Notre Dame will look to get its offense rolling again in its matchup against the 4-2 NC State Wolfpack. The Irish are winners of three straight and the offense has been a huge factor in that success. Notre Dame has averaged 41.5 points per game, 498.5 yards per game and 7.7 yards per play in its last four games.
The Irish will need to keep that going against NC State, and ideally it will clean up some of the miscues that kept it from having a dominant performance against Boise State. NC State's own offense can move the ball and score, which puts some pressure on the Irish offense. The issue for the Wolfpack is its own defense has struggled much of the season, and Notre Dame needs to add to those woes.
Here are my five keys to victory for the Notre Dame offense.
1) Start Fast - This is always my first key for the offense and that remains important against NC State. There are a number of reasons why the offense need a fast start on offense, with the first being shaking off some of the funk we saw last week. Notre Dame moved the ball at will against Boise State in the first half, but two drives stalled deep in Bronco territory, including drive one stopping at the one yard line. That slow start allowed Boise State to stay in the game early, but the Irish can't repeat that this week because NC State has a far more athletic and potent offense. A slow start could result in the Irish falling behind early, which puts a lot more pressure on the defense. On the flip side, if the offense can move the ball and score it takes a lot of pressure off its own defense, whether that means matching early scores while the defense gets up to speed against NC State, or by rewarding the defense with a big lead if they are making early stops.
It's important to get the run game going early, but I also want to see offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock make a concerted effort to get redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr into an early rhythm. Carr did some good things against Boise State, but the talented signal caller was a bit off against the Broncos. Getting him into a nice early rhythm is important.
2) Make NC State Communicate And Think - NC State has struggled for much of the season on defense despite having good talent. A big reason is an overall lack of discipline, which has resulted in them giving up a lot of big plays and struggling on third down. NC State ranks 114th nationally in most plays of 30 yards or more allowed and it ranks 113th on third down.
Notre Dame needs to take advantage of this issue and put the Wolfpack into uncomfortable situations. Pushing the tempo, using well designed presnap motions and shifts, and executing some post-snap switch concepts all will require NC State to communicate a lot and communicate quickly. This isn't something they've been good at this season and it's a big reason for their big play woes. Notre Dame doesn't want to slow the game down and allow the coaches to get the calls in and allow the defense to make all the necessary calls and checks before the ball is snapped.
If ND can perform well in this area I think they will have NC State on its heels, they'll rip off a lot of big plays and thrive on third down.
3) Mix Up The Run Game - NC State has been hit or miss with its run defense this season. They gave up 257 rushing yards to Virginia and 229 yards in a loss to Virginia Tech. It gave up just 30 (East Carolina), 59 (Wake Forest), 149 (Duke) and 67 yards (Campbell) in its other four games. Teams that have creative inside-out ground attacks have given NC State the most problems. This is something Denbrock and the offensive staff have done very well in the last three games, and the offense is averaging 221.3 rushing yards and 5.8 yards per carry during that stretch. If they can keep that rolling against the Wolfpack I don't see how they keep the offense down.
4) Hit Some Deep Shots - NC State will likely do more quarters coverage and single high looks against Notre Dame in hopes of adding extra hats into the box to better defend the run game. That will leave the Irish receivers, tight ends and even the backs into a lot more one-on-one situations that they need to win. Notre Dame has been aggressive throwing the ball down the field all season, with Carr taking 29 deep shots in just five games. He's on pace for 31 deep completions by the end of the regular season, which is even more impressive when you consider that Riley Leonard completed just 20 such passes all season in 2024.
Carr will get those chances against NC State and in this game he'll need to hit them at a much higher rate than we saw against Boise State. Carr throws a great deep ball but he's been just a bit off the last two games. Getting him back on track and hitting these shots will go a long way towards Notre Dame rolling over NC State. It will also serve to take some of the pressure off the ground game and force the Wolfpack to play Notre Dame straight up. If that happens the ground game will take off and this offense will roll.
5) Screen Game Impact - NC State isn't a heavy blitz team but they are vulnerable to perimeter screens and tight end screens. Denbrock doesn't go to the screen game very often, but when he does it has been very effective. I'd like to see him use the screen game a bit more against NC State, which will give the offense a chance to really gash the Wolfpack defense and allow the offense really get into a groove.
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