No. 3 Notre Dame beats North Carolina 37-26 behind CJ Carr's four touchdown passes
CJ Carr threw four touchdowns and ran for another as Notre Dame leaned on a season-best rushing day to pull away from North Carolina in the second half.
Irish lean on the ground game in the rain
Notre Dame beat North Carolina 37-26 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, and the Irish did it by running the ball. They finished with 241 rushing yards, a season high, to go with 234 yards through the air from quarterback CJ Carr. Carr went 21 of 29 passing with four touchdown throws and added a short touchdown run of his own.
Jonaz Walton carried 23 times for 120 yards to lead the ground attack. Jordan Faison was Carr's top target, catching eight passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Notre Dame piled up 475 total yards and did not turn the ball over.
A fast start, then a scare
North Carolina struck first. Billy Edwards Jr. hit Shamar Easter for a 6-yard score to make it 7-0. Carr answered twice in the first quarter, finding Faison for a 28-yard touchdown and Jaden Greathouse for a 12-yarder to put the Irish up 14-7. Faison's second touchdown catch, this one from 39 yards, made it 21-7 in the second quarter.
Edwards kept North Carolina in it, connecting with Jelani Thurman from 14 yards out just before halftime to cut the gap to 21-14. Then Jaden Jefferson returned the second-half kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, but it still pulled the Tar Heels within one score at 21-20.
Notre Dame grinds it out after the break
That's when Notre Dame went back to pounding the ball. Carr scored on a 3-yard run to make it 27-20 late in the third quarter. To open the fourth, Nolan James Jr. caught a short pass from Carr and turned it into a 6-yard touchdown for a 34-20 lead. Spencer Porath added a 31-yard field goal to push it to 37-20.
Edwards threw his third touchdown of the day, a 10-yard pass to Thurman, to get North Carolina to 37-26, but the extra point was blocked. Notre Dame ran out the clock from there.
By the numbers
Edwards finished 17 of 28 for 208 yards and three touchdowns for North Carolina, but he also threw two interceptions. Jordan Shipp caught seven passes for 109 yards. The Tar Heels managed just 77 rushing yards on the day, with Benjamin Hall leading that group at only 36 yards on 10 carries. Derek McDonald led all tacklers with 12.
The win moved Notre Dame to 5-0 and extended the program's winning streak to 15 games. North Carolina fell to 2-2.
Facts per ESPN box score. Opinion is the taproom's.