North carolina state 10, NOTRE DAME 3 | monday, October 10, 2016 | ndsmcobserver.com
When it rains it pours Finding the words to describe Saturday’s ‘game’
Irish unable to adjust on offense against Wolfpack By ZACH KLONSINSKI
Alex Carson
Assistant Managing Editor
Assistant Managing Editor
RALEIGH, N.C. — I’m really not sure there’s a way to properly describe the asininity of Saturday’s game. If you simply played the principal’s response to Billy Madison — you know, the “I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul” one — it would probably do a better job than this column will at describing the appropriate response to Notre Dame’s rain-soaked, 10-3 loss at North Carolina State on Saturday. But before we address the issues with what 2-4 Notre Dame did Saturday — yes, that’s 2-4, formerly top-10 Notre Dame — let’s start with the most asinine part of that game: that it happened. The weather that presented itself Saturday wasn’t a surprise. W hen officials from Notre Dame, N.C. State and the ACC met for the first time Tuesday, the conditions we got were perhaps expected. W hile the forecast improved Thursday, when a final decision was made to play the game Saturday, it worsened overnight Friday into Saturday morning. The result was, between midnight and the end of the game, a 16-hour window in which more than five inches of rain fell in Raleigh, North Carolina, with wind gusts in the area topping out at 51 miles per hour. As the game ended, the National Weather Service described the weather conditions as “life threatening,” going on to describe it as a situation “that should not be taken lightly.” But hey, who doesn’t love a football game, right? Unlike Clemson last year, though — and ignoring any danger in the decision to play — the conditions were entirely relentless Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium. The rain didn’t let up, nor did the wind. Significant portions of the field were covered in puddles, not grass. see CARSON PAGE 3
right position. You had two guys back there [on the punt block]. You second guess yourself. Maybe we should have been in a three-man wall there instead of rugby.” The Irish offense struggled all day long. Junior quarterback DeShone Kizer finished just 9-for-26 on the day, throwing for only 54 yards and an interception, while at one point, the unit had run more plays than yards it had gained. Yet, with 9:33 to play, Kizer and the Irish offense got the ball back, down 103, 80 yards away from a tie game. The drive started well, as Kizer hit sophomore receiver Equanimeous St. Brown for his first completion of the half, before the Irish ground game got moving for the first time all day, gaining 44 yards on 10 rushes in an 11-play sequence — two of which were successful fourth-down completions to keep the drive alive.
RALEIGH, N.C. — W hile Hurrica ne Matt hew battered Ra leigh, Nort h Ca rolina, on Saturday, at t he end of t he day bot h Nort h Ca rolina State a nd Notre Da me headed to t he locker room dripping wet a nd covered in mud; t he Wolf Pack perhaps more so a f ter players took celebrator y slides across t he Ca rter-Finley Stadium grass — or la ke, more accurately. “[The of fense] was sloppy, a nd when it’s sloppy like t hat t here’s no room for error,” Irish senior of fensive linema n Mike McGlinchey sa id a f ter t he ga me. “A nd we had to tighten it up a litt le bit a nd I t hink we did t hat on t he last drive. Unfortunately we fell short, but t hat’s t he way footba ll is.” Now Notre Da me (2-4) is sta ring at t he strong possibilit y of 5-7 season w it h t hree ga mes rema ining aga inst ra nked opponents still seek ing a nswers. The only a nswer found in Saturday’s debacle in Hurrica ne Matt hew was conf usion. Conf usion f irst at why t he ga me was even played — but t hat’s a not her stor y. Conf usion caused by t he brief delay to sta rt t he second ha lf, or when t he ga me would be f inished, if at a ll. A nd, most of a ll, conf usion from Irish fa ns at Notre Da me’s of fensive play ca lling. The questions sta rted on t he f irst series of t he ga me when t he Irish, sta ring direct ly into Matt hew’s w indy a nd ra iny teet h, chose to t hrow t he ba ll on t hree stra ight plays. They went t hree-a nd-out. By ha lf time, junior qua rterback DeShone K izer was 6-of-14 for just 38 ya rds a nd a n interception. The pick ca me on a second qua rter drive t hat sta rted at N.C. State’s 22-ya rd line, a drive where K izer t hrew t he ba ll f ive times, completing one, before his si xt h attempt was intercepted at t he goa l line.
see LOSS PAGE 2
see RUSHING PAGE 3
CHRIS COLLINS | The Observer
Irish junior quarterback DeShone Kizer is tackled by a North Carolina State defender in one of the puddles that formed at Carter-Finley Stadium as Hurricane Matthew soaked the Raleigh, North Carolina, area. By ALEX CARSON Assistant Managing Editor
RALEIGH, N.C. — Coaches and analysts love to discuss the importance of special teams. But it’s rare that the units have more of a direct impact on a game than Notre Dame and North Carolina State’s did Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium. Amidst heav y rain and high winds that lasted the entire game, played on the edges of Hurricane Matthew, every point was scored by a special teams unit as N.C. State downed Notre Dame, 10-3. Each side got on the board with a field goal — the Wolfpack (4-1, 1-0 ACC) on a 39-yard try from sophomore Kyle Bambard in the first quarter, the Irish (2-4) on a 40-yard kick from sophomore Justin Yoon in the third — but with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, it was the N.C. State punt unit that stepped up to win the game.
Early in the game’s final stanza, with the Irish facing fourth-and-14 from their own 25, Wolfpack redshirt junior Pharoah McKever blocked Irish sophomore Tyler Newsome’s punt; the loose ball was snatched up by Wolfpack redshirt sophomore Dexter Wright and returned 16 yards for the only touchdown of the game for either side. Bambard sent through the extra point, ultimately closing Saturday’s scoring. The block came as Notre Dame unveiled a new punt scheme Saturday, switching to a two-man, rather than a three-man protection system in front of Newsome, enabling him to try rugbystyle punts. For Irish head coach Brian Kelly, it was an opportunity to second guess his tactics. “I feel terrible that we let them down,” Kelly said. “ … They were excited to play today, and you want to be there for them. You want to make the right call. You want to put them in the