The weather’s fine in South Bend, but Notre Dame’s looking a lot like last year’s slop fest in the mud against NC State.
NC State blocked a punt for a TD against Notre Dame. Again.
This time, it ain’t raining.
Last season, in what was at the time a 3-3 tie, the Wolfpack blocked a punt for the game’s only TD. We got the redux this year.
But when you go into how they did it, you see how special teams is the margin in games between good teams.
There’s a good bet that NC State saw something on film this week that led them to believe Notre Dame was susceptible on one side of its punt formation. They absolutely load up on one side and come for this kick.
Notre Dame would respond, but NC State certainly stole a quick seven points to start the game with effective special teams. The third phase isn’t a throwaway, it’s how games can be won or lost, as both the Irish and Wolfpack found out last year.
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