Week three is in the books and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are a perfect 3-0. Their latest win came in their biggest test to date, a road trip to Raleigh, NC to face the NC State Wolfpack. The 45-24 win wasn’t always pretty, but frankly that’s a good thing, this team needed to face adversity before they got into the meat of the schedule. Of course, adversity is only good if you overcome it, and that they did. For the second straight time in this series, Carter Finley Stadium was hit by a storm right out of Caddyshack, which caused a two-hour weather delay. My advice to fans planning to go to the next matchup in 2029…bring a poncho. There is a lot to break down, so let’s dive into this rainy road win!
Marcus at the Mic
The Fighting Irish head coach has a lot to be proud of in a game where his team was truly tested for the first time this year. Freeman talked about the difference between this season and the last one, his team faced some “bumps” and was able to overcome them and “stay in the moment.” The maturation that he, his staff, and team have gone through leads to calm and collected responses like the one we saw today in Raleigh. Nobody on the Notre Dame sideline panicked at any point and it made all the difference.
As coach Freeman pointed out, the sequence starting with the Notre Dame fumble late in the third quarter was the turning point in the game. Only up one score at the time, the Irish didn’t panic after the Hartman turnover, the defense got a stop and a missed field goal, and later a key interception from Xavier Watts. This was the kind of sequence that cost the Irish games last year, but they’re a battle tested team now that can stay the course, it’s a refreshing sight.
Adjustments were also a major theme of Freeman’s presser, as he complimented his staff and talented secondary for adjusting in the third and fourth quarter to clean up mistakes from earlier in the game. Al Golding and company worked out some kinks and eliminated the chunk plays NC State QB Brennan Armstrong hit on early. Freeman also pointed out the adjustments made on offense, as first year OC Gerard Parker’s group was able to open up things up as the game went on. The always steady Sam Hartman was also finally able to get the tight end room involved as Holden Staes had a breakout game with four catches, for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Freeman complimented his tight end as he continues to grow into a “more complete player.”
Check out coach Freeman’s full postgame thoughts, along with Audric Estime and Xavier Watts at the link below.
Sam Heisman Stock Watch
Two things have stood out so far when watching Sam Hartman run the offense. The first is his impressive touch and timing, as he has an excellent feel for how much he needs to put on a ball and where it needs to be placed. Best show cased today on his scoring toss to Jaden Greathouse to close the first half, after yet another successful two-minute drive. You could hang a yard of laundry on this line as he guns the ball into a window and puts it where only his man has a real chance to make a play on it.
The second is Hartman’s poise and impressive feel for the game. His ability to read the defense and check out of bad looks is something the Irish have lacked since the Brady Quinn days. This goes hand in hand with him studying the opposition and learning from mistakes that may have taken place earlier in the game. This is best exemplified in his touchdown pass to Davis Sherwood in the fourth quarter. The Irish had come out in the same look against the same loaded front in an earlier drive, the play eventually led to a three-yard loss for Audric Estime. This time however Hartman recognized the front and hit Sherwood leaking out of the backfield to add to the lead.
Hartman is becoming a national story this season for the Irish. He was prominently featured on this week’s episode of College Gameday, as he took part in an entertaining interview with the comedic Pat McAfee during on field warmups.
The interview teed up a feature story by the terrific reporter Jen Lada, where Hartman and his mom explained his rather interesting necklace.
All of this is to highlight what Hartman is doing for the Notre Dame brand. His eccentric yet likable off the field personality is moving the Irish to the forefront every week, beyond their usual profile of “history and tradition.” Barring your program being run by “Coach Prime”, superstar quarterbacks are the best way to make headlines, and number 10 is exactly that. Hartman has Irish fans believing this team can win big, and he’ll stay in the headlines when College Gameday presumably makes its way to South Bend in two weeks when the Irish clash with Ohio State.
Powered by Hot Dogs?
Estime and his teammates enjoyed a hot dog and then came out of the locker room to score. While the quartet of backs were all effective at times, it was Estime who led the way with 134 yards and two-house calls. Who knows, maybe the conditioning coaches are wrong after all, hot dogs may be the key to gridiron success. There is good news for NC State through, according to Estime they serve a “tasty” hot dog. I smell an NIL sponsorship opportunity for Estime.
Also, aside from the rain delay snack, give credit to the offensive line and the adjustment they made with OC Gerard Parker. After some early drives that ended quickly, the Irish pivoted to an unbalanced o-line, overloading the right side on this particular run. Nice work by all involved to get the power run game going, which later opened up the play action pass for Hartman and Staes.
Play of the Game
This is just beautiful on both ends, especially watching it on the angle above. Hartman’s fourth and final touchdown of the day will be all over his draft reel come next spring. I didn’t expect to see Hartman move this well on the run when he arrived on campus, but this is now the third straight game where his athleticism has been on display. The ability to throw this ball with the perfect (aforementioned) touch while off balance, simply cannot be taught. Holden Staes adjusts well to work his way to the ball and comes down with it for his second receiving touchdown of the day. It’s a beautiful thing to have a big-time quarterback!
Player of the Game
On a day where it was once again hard to pick out one single player for this honor, I am going to give it to an entire position group. Notre Dame’s “no fly zone” secondary gets player of the game honors this week as Benjamin Morrison, Xavier Watts and DJ Brown all recorded key interceptions. While they gave up some big plays today, and got called for a few of ND’s ten penalties, this unit found their way as usual and made clutch plays down the stretch to lead to the win.
Watts and Brown’s interceptions came at critical times in the game with the Irish protecting one and two possession leads in the fourth quarter. Honorable mention here for tight end Holden Staes, who enjoyed his first big game of his Notre Dame career. South Bend has been the home of “tight end U” for years now, and hopefully number 13 can continue that tradition. He gets the team shillelagh for the flight back to Indiana.
Final Thoughts
While there were a lot of positives in this game, including the ones mentioned above, there are things the team needs to clean up moving forward. Ten penalties, four sacks allowed, and two fumbles won’t cut it against the stronger competition than NC State that lies ahead. The defense gave up a few too many big plays to Brennan Armstrong and the Wolfpack offense as well. The start was sluggish, something that cannot happen against the likes of Ohio State or USC.
But with all that being said the Irish are undefeated, and clearly one of the better teams in the land. While he wouldn’t put a firm answer on it, Marcus Freeman said he does believe this teams ceiling is very high, and he is absolutely right in my opinion. Freeman, his staff, and the players deserve a ton of credit, not just for the end product we see on Saturday, but the hard work and preparation they put in every week behind the scenes. In my opinion this program has a real chance to grow into a force with Freeman at the helm and this year feels like it can be much more than a building block season. These early statements to critics are fun to watch, tough scene for our boy Kirk Herbstreit, see you and Jim Harbaugh’s favorite lackey Desmond Howard in two weeks!
Let me know what you thought of the Notre Dame win at NC State and your thoughts on an entertaining college football Saturday in the comments below and on twitter @YNWA9623. You can subscribe to this blog by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner of your screen and entering your email address. Enjoy the first NFL Sunday of the season and come back next week for my recap of Notre Dame’s week four home game against Central Michigan…HERE COME THE IRISH!!
The Broadway Breakdown 
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