Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 24, 2022 39 GAME PREVIEW: NORTH CAROLINA NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. NORTH CAROLINA RUN DEFENSE First-year Notre Dame head coach Marcus Free- man preached a consistent message during the preseason of wanting to build a "run-the-ball, stop-the-run" identity for his team. Neither plan gained much traction early this season. Losses to Ohio State and Marshall dropped the Irish rushing offense to No. 110 nationally at only 103.0 yards per game. And those measly numbers were boosted by sophomore quarter- back Tyler Buchner leading the team with 62 rushing yards before his season-ending shoulder injury. The three-headed Irish tailback combination of junior Chris Tyree and sophomores Audric Estime and Logan Diggs combined for only 39 carries and 115 rushing yards (2.9 per carry) with 1 touchdown through two games. As good as North Carolina was on offense through three games, its defense performed equally poor. Against the rush through three games, North Carolina ranked only 109th nation- ally after allowing 188.7 yards per game. The Tar Heels' run-stop unit has been led mainly by linebackers Cedric Gray and Power Echols. Gray, a junior, already has 34 tackles through three games and Echols has 26 stops. This should be a turning-point opportunity for the Irish with its rushing attack. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. NORTH CAROLINA PASS DEFENSE Keeping up the chase and pace to reset his own single-season records for an Irish tight end from last season — catches (71), receiving yards (840) and touchdowns (7) — junior Michael Mayer remains the only consistent player in the Notre Dame passing game. The All-America candidate led the team with 13 catches, 135 receiving yards and 1 touchdown grab through two games. And while Mayer is holding up his end, the pro- duction and performance from the Irish wide re- ceivers remains concerning and a work in progress. With 8 catches and 123 yards through the first 2 games, sophomore Lorenzo Styles led all Irish wide receivers in production. The rest of the wide- outs combined for 4 catches and 75 yards with no touchdowns. Junior quarterback Drew Pyne will look to im- prove those numbers as Buchner's replacement. For North Carolina, pass defense remains an area of concern. Hoping to improve a 2021 defense that allowed 418.0 yards and 32.1 points a game, North Carolina head coach Mack Brown brought back former Auburn head coach Gene Chizik as his defensive coordinator. Chizik, who resurrected the underperforming Tar Heels defense in 2015 and 2016, has yet to bring much improvement. Through games of Sept. 10, North Carolina ranked 122nd in passing efficiency defense, 118th in total defense (469.0 yards al- Staff Predictions Todd D. Burlage: North Carolina 30, Notre Dame 24 Albeit against lesser competition, North Carolina (3-0) averages 547.3 yards and 51.3 points per game. Under Hall of Fame head coach Mack Brown, the Tar Heels are only 14-11 overall the last two seasons but 11-2 at home. North Carolina enters this game coming off a bye and poised to snap Notre Dame's steak of 11 straight road wins against ACC opponents. Steve Downey: Notre Dame 34, North Carolina 31 With the Tar Heels' continued defensive struggles, this has the makings of a "get right" game for the Fighting Irish offense. Yes, Appalachian State is a good team, but it shouldn't be putting 40 points on the board in the fourth quarter against a Power Five opponent, like it did vs. UNC Sept. 3. The Irish defense should be able to slow down the Heels' talented, young offense just enough to notch their third straight win in Chapel Hill. Patrick Engel: Notre Dame 30, North Carolina 27 North Carolina's defense allowed 24 points to a perennially bad Football Championship Series pro- gram and a combined 89 to a pair of Sun Belt teams. Even with its offensive questions, Notre Dame should be capable of putting 30 on the Tar Heels. North Carolina's offense has the firepower to go way over 30, but Notre Dame's defense is a big step up from the three the Tar Heels have faced so far. Overall, this feels like a total wild card game. Tyler Horka: North Carolina 31, Notre Dame 24 North Carolina redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye has made sure there would not be a drop-off after the departure of Sam Howell. If anything, he's been better. That's scary for a Notre Dame defense that allowed Howell to rack up 442 yards of total offense in South Bend last year. Maye easily wins the quarterback battle after the Irish lost starter Tyler Buchner for the season, and the Tar Heels beat Notre Dame for just the third time in 23 tries. Mike Singer: Notre Dame 27, North Carolina 24 The Fighting Irish shouldn't have much problem moving the ball against a leaky North Carolina de- fense. Al Golden's group will have its hands full with UNC's attack, but I like Notre Dame to come out with a narrow victory on the road. Junior linebacker Cedric Gray racked up 34 tackles during the Tar Heels' 3-0 start. PHOTO COURTESY UNC ATHLETICS