Notre Dame didn’t just beat Purdue on Saturday afternoon. It flattened the Boilermakers 49-10 and kept the Shillelagh Trophy for the 11th straight time.
The Irish rolled up 444 total yards and turned that into six touchdowns, while Purdue managed just one touchdown of its own. It was the kind of one-sided result that felt expected from the start, and it only sharpened the feeling that Notre Dame is moving with real purpose this season in a push toward the College Football Playoffs.
Purdue, for its part, has been having a rough time against anyone not named Indiana State. The Boilermakers have allowed 30 points in each of their last three games, including one against Wake Forest. Even so, Notre Dame looked like it was operating on a different level altogether.
That puts North Carolina in a tough spot heading into Saturday. UNC is coming off another frustrating loss, this one to a bad Clemson team, and whatever promise had been built up has now seemed to disappear. The schedule does not get any easier from here, and Bill Belichick will have to figure out how to satisfy the people that fundraised his contract.
The problem is that Notre Dame looks like a team UNC may need a small miracle to handle. A quarterback change could be part of the answer, but even that might not be enough. If Clemson scored 28 points, what reason is there to believe the Heels will hold Notre Dame below 35?
It would be a huge result if UNC could pull it off. Still, the most likely outcome is the Tar Heels dropping to 2-2 before heading to Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers.
In Other News...
UNC Is Already In An Early Fight For A Massive 5-Star Center
A big man with a growing national market is already drawing plenty of attention, and North Carolina has made sure it is in the mix early. Dylan Betts, a five-star Class of 2028 center and 7-foot-3 prospect at IMG Academy, has taken an unofficial visit to Chapel Hill as part of a recruitment process that is quickly broadening beyond one region or one conference.
UNCs staff has been building a relationship with Betts while schools like Michigan and Illinois have already hosted him, and Alabama is also lined up for a future visit. For the Tar Heels, getting in early matters with a player of that size and ceiling, because the race for elite frontcourt talent tends to move fast once the major programs start pressing their cases. [Read more 🡒]
UNCs New Backcourt Duo Brings More Than Fans Might Expect
North Carolinas newest backcourt pairing arrived with plenty of intrigue during a recent media availability, as transfer guards Angelo Brizzi and Neo Avdalas were introduced to the Tar Heels audience. Brizzi brings a well-traveled resume, but also the kind of reliability UNC needs from a lead guard, having started all 32 games at Buffalo and finished with 14.5 points per game. Avdalas offers a different look entirely, a 6-foot-9 guard whose size and playmaking made him one of the more interesting additions in the ACC last season.
Avdalas started all 31 games at Virginia Tech, averaged 12.1 points and 4.6 assists per game, and earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors twice, which gives UNC a backcourt blend that is both experienced and unconventional. For a program always balancing immediate expectations with roster fit, the bigger question now is how quickly these two transfers can translate their production into chemistry, spacing and decision-making in Chapel Hill. [Read more 🡒]
Belichicks UNC Start Looks Worse As Passed-Over Options Keep Delivering
Bill Belichicks first season at North Carolina has already become a talking point across college football, and not in the way anyone around Chapel Hill would have wanted. As the Tar Heels try to settle in under one of the sports most famous names, the comparison game has only intensified, with other programs taking shape behind coaches who were in the same broader conversation before Belichick landed at UNC.
Those parallel developments matter because the coaches North Carolina did not hire keep stacking up results elsewhere. Jon Sumrall and Jake Dickert, in particular, have continued to build momentum, while Wake Forests early success under Dickert and quarterback Gio Lopez has only sharpened the optics. Even in games with uneven quarterback play, such as Clemsons outing from Tait Reynolds, the broader trend has been hard to miss for UNC fans watching the wider carousel. [Read more 🡒]