Notre Dame and NC State square off in their first meeting since 2023 this Saturday afternoon inside of Notre Dame Stadium. The last time these two teams met, the Irish won 45-23 after an off afternoon inside of Carter-Finley Stadium which included a weather delay and several big plays by both teams. The Wolfpack enter this matchup 4-2 while the Irish are riding a three-game win streak, sitting at 3-2 on the season and are back inside of the AP Top 20 at No. 16.
Location: Notre Dame Stadium (Notre Dame, Ind.)
Date: Saturday - October 11
Time: 3:30 PM ET
TV: NBC/Peacock
Line: Notre Dame -21.5; O/U 62.5 (FanDuel)
Let's kick off our preview of this matchup with an overview look at the NC State Wolfpack
HEAD COACH - Dave Doeren
Record Overall: 113-71 (15th season)
Record at NC State: 90-67
NC State head coach Dave Doeren has been leading this program since 2013. He spent his first two seasons as a head coach at Northern Illinois where he went 23-4 in 27 games. Doeren has a defensive background and spent time as Wisconsin's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach before accepting the head coaching job at Northern Illinois. His career with NC State has been nothing short of interesting. Doeren has taken the Wolfpack to a bowl game nine times since his arrival but has yet to record a 10-win season. In 2023, he went 9-4 and finished the season ranked in the final polls, but since then, NC State has had a 10-9 record which brings us to this weekend. Doeren will be looking to pick up a signature win against Notre Dame; he is 1-2 against the Irish and hasn't beaten them since 2016 in the infamous 'Hurricane Game' in 2016.
Offensive Coordinator: Kurt Roper (1st season)
Defensive Coordinator: D.J. Elliot (1st season)
NC STATE 2025 SCHEDULE
2025 STATISTICAL OVERVIEW
Rushing: RB Hollywood Smothers - 100 att., 693 yards, 6.9 YPC, 5 TD; RB Jayden Scott - 39 att., 186 yards, 5.0 YPC, 3 TD; QB CJ Bailey - 40 att., 78 yards, 2.0 YPC, 3 TD; QB Will Wilson - 11 att., 25 yards, 2.3 YPC, 3 TD
Passing: QB CJ Bailey - 138-185, 74.6%, 1,660 yards, 9.0 YPA, 13 TD, 4 INT, 168.8 Rating;
Receiving: WR Terrell Anderson - 21 rec., 388 yards, 18.5 YPC, 3 TD; TE Justin Joly - 28 rec., 256 yards, 9.1 YPC, 3 TD; WR Wesley Grimes - 14 rec., 243 yards, 17.4 YPC, 1 TD; WR Noah Rogers - 15 rec., 235 yards, 15.7 YPC, 1 TD; WR Keenan Jackson - 17 rec., 187 yards, 11.0 YPC, 2 TD; RB Hollywood Smothers - 21 rec., 124 yards, 5.9 YPC, 1 TD; WR Teddy Hoffman - 11 rec., 108 yards, 9.8 YPC
Tackles: LB Caden Fordham - 59; LB Sean Brown - 44; LB Cian Slone - 28; S Ronnie Royal III - 24; S Brody Barnhardt - 23; CB Devon Marshall - 21; DE Sebastian Harsh - 21
Tackles For Loss: DE Sebastian Harsh - 6.0; LB Caden Fordham - 5.0; LB Cian Slone - 4.0; DT Brandon Cleveland - 4.0; LB Tra Thomas - 3.5; LB Sean Brown - 3.5
Interceptions: S Ronnie Royal III - 1; DE Isaiah Shirley - 1; LB Cian Slone - 1
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