Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 10, 2026 29 against Rice in Game 2. He replaced pre- season All-American Brauntae Johnson, who suffered a foot injury in the season opener against Wisconsin Sept. 6. Fre s h m a n Jo ey O ' B r i e n s ta r te d against Purdue and had an impressive showing filling in for Talich. Meanwhile, against a North Carolina team (2-2) aiming for its second win over a top-five team in program history in its 43rd game against such an oppo- nent, linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu- Asa also had a pick, to go along with 3 tackles. And defensive end Boubacar Traore collected 6 tackles and 4 QB hur- ries. But the Irish defense allowed sea- son highs in points (26), rushing yards (77) and total yards (285) against a team that came into the weekend 93rd na- tionally in total offense and 102nd in scoring offense out of 138 FBS teams. And the Tar Heels were able to drive 97 yards for a score after the North Car- olina defense stopped a fourth-down conversion attempt. "There was never a point we said, 'Man, we've never seen this before,'" Freeman said. "We've talked about this. Our guys didn't play crisp in the pass game, and their guys made some plays. And so we've got to go back and get that fixed." It's a good bet Talich will be part of the solution. — Eric Hansen NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Walton 23 122 2 120 5.2 0 18 James 9 65 0 65 7.2 0 11 Williams 8 42 0 42 5.2 0 24 Carr 4 16 1 15 3.8 1 9 TEAM 1 0 1 -1 -1.0 0 0 Total 45 245 4 241 5.4 1 24 Passing Com. Att. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long Carr 21 29 72.4 0 234 4 39 Total 21 29 72.4 0 234 4 39 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Faison 8 132 2 39 Gilbert 3 34 0 14 Williams 3 6 0 3 Walton 2 28 0 15 Greathouse 2 18 1 12 James 1 6 1 6 Washington 1 6 0 6 Flanagan 1 4 0 4 Total 21 234 4 39 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long Faison 2 20 0 14 Total 2 20 0 14 Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long Walton 1 28 0 28 Total 1 28 0 28 Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 Scaife 1 34.0 34 0 0 0 0 0 Total 1 34.0 34 0 0 0 0 0 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. Porath 1 1 31 0 Total 1 1 31 0 Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR Traore 6 0 6 1-1 0-0 1 0 0 Sneed 3 1 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Mukam 3 0 3 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 Sanders 3 0 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Talich 3 0 3 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 Brewu 2 1 3 1-7 1-7 0 0 0 Shuler 2 1 3 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Viliamu-Asa 2 1 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Bowen 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Ausberry 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Gray 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Moore 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 O'Brien 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 McKinney 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Thomas 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Young 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long Viliamu-Asa 1 14 0 14 Talich 1 0 0 0 Total 2 14 0 14 NORTH CAROLINA INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Hall 10 36 0 36 3.6 0 8 McGill 4 16 1 15 3.8 0 12 Edwards 3 20 7 13 4.3 0 10 June 6 14 1 13 2.2 0 6 Total 23 86 9 77 3.3 0 12 Passing Com. Att. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long Edwards 17 28 60.7 2 208 3 44 Total 17 28 60.7 2 208 3 44 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Shipp 7 109 0 44 Thurman 5 50 2 15 Easter 3 24 1 12 Sadler 1 13 0 13 June 1 12 0 12 Total 17 208 3 44 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long None Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long Jefferson 1 98 1 98 Total 1 98 1 98 Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 Burrell 3 44.7 52 0 0 0 1 0 Total 3 44.7 52 0 0 0 1 0 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. None Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR McDonald 5 7 12 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Seelmann 5 4 9 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Jackson 6 2 8 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Agumadu 4 3 7 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Patterson 4 3 7 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 Smith 3 2 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Waters 2 3 5 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Harvey 4 0 4 2-3 0-0 0 0 0 Johnson 2 1 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Maggio 1 2 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Miller 1 2 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Butts 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Cost 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Giddens 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Dopson 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Forkpa 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hickman-Collins 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Jefferson 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 McGill 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hoilette 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long None PARTICIPATION CHART OFFENSE QB: CJ CARR RB: NOLAN JAMES JR., Aneyas Williams, Jonaz Walton WR (X): MICAH GILBERT, Matt Jeffery WR (Z): JORDAN FAISON WR (Y): JADEN GREATHOUSE TE: COOPER FLANAGAN, James Flanigan, Jack Larsen, Ty Washington LT: WILL BLACK, Owen Strebig LG: ANTHONIE KNAPP, Cam Herron C: ASHTON CRAIG RG: SULLIVAN ABSHER, Styles Prescod RT: GUERBY LAMBERT, Charlie Thom DEFENSE LDE: BOUBACAR TRAORE, Loghan Thomas DT: ARMEL MUKAM, Elijah Hughes NT: FRANCIS BREWU, Tionne Gray, Sean Sevil- lano Jr. RDE: BRYCE YOUNG, Keon Keeley, Rodney Dun- ham Will: JAIDEN AUSBERRY, Jaylen Sneed Mike: DRAYK BOWEN, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa BCB: LEONARD MOORE FS: LUKE TALICH SS: ADON SHULER, Joey O'Brien FCB: DJ MCKINNEY, Jayden Sanders Nickel: CHRISTIAN GRAY SPECIAL TEAMS Kick return: Ian Premer, Cole Mullins, James Flanigan, Madden Faraimo, Matt Jeffery, Kah- anu Kia, Teddy Rezac, Jerome Bettis Jr., Loghan Thomas Kickoff coverage: Teddy Rezac, Brandon Lo- gan, Joey O'Brien, Ko'o Kia, Ebenezer Ewetade, Loghan Thomas, Matt Jeffery, Kahanu Kia, Ethan Long, Ja'Kobe Clapper, Rodney Dunham, Thomas Davis Jr., Mark Zackery IV Punt return: Matt Jeffery, Bryce Young, Joey O'Brien, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, Rodney Dun- ham, Adon Shuler, Loghan Thomas, Jayden Sanders Punt coverage: James Flanigan, Cooper Flana- gan, Mylan Graham, Matt Jeffery, Mark Zackery IV, Bubba Frazier, Drayk Bowen, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa Long snapper: Joseph Vinci Holder: Jasper Scaife Kick returners: Jonaz Walton, Kedren Young Punt returner: Jordan Faison Placekicker: Spencer Porath Kickoff: Micah Drescher Punter: Jasper Scaife