North Carolina Tar Heels at Notre Dame Fighting Irish Preview

The North Carolina Tar Heels are taking their show on the road to visit a top 10 opponent in the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. This is one of Notre Dame’s four scheduled ACC matchups this year. Notre Dame made an agreement to play five of these games against the ACC every year. The math was too tricky this year so the Irish are playing six games next year to make up for it.

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The two teams are definitively different places right now. The Tar Heels are trying to stop the season from sinking all together, while Notre Dame has visions of College Football Playoff starting to dance in its head. This was not the situation that I expected before the year when this was supposed to be a matchup of relatively equal teams.

Date: October 11

Time: 3:30 PM

TV: NBC

Venue: Notre Dame Stadium (South Bend, IN)

Last time: 2008

A game that included Charlie Weis and Butch Davis on the sideline seems forever ago. This game featured Jimmy Clausen at quarterback for the Irish, and also featured him throwing a pick to Quan Sturdivant for a touchdown. The game ended on a fumble recovery with Notre Dame deep in Carolina territory.

Oct 4, 2014; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Everett Golson (5) looks to throw in the first quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Carolina Connections:

The two starting quarterbacks Everett Golson of the Irish and Marquise Williams of the Heels, were once both committed to Butch Davis as part of a recruiting class. Golson switched commitments to Notre Dame over lack of a basketball commitment. The two will now face off to see which one was really the best…or something like that.

UNC running back Elijah Hood had sort of the opposite story. He was originally committed to the Irish before deciding he would play for the Heels instead. His former high school teammate Mark Harrell is a lineman for the Irish.

Opponent: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-0) – #6 (AP)

Oct 4, 2014; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly waits with his players before taking the field against the Stanford Cardinal at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

This may be a trap game for the Irish, because Florida State and its suspect defense looms next week and that game will have implications for the college football playoff. Coach Brian Kelly has gotten Notre Dame back to playing at a high level just as they did two years ago. The key similarity in those two teams was having Everett Golson at quarterback. Golson’s game is far more complete than it was two years ago. One only needs to look at the last play against Stanford to see that.

Notre Dame suspended five players and the outcome of those cases is unclear. The defection of Hood seems to have left them without a real running game, and so the Kelly spread has been making do through the air. Golson has a 64% completion rate on the year with 13 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions. Golson is also second on the team in carries and fourth in yards rushing.

Sep 27, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Corey Robinson (88) catches a pass for a touchdown as Syracuse Orange cornerback Brandon Reddish (4) defends in the third quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

His targets are many. The leading receiver is William Fuller, but Corey Robinson and CJ Prosise have caught their share of balls too. This will maximize the importance of the pass rush on the defensive line. Golson cannot be allowed to pick and choose where wants to go with the football. Tar Heel defensive backs cannot cover forever. Line troubles have been central to North Carolina and Notre Dame fields a good o-line.

Notre Dame plays a 4-3 front under Brian VanGorder, the defensive coordinator. This is a switch from the 3-4 alignment the Irish ran last season. That defense has only given up 17 points in its worst outing, which was week 1 versus Rice. They shut out Michigan and held Stanford to two scores.

Prediction:

I would love to see the Heels pull it all together on the field and shock the world. Yet I do not think that is reasonable right now. This is yet another game where North Carolina will be outmanned on both lines, which is the recipe for…well…not good. 28 might be the floor rather than the ceiling of this score.

ONJ Prediction Record: 17-5