I’ll be honest, a small part of me expected Notre Dame to struggle a bit at NC State in Week 2. The Irish were fresh off two straight wins over inferior opponents and they hadn’t been tested through two weeks. Usually that’s a recipe for disaster.
Not on Saturday.
Notre Dame built a 17-7 lead early on and then cruised to a 45-24 win after fending off a comeback attempt by NC State in the second half. Notre Dame was up 24-17 and turned the ball over, but an NC State missed field goal led to 21 straight Irish points and a blowout.
Sam Hartman had another really solid game for the Irish, passing for 286 yards and four touchdowns on 11.9 yards per attempt. He should be squarely in the Heisman Trophy conversation after this one if he’s not already. He looks the part of one of the best quarterbacks in the country.
And how about Audric Estime? He continues to impress despite being severely underrated. He had 134 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.