Notre Dame Football

Game Thread | No. 10 Notre Dame at NC State

By Matt Freeman

September 9, 2023

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No. 10 Notre Dame (2-0) at NC State (1-0)

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Five Players To Watch

Notre Dame RB Audric Estime
Estime has been running through tackles like a hot knife through butter, but the competition is going to be a lot better this week. It's a chance to make a statement for him against a top-25 defense. NC State will likely load the box to stop the run.

NC State LB Payton Wilson
One of the top linebackers in the country, he's a big-time athlete who makes plays in all phases of the game. He's been a great blitzer at NC State, but they didn't choose to use him to rush the passer often against UConn. That could change in this game. He's a dynamic player.

Notre Dame WR Jayden Thomas
Thomas is Notre Dame's WR1. He gets to prove if he's a true WR1 this week with NC State's corners being two of the best the Irish will face this fall. Look for Gerad Parker to move him around and get him into favorable matchups.

NC State QB Brennen Armstrong
It's all about Armstrong on the NC State offense with his ability to run. He scrambled 10 times last week and had 19 total carries for 96 yards and two touchdowns. If the Irish can contain him to the pocket, the Wolfpack will struggle to score points.

Notre Dame LB Marist Liufau
Liufau is going to be lined up off the edge rushing the passer on 3rd downs, but could also be used to spy the quarterback. Him and JD Bertrand are going to have to do a good job getting the elusive Armstrong down when he bolts from the pocket.

Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman:
“We know they’ll be challenged down the field this week. I love the depth of the room with Cam Hart, Benjamin Morrison, Jaden Mickey. You’ll see Christian Gray and obviously Clarence Lewis. It’s a deep room. You all might not see the production that really relates to that room, but in terms of doing their job, they’ve been doing a really good job.”

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker:
“We believe in our guys we brought in here. If we don’t let these guys grow and try to assess where our depth is, we won’t know. The only thing we can do is give guys opportunities that they’ve earned—because it is performance-based—but let them go out there and have some opportunities for success, because if there is small failures then we develop and keep moving forward and that’s what these two games have allowed us do so far.”

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden:
“I think the guys know there are certain things that we need to improve. It's not really public knowledge, but in general, we need to tackle better than we did last week, for sure. We need to get more pressure on the quarterback. I’d like to see us keep attacking the football. Then there's some other in-house things, but those would be three off the top of my head.”

Notre Dame offensive lineman Pat Coogan:
“It’s been a dream come true honestly. Coming from where I am from, there’s a lot of passion and a lot of pride for Notre Dame football. The first game I came to as a fan was like [2015] against Texas when they won like 40-0 [38-3]. It’s been a great process. It took a lot of hard work and obviously, it’s paid off now. Just trying to take it day by day. One of coach Freeman’s big things is win today. I’ve really taken that to heart and tried to just stack the days.”

Notre Dame defensive back Thomas Harper:
“We just have to be locked in and then just continue to do what we know we can do. We got to stop the run, we know that. Stop the pass. If they throw it up, we got to come down and get turnovers. Tackle in space and just continue to play to our standard.”