Player availability for Notre Dame’s Saturday home game against NC State is a little bit clearer two days out. Wide receiver Jaden Greathouse (right thigh) and nickel back Devonta Smith (right calf) have both been declared out for this week’s game according to the team’s late week injury report. Kicker Noah Burnette (right hip) remains questionable for Saturday, but head coach Marcus Freeman said in his Thursday media call that he expects Burnette to be available for placekicking duties.
“Right now, Noah will be ready to go,” Freeman remarked. “He'll kick today (Thursday), and we plan on Noah being our kicker. If he's not, then we’ll probably go with Erik (Schmidt). Right now, we already plan on Erik probably being in longer distance (field goal attempts), depending on where Noah's line would be, but Noah will be our kicker.”
Preparing For CJ Bailey
The challenge for Notre Dame’s defense this week starts with quarterback CJ Bailey. The 6-6 sophomore has already passed for 1,660 yards and 13 touchdowns while completing 74% of his passes through six games for the Wolfpack. He has only 78 rushing yards on 40 attempts (nine sacks) but his ability to extend plays is reminiscent of former USC and current Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.
“The length of the quarterback and his ability to throw it and spread it out,” Freeman said of what stands out on film about Bailey. “I know the tight ends has the most receptions, but he does a good job of spreading the ball (and) making good decisions.
“With Bailey, you've got to try to make him uncomfortable with pre-snap reads,” Freeman continued. “You've got to try to get pressure on him, and you can't let him escape vertically. You can't let him escape through the B gap and run vertically to extend plays as a passer.”
The Irish have used Scrap Richardson, who played quarterback and running back and was a state champion sprinter in high school, as its scout team quarterback earlier this season in preparation for Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed and Arkansas QB Taylen Green. Richardson has prepped the Irish defense for Bailey’s running this week while Blake Hebert has mimicked Bailey’s throwing.
“You've got some guys that can kind of try to emulate him throwing the ball, but, with some of those really athletic quarterbacks, we can use Scrap Richardson to do some running,” Freeman explained. “We used him this week to emulate the wildcat quarterback. But Blake has done a great job of being our scout team quarterback.”
Preparing For Hollywood Smothers
Wolfpack running back Daylan “Hollywood” Smothers has been hard to stop this season as well. Smothers has rushed for 693 yards in six games. The 5-11, 195-pound back has four 100-yard games this season, including a career-best 164-yard day against Wake Forest a month ago.
“Smothers is a real problem,” Freeman said. “He's a challenge. He is really good. He's got great contact balance. He makes you miss. You know, really good spin move. So, we have to continue to pursue to the ball. There's going to be missed tackles. In any game there's missed tackles, but we have to make sure that we're gang-tackling Smothers, that were relentlessly pursuing the football, and we're physical when we get there, and we're taking good and proper angles.”
Transfer portal
The NCAA officially approved a single transfer portal for college football going forward. The portal will be open from Jan. 2-15, while there will no longer be a spring transfer portal opening.
“I was a proponent of getting that transfer portal window to one window,” Freeman commented. “I wasn't overly opinionated on when that window was. I know the Big 10 supported the post spring window, and the SEC was really pushing the winter window. I saw the pros and cons of both, but I was a huge proponent of getting it to just one window.”
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