What was real, what was fake from Notre Dame football beating UNC?

The last thing any football team at any level should do is dwell on the previous game — good or bad. In Notre Dame’s case, it was the former. Really good. But beating North Carolina 45-32 won’t have anything to do with what happens Saturday against No. 16 BYU (4-1) in Las Vegas.

The Fighting Irish (2-2) are in a bit of an odd situation. They started the season 0-2, and the winless record came with a plethora of questions about the team, its coaches and everything in between. They’ve since won their last two games, but the same people who were presenting the queries have likely held onto at least a smidgen of doubt.

That’s why BlueandGold.com Notre Dame beat writer Tyler Horka joined WSBT Sports Radio’s Darin Pritchett on Monday, Oct. 3, to discuss what was real from Notre Dame’s road win over the Tar Heels and what might have been fake. Or, not necessarily fake but rather what should have at least been taken with a grain of salt.

Listen to the radio segment by clicking the play button below.

What was real for Notre Dame in beating UNC?

The defense.

North Carolina scoring 32 points and being the first team this season to eclipse 30 isn’t going to jump out at anybody as a stalwart defensive performance for the Irish, but there is more that goes into football games than a final score. The Notre Dame defense was impressive against the Heels for most of the afternoon.

If the Irish don’t allow an 80-yard touchdown toward the end of the third quarter and a 64-yard touchdown at the end of the fourth sandwiched around a nine-play, 76-yard drive in the middle of the final frame, then they would have had one of the best defensive showings against North Carolina that any team has had against the Heels in the last three seasons.

In fact, they still did.

North Carolina has only gained less than the 367 total yards it put up against Notre Dame twice since the start of the 2020 season. It happened against none other than the Irish in Chapel Hill on Nov. 27, 2020 (298 yards) and against Virginia Tech on Sept. 3, 2021 (354 yards).

The Heels are averaging 507.2 yards per game this season even with the anomaly against Notre Dame. They rushed for 66 yards against the Irish. They haven’t rushed for less than 160 yards in any of their other three games.

The Notre Dame defense was real against UNC. But so were the aforementioned lapses. Those have become a trend, too, particularly the lengthy drives allowed late in games. If this group ever puts it all together, it could have one of the top defenses in the country.

What was fake for Notre Dame in beating UNC?

Fake might be too harsh a term. But what the Irish offense did was a bit exaggerated.

Notre Dame did not rush for more than 3.6 yards per carry in any of its first three games. It ran for 5.6 yards per carry against North Carolina. At some point, an increase of that magnitude says more about the opponent than it does about who you really are.

Improvement is entirely possible. But so is feeble opposition making a team look good. BYU doesn’t have the stingiest rushing defense. It’s actually quite poor; the 159.8 rushing yards allowed per game ranks 91st in the FBS. Two teams, Oregon and Utah State, ran for over 200 yards against the Cougars. If Utah State can do it, Notre Dame can too.

The Ducks and Aggies stayed committed to the ground game, though. The former ran 44 times for 212 yards (4.82 yards per carry) and the latter ran 49 times for 204 yards (4.16 yards per carry). Most teams would take those numbers every time, but they’re still not the gaudy 51 carries for 287 yards the Irish amassed against North Carolina.

So, again: Don’t expect sophomore Audric Estime to carry 17 times for 134 yards and two touchdowns against BYU. Those stats just aren’t feasible against everybody. But this still is a chance for Notre Dame to prove that the offensive output was more real than it was a mirage. That includes a passing game that went for 289 yards and three scores after not going for more than 221 in the three games prior.

Time will tell how much of a step forward Notre Dame took after all or if it was a common case of an opponent making a team searching for an identity look cured overnight.