Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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34 OCT. 3, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: NORTH CAROLINA BY TYLER JAMES N orth Carolina quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. might be able to teach a college course on learn- ing a playbook. Edwards, a sixth-year player, has been repeatedly tasked with learning an offense's plays, formations and ter- minology at four college football pro- grams. His journeyman career started at Wake Forest in 2021 for one season be- fore he spent three seasons at Maryland. Edwards played one season at Wiscon- sin, which was cut short by a knee in- jury, before landing at North Carolina for what should be his final season at the collegiate level. The key to helping Edwards learn all those offenses? Flash cards. "I find it really enjoyable," Edwards said in August. "I've had definitely over the last two, three years in learning new systems, but probably just in this last year alone making like a thousand flash cards, trying to write it all down. "The guys in the quarterback room, we're all different learners. And for me, I'm like a rep guy. I need to write it down a thousand times. I want to see it. I want to go walk through it by myself." That's the influence of Edwards' par- ents — a father who coached high school football and a mother who still teaches — on his learning style. Edwards needed to nail the knowledge requirements to run offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino's scheme under head coach Bill Belichick at North Carolina. Edwards came to North Carolina looking for an opportunity, and he won a quarterback competition for a third consecutive year. This time he beat out Texas A&M transfer Miles O'Neill, who joined the program looking for a starting opportunity as well. Edwards knew he would need to compete to win the job. "I'd been to a number of other stops and really just looking forward to what opportunity could give me the best opportunity to grow," Edwards said. "Coming here and working for a coach like Coach Petrino and playing for a coach like Coach Belichick, those were obviously the two biggest factors for me, but they were very transparent, and I was just seeking opportunity. "I've tried to do that throughout my whole college career. Everybody's col- lege careers are different. When you play, how you play, how it happens is differ- ent, but I think the one thing that I've al- ways tried to do is just seek opportunity. THIRD TIME'S A CHARM? North Carolina becomes quarterback Billy Edwards Jr.'s third starting job Edwards came to North Carolina after one season at Wake Forest, three at Maryland and then one at Wisconsin. PHOTO COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA ATHLETICS 2026 NORTH CAROLINA SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Aug. 29 vs. TCU* W, 15-10 Sept. 12 East Tennessee State W, 35-3 Sept. 19 at Clemson L, 28-20 Oct. 3 Notre Dame (ESPN) 12 p.m. Oct. 10 at Pittsburgh TBA Oct. 17 at Duke TBA Oct. 24 Syracuse TBA Oct. 31 Miami TBA Nov. 7 at Connecticut (CBSSN) 12 p.m. Nov. 14 Louisville TBA Nov. 21 at Virginia TBA Nov. 28 NC State TBA * at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland