Notre Dame threw a ton of times in North Carolina rain again ... *and won a blowout*

For the second year in a row, Notre Dame has played a game in North Carolina in a downpour. For the second year in a row, the Irish have thrown a lot more than you think they would in such weather.

Last season, the Irish played in literal hurricane-esque conditions. ND threw the ball 26 times and lost 10-3. When I say it was bad that day, this is what I mean.

The weather on this day wasn’t as bad as it was in Raleigh last year, but it wasn’t great. The Irish let it fly 31 times in total in a game they had well in hand.

I did not watch a lick of this game, save the sad Brian Kelly screencap that adorns the top of this story.

I asked SBNation.com’s chief Notre Dame correspondent, Jessica Smetana, what the hell happened here.

“So, I think the play calling was pretty aggressive pass-wise because we were starting the backup QB and the OC wanted to see what he was capable of. But now that it’s raining really hard they started actually running the damn ball,” she said.

There was a time when a soaking wet Kelly would fill the internet with glee, and perhaps in pockets of the World Wide Web it still does. But to his credit, Kelly has at least attempted to turn over a new leaf this season with public comments. During the NC State mess last season, for instance, he blamed his center for poor shotgun snaps in a deluge.

At least during the preseason, Kelly seemed to at least be trying to turn over a new leaf. He has started pointing the finger at himself more and more when things go wrong.

Seasoning up a backup QB is a tough thing to do in bad weather, but Notre Dame came out with a 33-10 win. Besides a tough loss against a Georgia team that seems pretty good, the Irish have looked largely strong on the road to 5-1. Yes, they have a bit of a QB issue, but the rest of the team is actually pretty good. Maybe next time they come down south in rough weather, they’ll rely on the run a bit more though.