There are few things quite as satisfying as waking up on Sunday morning after a nice, well-fought victory for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The sun feels a little warmer. Mimosas taste a little bit fizzier. National sports media personalities are a little bit less annoying.

The N.C. State Wolfpack was by far the best team the Irish have faced this season (besides UGA) and the Irish handled the Wolfpack masterfully. NC State may have won the battle in 2016, but Notre Dame, it appears, has won the war. Nothing feels as good on a Sunday as sweet, sweet revenge.

Good

Josh Adams (again)

Look, I say this every week but it still isn’t getting old. Josh Adams is really, really good.

To make matters even more impressive:

Notre Dame launched its Heisman campaign for Adams last week, which had me convinced that he was going to go down with a season ending freak injury during this game. Instead, we were treated to a 202 yard rushing week for Adams against a defense that hadn’t let up more than 80 yards to a single rusher all season.

It’s worth noting that Deon McIntosh’s 63 rushing yards finishes third behind Adams and Lamar Jackson (you know, the Heisman winner) for most rushing yards against the Wolfpack this season.

That’s a pretty solid outing for our run game and while we’re on the topic congrats to Brandon Wimbush for breaking Notre Dames record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. He’s only six starts into the season and already breaking records!

Pick 6

NC State’s quarterback hadn’t thrown an interception all season. NC State’s quarterback threw a pick 6 directly to Julian Love on Saturday.

Nice.

Defense

So a fun thing to do is go to ESPN.com and click around on different statistics ‘til you find the ones that make your team look good. In a statistic called “defensive efficiency” has the Irish ranked 5th overall! But it doesn’t take some stat maneuvering to realize that our defense has completely flipped 180 degrees since 2016.

I can’t remember the last time I actually had confidence going into the fourth quarter that our defense could make a couple stops and run the clock out. TBH it was probably in 2015, but that seems like decades ago.

Bad

Blocked punt!

I was in a cab jam packed in traffic in New York City on the way to the local watering hole while the game started so you can only imagine my shock and surprise when I showed up at the bar, found a TV playing NBC (not an easy thing to do) and witnessed a very depressing special teams play. My mind immediately flashed back to 2016. DO YOU REMEMBER THIS FUCKING PUNT?

Poor Tyler Newsome. NC State clearly has gotten the better of him these two years.

Punting against NC State. Like a recurring nightmare. Thank God they aren’t on the schedule next year.

INJURIES.

ABOUT LOST MY DAMN MIND WHEN WIMBUSH WALKED OUT LIMPING.

I really haven’t been the same sine 2014 when Notre Dame lost (actually beat) Florida State and then lost like 11 starters at once. I’m sure Wimbush is fine but I can’t be the only fan who was skeptical about him coming back into the game when the game felt just about over.

Irish

#33Trucking

Sooo.... this is the new #hashtag Heisman twitter campaign for Josh Adams. I’m not sure how I feel about it, mostly because it isn’t the catchiest hashtag I’ve ever heard. It definitely gives me #midwest #heartland #grit vibes though. #33Trucking makes me feel like I’m speeding down the off ramp at the Knute Rockne rest stop onto the Indiana Toll Road with a bag of beef jerky and a Monster energy listening to Bon Jovi deep cuts with the windows down.

It’s certainly better than most of the lame wedding hashtags that I’ve seen though. Maybe I’ll change my mind if someone sends me a hat.

Hot Chocolate

The temperature at kickoff was 40 degrees. That isn’t even below freezing! That’s 35 degrees warmer than the coldest game I’ve ever attended at Notre Dame Stadium (shoutout to that ungodly Northwestern game in 2014). For real though, get your shit together concessions folks! If you’re already running out of hot chocolate in October, you’re in for some rabid customers in November.

As an aside, hot chocolate is the only palatable snack at the main stadium concessions, BUT it is much more useful as a heating agent than as a drink.

I would not describe any food at the main concessions area as “edible.”

STEVE JOBS MOB

There are few things in this world I love quite as much as Halloween costumes at football games. These Notre Dame students SHOWED. UP.

Turtlenecks, hand gestures, facial expressions ON FLEEK. These kids nailed it. I am terrified of them.

NC State Quarterbacks

I found this very troubling twitter hashtag leading up to the game... #QBU. Some NC State fans are now claiming that they are Quarterback University.

Let’s look at the tape.

• Mike Glennon - If you haven’t watched Mike Glennon play yet, you’re shit out of luck. He’s already been benched for Mitch Trubisky.
• Jacoby Brissett - To be honest I haven’t watched a single Colts game this season. I didn’t even know Brissett was their starter. I think that speaks for itself.
• Russell Wilson - This obviously does not count. It is actually hysterical that NC State would try to claim Russell Wilson. That’s like Florida claiming Cam Newton. Just stop.
• Phillip Rivers - Ironically enough, this tweet that was praising NC State’s quarterbacks failed to mention the actual only good quarterback who went to NC State, even though poor Phil has absolutely nothing to show for it.
• Ryan Finley - (current QB, not in NFL yet.) I have nothing against this dude, but HE DIDN’T EVEN GET HIS UNDERGRAD AT NC STATE. He’s like 1/4th Wolfpack.

Now if we’re being honest, Stephen Hauschka is probably the best NC State grad in the NFL. Maybe #PKU is a more fitting hashtag.

Oh, and while we’re at it. Here are the colleges with 3 or more quarterbacks in the NFL that could probably stake more claim at #QBU than NC State: Cal, USC, Michigan, Michigan State, Oregon State.

Sean Astin

Yo - go watch Stranger Things. Sean Astin is in it. That’s all.

PLAYOFF ARGUMENTS

If you’re reading this before the playoff rankings come out then you’ve probably already read 1,000 arguments about who should be in the top 4. If you’re reading this after, you’ve probably just gotten in 1,000 arguments about why the committee included/left out Notre Dame.

While I think Notre Dame definitely deserves a spot in the top four should they win out, let’s be honest: the October 31st playoff ranking does not matter!!! It’s a trap!! They want ratings and drama!! Don’t pay attention to it!!!!! If we make it, YAY that’s cool, but it doesn’t count for shit! If we’re left out: Cool! Better probably! More motivation to destroy our next four opponents!. After last season, I’m just happy we are even in the conversation.

I gotta say, it’s pretty sad that it’s already week 10. I was lucky enough to be in a bar with several TVs on Saturday while 6 different exciting games were ending at once and it was EXHILARATING. BOOM down goes TCU. BOOM down goes Penn State. BOOM goodbye Michigan State. It’s been a wild season.

Now to focus on our next opponent:

Go Irish beat Demon Deacons!!