfpack offensive coordinator Robert Anae at Virginia — threw three interceptions, and the Wolfpack were throttled 45-24 by the Fighting Irish on a wet Saturday afternoon at Carter-Finley Stadium.
“I performed like crap, right?” Armstrong said. “I threw three picks. You’re not going to win the game if you put your defense in tough spots all game long. We didn’t help them at all. They gave us the ball two times to start the game right around the 50-yard line and we didn’t put any points up.”
Armstrong struggled both with his reads and on his throws, though the Wolfpack receivers didn’t do him any favors with several drops.
NC State (1-1) and Notre Dame (3-0) also had to battle the elements.
The game was delayed after the first quarter for an hour and 45 minutes due to a thunderstorm that brought rain and lightning — even temporarily disabling NC State’s new video board in its debut. Not that such weather is uncommon when Notre Dame visits Raleigh. The last time the Fighting Irish played at NC State, in 2016, Hurricane Matthew was blowing through North Carolina and the two sides played through a torrential downpour that ended with a 10-3 NC State win.
The Wolfpack ran the ball 51 times in that victory, though they barely averaged 3 yards per carry. NC State’s rushing attack was similarly futile on Saturday. The Wolfpack totaled 84 yards on 30 carries, while the Irish rushed for 170.
“We’ve got some guys playing … really bad technique at times, poor eyes at times,” said NC State coach Dave Doeren. “We’ve got a lot to fix. Games like this are not lost by any one person or player or coach. They’re lost by teams and they’re won by teams. This will be a team loss that we’ll have to look at what we can do better at key moments.”
The difference between the two sides in generating big plays was also stark. The Irish had nearly as much total offense on five plays (265 yards) as the Wolfpack had (277 yards) before a late NC State touchdown drive with the game already decided. NC State’s biggest play of the day was a 50/50 ball to senior wide receiver Keyon Lesane for a 38-yard reception.
That hardly accomplished the explosiveness Anae said would be a key focus for the team heading into the game.
Instead, the only time NC State was explosive was when things were blowing up in its face.
When the Wolfpack were still within one score at 24-17 late in the third quarter, the defense forced a fumble on Sam Hartman — the former Wake Forest star quarterback who transferred to South Bend for his final year of eligibility —and recovered it at the Notre Dame 17.
The Wolfpack were unable to capitalize, sending out the kicking team after three plays only to see Brayden Narveson shank a 34-yard attempt left and winding up with nothing.
Another forced three-and-out gave NC State another chance, but Armstrong threw his second of three interceptions. Notre Dame took over at the NC State 33 and needed just five plays to score.
Armstrong’s final interception of the game gave the Irish the ball at the NC State 13, and three plays later Notre Dame had a 38-17 lead.
The one bright spot for the Wolfpack was true freshman Juice Vereen, who led all NC State receivers with 65 yards on four receptions.
NC State’s defense had its moments with six three-and-outs and a forced fumble, but it was also frequently gashed for huge plays.
“There were too many times where we self-inflicted things,” Doeren said. “Uncharacteristically gave up big plays on defense at inopportune, critical moments in the game that swung momentum their way.”
Senior linebacker Payton Wilson echoed his coach’s critique.
“In the past, if you watched our defense, you saw 11 people hunting the ball every single play,” he said. “Every single person on that defense wanted to make every play of every game, and we just have to get that mentality back. Some guys aren’t living up to it. If you’re not ready to come out here and try to make every single play, we don’t want you as a part of this defense. We just have to continue to get better and figure out how to bring that dog out of people.”
The Wolfpack should get a chance to fix mistakes on both offense and defense next week when FCS opponent VMI visits next Saturday. After that, eight of NC State’s remaining nine games are against ACC opponents.
“This is a crucial time in our season,” Wilson said. “It’s obviously a long season and it hurts, but we can’t go pointing fingers. Defense can’t blame offense, offense can’t blame defense. It can’t go either way because that’s how everything breaks up. It’s huge right now to love on one another, take constructive criticism. But at the end of the day, we just have to move past it. We’re a team. We can’t point fingers and we all have to improve.”
