Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 10, 2026 27 JONAZ WALTON BREAKS OUT IN NORTH CAROLINA Notre Dame football entered its game at North Carolina planning to give fresh- man running back Jonaz Walton more work earlier in the game than he received in the first four games of the season. Prior to the 37-26 win over the Tar Heels, only one of Walton's 16 carries this season came in the first half. The Irish gave him 5 carries before halftime against North Carolina. Walton, who rushed for 28 yards in the first half, took advantage of those opportunities and allowed the coaching staff to show faith in him in the second half. Walton finished the game with career highs in carries (23) and rushing yards (120). He even set career marks in re- ceptions (2) and receiving yards (28). Notre Dame offensive coordina- tor Mike Denbrock and running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider showed a willing- ness to ride the hot hand in the rushing attack between junior Aneyas Williams and sophomore Nolan James Jr. in the first four games this season, and that continued even with an inexperienced option in the backfield. "I think there's some similarities with Nolan and Aneyas, and Jonaz just gives you a different type of change-up," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. "Maybe the speed. Nolan and Aneyas are both plenty fast, but Jonaz has a different type of running style that gave us a spark, and he played really well today." Walton rushed for more yards against North Carolina than he did in the previ- ous three games combined (108). The Irish didn't even use the former four-star recruit from Carrollton (Ga.) Central in the season opener against Wisconsin. Walton, who ran the 100-meter dash in 10.6 seconds in high school, came to Notre Dame as an early enrollee in Janu- ary with a respected reputation. Rivals ranked him as the No. 6 running back nationally in the 2026 class. Though Notre Dame returned three running backs to this year's roster with more ex- perience — junior Kedren Young in ad- dition to Williams and James — Walton saw a chance to carve out a role in his freshman season. "It's a great room, but it's a room that has a lot of opportunity," Walton said in February. "That was definitely one of the big factors. There's a lot, but the availability of the room that there's not a proven starter yet, it's just something I can strive toward." Walton became the second Notre Dame running back to hit the 100-yard mark (after James' 121 against Michi- gan State) this season, but Notre Dame's overall rushing attack hasn't been very prolific to start the season. The Irish entered the week ranked No. 98 in the FBS in rushing offense, averaging 141.8 rushing yards per game. Notre Dame's 241 rushing yards against North Carolina marked an in- crease of 64 yards over the previous season high set against Purdue. Asked whether Notre Dame needed that per- formance to prove it could run the ball, junior quarterback CJ Carr dismissed the suggestion. It might not be easy to predict who will have the most success in Notre Dame's running game, but there's confidence that the operation will find a way. "We know what we have in those front five offensive linemen," Carr said. "It's explosive. And we know what we have in our backfield with the running backs. "So, that's a very outside perspective. We know we can run the ball when we want to, and I thought we showed that today pretty well." — Tyler James CAST AND ALL, LUKE TALICH DELIVERS FOR NOTRE DAME Marcus Freeman wanted to have some video evidence before he got too deep into what went wrong for the nation's No. 1 team in total defense against what had been a modest North Carolina offense. It didn't take the Irish head football coach long, though, to point out what the feel-good part of that side of the ball was in No. 3 Notre Dame's waterlogged NORTH CAROLINA GAME NOTES BY TYLER JAMES AND ERIC HANSEN Against the Tar Heels, Walton achieved career highs in carries (23) and rushing yards (120), as well as receptions (2) and receiving yards (28). PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP