Notre Dame has an elite defense. North Carolina’s best unit is its defense. So naturally, Saturday’s game went into the shootout realm for a bit before the Irish calmed things down and finished off a 37-26 win that narrowly kept their daunting double-digit win streak alive at 15 games

It was a game that looked like it was headed for blowout territory until a very damaging triple whammy: ND failing, up 21-7, on 4th-and-goal at the 3-yard line plus being hit with a classic Bill Belichick middle-eight touchdown drive plus allowing a kickoff return for a score that pulled Carolina to within one after a muffed PAT.

ND didn’t flinch, though, just as it didn’t after Carolina started the game with a defensive stop and touchdown drive. Instead, ND started Jonaz Walton in the third quarter (a VERY intriguing development) and rode him most of the way down the field until CJ Carr, who enjoyed a spectacular first half, finished things up with a rushing score – on a fourth-and-goal snap Marcus Freeman said ND was never going to make had the Heels not jumped offsides.

The drive, per the ESPN broadcast, was the first to feature 14-plus rushes in over 20 years (they probably just didn’t bother looking further).

CJ Carr had the sort of game that makes him just seem like a cheat code. With the exception of a couple weather-affected throws, just about everything was right on target. He kept checking into the right play and made 12-yard gains through the air seem effortless. The ballyhooed Heels defense was toothless, and but for a silly third-and-goal play call (I love you, but you don’t have to run the QB, Mike Denbrock), it would probably have been a 40-burger in Chapel Hill.

Some other takeaways from the win:

The running game is…back?

There might need to be a new leader in the Spoiled ND Fan Consternation Power Rankings for the time being (and we’ll get to what it probably is), because the running game, the focus of so much discussion so far, was terrific Saturday – and it seems to have been, in part, due to a potential changing of the guard.

Freshman Jonaz Walton always looked like a guy who was going to be RB1 sooner or later, and, at least today, he unquestionably was. Walton started the third quarter, as mentioned, and was ridden like a thoroughbred on the Irish’s 17-play touchdown drive, to great results. He ended the day with 120 yards on 23 carries (plus 28 more on two receptions) and showed off just about everything in his tool belt – good vision, remarkable athleticism, deceptive speed for a guy his size, and necessary toughness. Walton was twice given the ball on fourth-and-short on the pivotal drive and didn’t make ND fans sweat long either time before pushing his way over the yellow line.

Nolan James and Aneyas Williams together got fewer touches than Walton did, but they both had good games in their own right. James’ best play was not a rush but a reception, as he put a simply filthy move on a Carolina defender for the clinching touchdown. The expression ‘he could make you miss in a phone booth’ isn’t exactly literal (and now that I think about it, it’s not timely either; do the kiddies even know what a phone booth is?), but James basically did it on that play.

Obviously, the offensive line deserves the lion’s share of the credit. They pushed around the Heels’ front line and made things pretty easy for the backs. Marcus Freeman teams consistently get better in all areas as a season progresses, but especially at rushing the ball. If this is a sign of things to come, the offense is about to gain a new dimension.

A quick word about Jordan Faison

I’ve been beating this drum for a bit and will probably continue to do so, but is there a more underrated player in the country than Jordan Faison? Barely anyone talks about him at all, but the dude does two things: 1) Get open and 2) Catch footballs.

This one was hilarious, as Carolina brought a zero blitz, meaning everyone on the defense knows it’s man to man with no safety help, and the Carolina DB bites on the out route anyway. Faison bailed out a needlessly difficult throw by Carr.

Just another 8 catches and 132 yards for ND’s unquestioned No. 1 receiver (most of it in the first half). Impossible to believe this guy wasn’t even on scholarship for football when he first got to Notre Dame. Now I’m dreading his potential jump to the NFL after the season (he has another year of eligibility left thanks to the 5-for-5 rule). Everyone on Twitter, though, knew to make the “Belichick is gonna try to go back to the NFL just to draft Jordan Faison” joke as Faison was tearing his defense to shreds.

(And speaking of guys who came here as walk-ons, Luke Talich, man. Just wait until Brauntae Johnson is back. This crew of safeties is out of this world.)

OK, now the less good stuff

Statistically, it really wasn’t a bad day by the ND defense, which didn’t let the Heels get much on the ground and made life difficult on Billy Edwards at times. Unfortunately, they packed most of the bad into that 97-yard TD drive right before halftime, an example of the wise old master and namesake of Belichicking (winning the middle 8) getting one last trick over on the new master of the art.

It was a tough day for Adon Shuler and Jayden Sanders, who seemed to be targeted an awful lot. The Irish had all kinds of issues with Jelani Thurman on the 97-yard drive, and Jordan Shipp was a pest much of the game. And the pass rush, which did have its moments (the interception to Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa), wasn’t as effective as it ought to have been against an offense that scored more TDs than it has against either of its other power conference level foes to date.

Also, Leonard Moore left the game with an injury suffered on Carolina’s cosmetic late touchdown (a tradition of the Freeman era). Postgame, the only update was that he would be evaluated. It was hard to tell what happened but if Moore suffered some sort of head injury, I’m pretty sure the Irish can give him a week off given that next week’s opponent, Stanford, was blasted to a new galaxy by Wake Forest today.

And then there was that kickoff return, which featured exactly one (1) person do what he should have – Matt Jeffery, who made the returner cut upfield rather than get the edge. Unfortunately for Jeffery, absolutely no one was there to do anything else and it was the easiest kick return TD you’ll ever see.

These are all issues to be ironed out – every game has one. ND has one more presumed breather next week against the Cardinal before the rubber hits the road on this season – BYU, off week, Navy, Miami. That’s the stretch that will define this season.

(Photo credit – Reuters)