The attention of the college football world will be on Kenan Stadium Friday afternoon, as No. 19 UNC—a program undoubtedly on the rise–looks to make a statement against an undefeated blue blood in No. 2 Notre Dame.
One of the most prestigious programs in the history of college football, Notre Dame has gone until this year playing as an independent school without a conference. The pandemic forced the Fighting Irish to play in the ACC this season—as they do in every other sport—which has created an interesting power struggle atop the league.
Already this season, Notre Dame has defeated perennial ACC powerhouse Clemson on the way to an 8-0 record.
Although the program has not won a national championship since 1988 or played for one since 2012, head coach Brian Kelly has a group talented enough in all areas to complete the job this year—something UNC head coach Mack Brown alluded to when speaking with the media earlier this week.
“This may be his best team because they’re very balanced,” Brown said, of Kelly. “They do everything pretty well.
“Just checking a few things for them as they are No. 1 in the league in total defense,” he continued. “So, at a year where we’re saying a lot of people miss defense, and we didn’t have spring practice so that hurt us and the offense is ahead of the defense. Well, Notre Dame didn’t get that memo because they’re giving up 85 yards rushing a game.”
In addition to a dominant defense that will present the toughest challenge UNC’s star running back tandem of Javonte Williams and Michael Carter have faced all season, the Fighting Irish also have a great offense led by senior quarterback Ian Book—who has gone 28-3 as a starter in his career.
On the other side, the Tar Heels have proven this season that they can put up points in a hurry behind the two running backs and sophomore quarterback Sam Howell.
Inconsistency on defense has been UNC’s downfall this season, with stellar performances against Duke and NC State countered by no-shows in losses at Florida State and Virginia.
If the Tar Heels want their program to reach the heights Notre Dame currently sits at, the defense will have to match the level of play put forth by the offense on a much more consistent basis—starting on Friday.
“We know where Notre Dame is,” Brown said. “They’re one of the best teams in the country. They’re probably a playoff team. Right now people would project they’ll definitely be in the ACC championship game. They’ve dominated most of the teams they’ve played.
“So everybody knows where Notre Dame is,” the coach added. “Nobody knows where we are.”
All season long, the Tar Heels have treated each game as a measuring stick for the rebuild Brown started last season. That process has moved forward much faster than anybody expected initially, which has made the two close losses this season that much harder to handle.
While all the easy roads to the ACC championship game have been closed off already, the Tar Heels still have a chance to make it with wins over Notre Dame on Friday and Miami in the season finale.
That path would still require other teams to suffer surprising losses, but that doesn’t change the fact that UNC has a chance to make a loud statement against the Fighting Irish in what is by the far the program’s most important game since Brown returned to the sidelines.
“More than anything else, I’ve told the guys, this is a great opportunity for us early in the transition to rebuild our program to see where we are,” Brown said. But I’ve also told them you want to be relevant. You want to be national. Everybody in the country is going to watch you play on Friday. So, this is an opportunity for you to show them that we are making progress.”
Photo via ACC Media
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