Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Week 5 Preview

By Stiofán Mac Fhilib

For the first time in Marcus Freeman’s tenure as Notre Dame Head Coach, the Irish finished September with an unbeaten record. Now as we head into October #3 ND travel into ACC country to try to extend their 14-game unbeaten run. Against one of the greatest coaches in the history of the sport.

Looking Back at Last Week

Notre Dame retained the Shillelagh Trophy last Saturday afternoon with a comprehensive 49-10 demolition of Purdue in West Lafayette. In the last three seasons the Irish have now beaten the Boilermakers by a combined score of 171-47. Which may explain why their HC, Barry Odom, is not overly keen on the series continuing.

ND got off to a slightly sluggish start by their own high standards, not taking the lead until over 13 minutes into the game. But that Carr pass to Gilbert was swiftly followed by a quartet of second quarter TDs that covered all the bases Irish fans would have wished for.

CJ Carr threw another TD pass, ran one in himself – one play after a cheap shot by a Purdue CB on Carr when he lined up wide on a Wildcat run – and Aneyas Williams ran for Notre Dame’s first 20+ yard rush of the season. And had it not been a TD run, he likely could have run for another 50 at least!

Then to cap it off, the Irish defense notched its third score in the first four games. Bryce Young had the strip sack, and a blitzing Drayk Bowen was on hand to scoop the ball on the Purdue 15 and run it in for the score.

A sloppy third quarter saw the Boilermakers finally trouble the scoreboard operators with a 47-yard FG, before Carr threw his third TD pass early in the fourth. Backup, Noah Grubbs, led the final ND scoring drive before the Purdue backups got the better of the Irish third and fourth string with a TD pass with 6 seconds remaining.

Despite that late push, the Notre Dame defense held their hosts to just 218 yards of total offense, and only 40 on the ground. Home QB, Ryan Browne, who shredded the Irish in the first half at ND Stadium a year ago, had been averaging 341 yards per game to start the season. The Notre Dame defense held him to 111.

Carr did throw his first pick of the season, though if he keeps only ever doing it when the Irish are up 35-0, then both his coaches and fans could possibly live with that! The Irish have still yet to fumble in 2026 and have a 9-1 turnover margin in their favour to date. The longer they can continue in that vein, the better their season will get.

The Week Ahead

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NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS (KENAN STADIUM, CHAPEL HILL, NC); 12.00PM EST; 5.00PM IST/BST

After going 3-0 against the Big Ten portion of their schedule, Notre Dame face ACC opposition for the first time in 2026 as they travel to Chapel Hill to face Bill Belichick’s Tar Heels. The Irish lead this very one-sided series 21-2, having won the last five encounters. The most recent outing was in 2022 when Drew Pyne led ND to a 45-32 victory over Drake Maye’s UNC in Chapel Hill.

After a turbulent first season that saw them finish 4-8, Belichick entered the 2026 campaign amid the chaos of his General Manager and close friend, Mike Lombardi, resigning, followed by his son and DC, Steve, taking sick leave and then announcing his resignation effective later this month.

Added to that mix then was an opening game 3,000 miles away in Ireland against the TCU team who embarrassed them 48-14 in Belichick’s opening game as a college football head coach. And they emerged from all of it with an unlikely 15-10 triumph. An FCS victory doubled their win total before they led Clemson 17-3 only for the elements to intervene. The Tigers came back after the weather delay to eventually prevail 28-20. But signs of definite improvement and a certain degree of resilience too.

In typical Belichick fashion they are a disciplined and fundamentally sound football team. Echoing Marcus Freeman’s own mantra, they don’t beat themselves. They have over 60 new faces on the roster this year, between transfers and high school recruits, so they are still trying to gel fully.

Bobby Petrino, their new OC this year, has already improved the offense, and even with an inexperienced OL, they have two big backs in Benjamin Hall and Demon June who run the ball well. Wisconsin transfer QB, Billy Edwards Jr., missed most of last season with a knee injury and has been solid so far. TE, Jelani Thurman, and WR, Jordan Shipp, have been by far his favourite targets, with over half the team’s receptions and yards between them. Notre Dame, however, will present them with challenges they haven’t yet faced.

Their defense is now overseen by another of Belichick’s sons, Brian, though his father will always have significant input. He is a genius at taking away opposing teams’ biggest threats; though even that may not be enough against the Irish given the talent gap. It won’t be for the want of trying, however. And players like DT, Xavier Lewis, and S, Greg Smith, have very high motors and will need to be accounted for on every play by Mike Denbrock.

UNC may welcome back K, Rece Verhoff, this week and after a strong 2025 campaign he would be an upgrade on the incumbent, Aeron Burrell.

Game Prediction

NOTRE DAME 34-10 NORTH CAROLINA

The Irish will take time to get into gear against a fundamentally sound home defense, but the talent gap will ultimately see them coast to a comfortable win, on a day where the defense only enhances its stature as the best in college football right now.

Where to Watch

DAZN; coverage starts at 5.00pm IST/BST

ESPN/Disney+ (in the USA)

Playoff Picture

Texas further enhanced their résumé with a narrow win at Rocky Top, while Florida jumped to 4-0, taking down #5 Ole Miss at the Swamp. For Irish fans, Wisconsin’s dramatic late win at Happy Valley was a helpful boost. Though in the schadenfreude stakes it was nothing compared to Michigan’s last second karmic takedown by Iowa!

And if ND fans thought the weekend could not get any better, Taylor Swift was there to help out yet again. Oregon have never lost the week after she releases an album, and despite losing QB, Dante Moore, to a dirty hit followed by an even more despicable ‘celebration’, they took down the Trojans in the Coliseum.

This week Iowa will try to shock the visiting Buckeyes, and Notre Dame fans will have an eye on Alabama and Miami as they travel to #16 Mississippi State and a 3-1 Clemson team respectively. Home wins there would be much appreciated.

STIOFÁN MAC FHILIB

COLLEGE FOOTBALL ANALYST

A VERY LONG-DISTANCE SUBWAY ALUMNUS OF NOTRE DAME, COUNTY ANTRIM-BASED STIOFÁN HAS BEEN A FAN OF THE FIGHTING IRISH SINCE 2000. FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @SMACFHILIB.

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