Notre Dame Football: 3 bold predictions vs. NC State in Week 9

Notre Dame football, coming off their biggest win of the 2017 season, will look to defend home turf against No. 14 NC State this Saturday.

The Irish will look to make it six straight wins on the season against the Wolfpack, but a matchup with one of the tougher defenses in the league makes this game anything but a given. With the sample size between these two programs is small as it is, their last meeting in 2016 gave even less insight as torrential rain and winds helped dub the contest “The Hurricane Game”.

Outside of last year’s slip-and-slide of a matchup, the Irish and Wolfpack have met only one time. Their meeting happened to take place in the 2003 Gator Bowl, a contest handled easily by the Wolpack as they pulled off a 28-6 win over Notre Dame.

Given the lack of history between the two programs, this game could truly go either way. With the Wolfpack matching up against the Irish better than any team outside of Georgia, Notre Dame will have a long day ahead of them despite last week’s decisive victory over USC.

Nevertheless, here are three bold predictions as the Irish take on NC State this Saturday.

3. Josh Adams is held to 50 yards

Running back Josh Adams has recorded under 100 rushing yards on only two occasions this season, once against Georgia and another time against Michigan State. What Georgia and Michigan State have in common is their effectiveness against the run, with both schools falling inside the top ten in rushing yards allowed.

Unfortunately for Adams and the Irish, NC State also cracks the top ten, allowing only 91 yards per game to go along with a 3.0 opponent yards per carry average. While the backfield’s struggles against Michigan State were masked by a strong defensive outing, they were painfully obvious against Georgia.

The Irish have run the ball so well up to this point that quarterback Brandon Wimbush has still played a minor role in terms of the pass game, allowing the Wolfpack to stack the box much like Georgia and Michigan State did. It will take a healthy mix of Adams with the quicker Dexter Williams in order to keep the Wolfpack on their heels, likely limiting Adams’ production regardless of the run game’s success.

Adams recorded totals of 53 and 56 yards against defenses similar to NC State’s, and it will be up to him to break the mold this weekend against the Wolfpack. However, don’t be surprised to see a similar outing from the junior should things follow suit this Saturday.