Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 10, 2026 31 I t was more than a silver lining. It was an inflection point for the Notre Dame offense that became an excla- mation point in a downpour in Chapel Hill, N.C. And perhaps one that a crowd expecting a coronation instead of watching a team gradually and methodically grow into its potential might have missed in a soggy and imperfect 37-26 takedown of North Carolina by the third- ranked Irish at Kenan Stadium. Perhaps the stat line that best illustrates a critical tumbler falling into place in the bigger picture for Notre Dame (5-0) belonged to North Carolina sophomore defensive tackle Xavier Lewis. He came into the game leading the nation in sacks (2.0) and tackles for loss per game (2.8) and left it without adding to either one of those. Or a QB hurry. Or even a regular old tackle. Only tread marks on his back, and the rest of coach Bill Belichick's defense, which had an extra week to prepare. "When they know you're going to try to run the ball and you're still able to run the ball because of the weather con- ditions," head coach Marcus Freeman began, "that's a reflection of your team and the toughness and the physicality. And that's the pride we have. And that's what I'm most proud of." Notre Dame needed a game like this before the BYUs and Miamis of the world show up on the schedule, one in which the offense showed it could carry Notre Dame after the defense had af- forded it the luxury of working through its early-season growing pains. What was most unexpected about it, and against the team ranked 20th in the FBS in scoring defense, was that the Irish offense showed it could push the tempo when it wanted to, running a season-high 74 plays. It flexed behind an offensive line that had been under fire, transforming a run- ning game ranked No. 116 nationally just three weeks ago into a 241-yard, 45-carry hammer. Both were season highs. Freshman Jonaz Walton led the way with 120 yards on 23 carries, 12 of which came during a 17-play scoring drive on Notre Dame's first offensive possession of the second half, with the Irish only up 21-20 after UNC (2-2) opened the third quarter with a 98-yard kickoff return from 5-7, 165-pound freshman Jaden Jefferson. Meanwhile, Walton, a 5-9, 215-pound Georgia product, could have had more — a 31-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was wiped out by a holding call. He also collected the first two receptions of his college career, good for 28 yards. Notre Dame ran it 14 times in the 75- yard scoring drive that put the Irish up 27-20 and devoured 9:10 off the clock. That was the most running plays in an Irish drive in 23 years, when the Irish had 15 rushing plays in a game-clinch- ing drive in a 20-14 upset of Pitt in a game in which Julius Jones set the Irish single-game rushing record (262). Walton's 12 runs on the drive included two fourth-down conversions. Carr accounted for the two runs the freshman didn't carry the ball. The last one, a 3-yard scor- ing run, was a happy accident. After getting stopped in the second quarter on a fourth- and-goal from the 2-yard line, here was Notre Dame again in a similar spot. Carr went to the line of scrimmage with the intent of either coaxing North Carolina to jump offside or taking the delay-of-game pen- alty and have Spencer Porath kick a field goal if the Tar Heels didn't bite. With 1 second on the play clock, Jaylen Harvey lurched through the neutral zone, and fifth-year center Ashton Craig astutely snapped the ball. Carr backpedaled, looking for an open receiver, and receded all the way back to the 16-yard line before finding a lane to scramble. He finished the improv with a dive into the end zone. "It's just the awareness that he has," Freeman said. "He's pretty special." The defense was not special, espe- cially against the pass, after coming into the day ranked No. 1 nationally in total defense. Neither were the special teams, which produced more blunders than brilliance. Those are fixable problems. The larger revelation in Chapel Hill was that Notre Dame's offense has ap- parently fixed enough of its own to pick up the slack, with admittedly bigger challenges ahead. "Super impressive with the way that the offensive line kind of just drove the ball down the field," Carr said. "They couldn't really stop us. It felt like we were imposing our will on them when- ever we wanted to. It was super exciting to know that you can kind of do that when you need to." ✦ Freshman running back Jonaz Walton carried the ball 12 times, including two fourth-down conversions, on Notre Dame's 17-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP An Inflection Point Turns Into An Exclamation Point Eric Hansen covers Notre Dame athletics for On3, with a focus on Irish football. He can be reached on X @ EHansenND THE DEEP READ ERIC HANSEN