The North Carolina Tar Heels will travel to Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday evening to take on the 11th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Tar Heels are 4-3 this season and are coming off a 45-42 home win over the Miami Hurricanes before their bye week. Junior quarterback Sam Howell finished going 17-of-26 for 154 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The Fighting Irish are sitting at 6-1 this season and are coming off a 31-16 home win over the USC Trojans. Senior quarterback Jack Coan had a pretty good game as he went 20-of-28 for 189 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
New Set of Downs
The North Carolina Tar Heels have been doing well in the passing game, with sophomore wide receiver Josh Downs having a good season. He has recorded 60 receptions for 837 yards (13.9 yards per catch) with eight touchdowns. In his last game against the Miami Hurricanes, Downs finished with 11 receptions for 96 yards (8.7 yards per catch). It will be an excellent sign for the Tar Heels offense if he can continue to get first downs often.
This season, the North Carolina Tar Heels have been a mediocre defensive team as they are giving up 28.9 points per game. In their previous game against the Miami Hurricanes, they allowed 42 points on 421 total yards of offense (264 passing, 157 rushings). The biggest number to be excited about is North Carolina’s forced three interceptions in that game. They need to stop third and fourth down conversions as Miami went 8-of-16 on third down attempts and 1-of-2 on fourth down attempts. If they can improve there but continue forcing turnovers, it will be an excellent spot for them.
Run A Little Better
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are a good offense, and sophomore running back Kyren Williams has 121 attempts for 508 yards (4.2 yards per carrying) with six touchdowns on the ground and 25 receptions for 242 yards (9.7 yards per catch) with three touchdowns through the air. In the last game against the USC Trojans, he had a big game as he ran 25 times for 138 yards (5.5 yards per rush), a pair of touchdowns on the ground, and six catches for 42 yards (7.0 yards per carrying). If he can do that once again, it will be an excellent spot for the Fighting Irish to be in.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish has been doing well on the defensive side of the football as they are giving up 23.1 points per game. In their previous game against the USC Trojans, they allowed 16 points on 428 total yards of offense (299 passing, 129 rushings). The Trojans were below 50 percent converting as they went 6-of-13 on third down and 1-of-2 on fourth down attempts. The Fighting Irish also need to work on their running defense, as they allowed 3.9 yards per rush last week. If they can improve that, they will be in a great spot to continue climbing in the poll.
Who to Bet on Tar Heels at Fighting Irish
This line is a lot closer than I would imagine, but Notre Dame is the 11th-ranked team for a reason. The Notre Dame defense has been stepping up as in their last five games, and they are giving up 19 points while the Tar Heels are sitting at 33.6 points in that same stretch against inferior competition. All in all, go with the better defense to cover the spread at home here.