Notre Dame is on the winning side of a game for the fourth week in a row after the Fighting Irish started the season 0-2 in nightmare fashion. Granted, Notre Dame was taking on a 4-2 NC State team that just didn't have the firepower to hang with the Fighting Irish, but Chris Ash's defense delivered for the fourth week in a row.
While the halftime score made it look like it was a closer game than the final score did, Notre Dame had this game well in hand in the second half. These teams went into halftime with a 10-7 score with Notre Dame holding on to a narrow lead, but Marcus Freeman's squad knew the job that had to get done in the second half and executed almost to perfection.
Notre Dame ended up beating the Wolfpack 36-7 to move to 4-2 on the season.
After starting 0-2 this season, and the defense looking like a major problem for the Fighting Irish, Freeman and his team know that they had to be practically perfect for the rest of the year to get back to the College Football Playoff.
Quarterback CJ Carr has been the key to this team playing so well offensively, and those around him are certainly helping him look so good. Whether it is the running back duo of Jadarian Price and Jeremiyah Love or a key player on the wide receiver core, this team is firing on all cylinders right now.
Against NC State, wide receiver Will Pauling was the star with Carr, jumping out to a hot start, going 3-for-3 with 93 receiving yards. Pauling did cool off a bit, but he finished his day with four receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown reception.
Chris Ash's defense has pulled it together in the last three games
After the first three games of the season, fans were ready to see defensive coordinator Chris Ash be fired; however, Freeman wasn't ready to make that change just yet, and it was a good decision.
In the last three games for Notre Dame against Arkansas, Boise State, and now NC State, the Notre Dame defense has only allowed a total of 27 points. Ash's defense has also been winning the turnover battle with a total of nine turnovers in those three games, which includes three against NC State, one of those an interception to seal the game in the end.
With the Oregon Ducks suffering it's first loss of the season, Notre Dame is starting to look like a very strong team at this point in the season. This just goes to show, it is not how you start a season, but how you finish, and right now the Fighting Irish are looking pretty good.
Notre Dame will welcome rival USC to Notre Dame Stadium next week for a prime-time matchup at 7:00 p.m. EST on NBC and Peacock.