Notre Dame will be hoping to enter this portion of the schedule at 3-0, although the projected best quarterback of the first half of 2026 is expected in the opener at Lambeau Field. You can read more about that HERE. In our second article today, Notre Dame faces a Big Ten rival and a pair of ACC schools who have all been struggling lately on the football field. Each of these programs will be looking to improve their situations at quarterback but the prospects aren’t looking great.
BOLDÂ denotes returning starter
Game #4 Purdue
Ryan Browne, Redshirt Junior
Evans Chuba, Redshirt Sophomore
Bennett Meredith, 5th Year Senior
Garyt Odom, Redshirt Freshman
Corin Berry, Freshman
Purdue has lost 29 games over the last 3 seasons and didn’t show improvement in the first year of Barry Odom’s tenure in West Lafayette. Digging into the research, I expected there to be a lot of roster turnover for the Boilers but that is not the case at quarterback. They brought in Malachi Singleton from Arkansas ahead of the 2025 season but after a backup role he’s since left to Appalachian State.
Ryan Browne returns after starting all 12 games last year. He spent 2 seasons with Purdue before transferring to North Carolina for a hot minute last off-season and then coming back to West Lafayette. So, Browne finally got his first spring as starter with the program this year.
Browne is back.
Bennett Meredith is entering his 4th year on campus after transferring over from Arizona State, Evans Chuba is in his second season with the team after transferring from Washington State, and the head coach’s son is back after completing his freshman season.
Corin Berry is a 3-star recruit out of northeast Los Angeles who rounds out the depth chart. Coming out of spring, the backup roles look to be in flux and something that will need fall camp to solidify.
VERDICT: Purdue showed some spunk scoring 23 first half points against Notre Dame last year but the offensive struggles plagued the team all season long and Browne showed no signs of being a difference maker at quarterback (last in passer rating among Big Ten signal callers). The team has to rebuild their receiving corps and have been so bad on the offensive line that improvement can only be modest in 2026.
Game #5 North Carolina
Billy Edwards, 6th Year Senior
Miles O’Neill, Redshirt Sophomore
Au’Tori Newkirk, Redshirt Freshman
Taron Dickens, Redshirt Junior
Travis Burgess, Freshman
DJ Mazzone, Redshirt Sophomore
Andres Miyares, Redshirt Sophomore
If the question is still being asked whether Bill Belichick could attract major quarterback talent to Chapel Hill the answer has to be an emphatic no going into his second season.
The aforementioned Ryan Browne came in during the 2025 winter but left after the spring. That left a quarterback battle between Max Johnson (former LSU/A&M player who arrived before 2024) and South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez. The latter won the starting job and played most of the year, but neither Lopez or Johnson performed well. Johnson has since headed off to Georgia Southern seeking a 7th year of eligibility while Lopez transferred to Wake Forest.
Belichick looking for Tom Brady.
The situation for 2026 isn’t settled. We mentioned Billy Edwards leaving Wisconsin in our first article and he led the way during the spring for UNC but he’s coming off a knee injury from last season. They also brought in Texas A&M transfer Miles O’Neill who only has 20 career pass attempts. Au’Tori Newark returns from last year and is also hoping to be in the mix.
One player to watch is the under-sized Taron Dickens who is reporting to Chapel Hill this summer from Western Carolina. He’s a decent runner who put up some very eye-catching stats for the Catamounts (398 of 537, 74.1% accuracy, 4,936 yards, 50 touchdowns, 5 interceptions) over the last 2 seasons and could be the North Carolina starter against Notre Dame.
We should also mention Travis Burgess was a high 4-star recruit and the top player in this 41-man incoming 2026 class for the Heels. He did tear his ACL back in September and missed most of his senior season, although he was participating during the spring.
VERDICT: Bobby Petrino has been hired to turn this offense around after being one of the worst in the ACC last season. There’s so little cohesion with this roster it’s nearly impossible to forecast what will happen, but skepticism abounds. I think Dickens is intriguing but if they go with Edwards (it certainly seems that way coming out of spring) I doubt he’ll last the full season as starter.
Game #6 Stanford
Davis Warren, 5th Year Senior
Dylan Rizik, Redshirt Junior
Charlie Mirer, 5th Year Senior
Mike Mitchell, Freshman
After the 1-year interim Frank Reich tenure, Stanford moves forward in 2026 with Tavita Pritchard as head coach. The Cardinal brought in 6th year senior Ben Gulbranson from Oregon State last year and he started most of the season before giving way to Elijah Brown under center. Now, Gulbranson’s eligibility is out and Brown has since transferred to Washington.
Former 2023 recruit Myles Jackson also entered the portal back in January with a destination still undetermined.
The rebuilding begins for Pritchard.
Stanford saw Davis Warren flounder in 2024 as the starting Michigan quarterback, then tear his ACL in the bowl game, and said “this is our man for 2026!” Warren exited spring practice as the solidified number one quarterback.
Former UCF quarterback Dylan Rizik transferred in ahead of 2025, didn’t see the field, but has stuck around for another season. Former walk-on Charlie Mirer (son of former Notre Dame quarterback Rick Mirer) didn’t play in 2025 until being inserted late against the Irish in the season finale, throwing a touchdown pass even.
If there’s hope for the future, incoming freshman Mike Mitchell provides something for the Cardinal to look forward to soon. He was just a 3-star recruit and is small (listed at 5’10” to 5’11” and 185 lbs.) but he broke a bunch of records in California playing at Archbishop Riordan.
VERDICT: Stanford signed a mediocre recruiting class and only brought in 6 transfers this off-season so we can’t expect their roster to be overhauled anytime soon. They probably won’t hurry Mitchell’s development, especially at his size, but this 2026 season looks like it’ll be one where Warren struggles, Rizik gets inserted occasionally, and the pressure mounts to look to the future.
Dickens’ #s at WCU are really good. 38TDs and 2 INTs 74% last year. He ran a lot, 97 times, but only for 3.3yds per carry. 5’11″& 180 lbs. He better be able to throw on the run.
Did he decommit from UNC ? (May 29) I see reports of such.(academics)
The amount of question marks at UNC make them, of the 3 teams in the article, the only one that might pose some difficulties. That’s only if all those questions get answered in their favor, truly unlikely.
Looks like you’re right. Dickens back into the portal.
That’s what I get for writing these too far in advance!