Notre Dame Football Opponent Preview: NC State Wolfpack Defense
By Andrew Hall
The Notre Dame football team must continue its great play against No. 14 North Carolina State.
Defensive Line
The heart and soul of the Wolfpack defense (and team overall) is their elite Defensive Line. The group is led by future Top 10 NFL draft pick Bradley Chubb.
The Senior Defensive End from Marietta, Georgia is a one-man wrecking crew. Chubb tallied 37 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. His 13.5 tackles for loss rank 5th in the country. Notre Dame needs to find a way to stop Chubb. This is a great opportunity for Mike McGlinchey to avenge his poor play against Georgia. However, a great performance by McGlinchey might not be enough to slow Chubb. The Irish will need to double team with Tight Ends, chip with Running Backs and basically do whatever possible to prevent him from ruining Notre Dame’s game plan.
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Unfortunately, Chubb is not the only great player among North Carolina State’s front. Kentavius Street, B.J. Hill and Justin Jones play alongside Chubb as starters.
The Wolfpack even have starters coming off the bench that would start on almost any team in the country. Darian Roseboro splits time with Street at the Weakside Defensive End position. Roseboro tallied 22 tackles and 6.0 tackles for loss in their first seven games.
Linebackers
The Linebackers benefit from the great play of the Defensive Line. Senior Linebacker Jerod Fernandez leads the team in tackles with 56 total stops. He also added 3.0 tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
Starting with the Middle Linebacker Fernandez is Weakside Linebacker Airius Moore, a Senior Linebacker from Beavercreek, Ohio. In seven games, Moore collected 32 tackles with an interception.
Defensive Backs
North Carolina State utilizes their Nickel defense as their base. The Wolfpack play with five Defensive Backs on the field at all times.
Strong Safety Jarius Moorehead supports the run well. He is currently second of the team in tackles with 45 total tackles.
Along with Moorehead, Nick McCloud and Johnathan Alston start at the Cornerback positions. Alston recorded 2 interceptions in their first seven games.
Bottom Line
With an extremely talented Defensive Line, Notre Dame needs to try to get to the edge like they did early against USC. This means sweeps, reverse and Quarterback runs designed to get Wimbush on the perimeter. If Notre Dame can effectively force North Carolina State into protecting the edge, they can begin to chip away at the interior.
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Notre Dame needs to take shots down the field against this team. They will be desperate for big plays. If there is a weakness on this North Carolina State defense, it is their secondary. Kevin Stepherson and Equanimeous St. Brown must take advantage.