2020 review: Notre Dame football stymies the North Carolina run game

As they steamrolled through their 2020 ACC regular season, the Notre Dame football team had a bunch of tough matchups. Between hosting No. 1 Clemson, taking on former backup Phil Jurkovec and Boston College, and a tough road game against North Carolina, going undefeated was not an easy task.

First, they knocked off Clemson, the top-ranked team in the country, and a favorite to win it all inside Notre Dame Stadium. The following week they had to go on the road and take on BC, a potential trap game after coming off such a huge victory.

After dispatching of both those teams, the Irish would then have to head to Kenan Stadium to take on a North Carolina team boasting two of the best running backs in the country. It would be an ultimate test for this Irish defense, and one that put the rest of the country on notice.

Notre Dame football’s defense stymied a dominant UNC run game

North Carolina stars Michael Carter and Javonte Williams went into the game against Notre Dame on hot streaks, as Carter was averaging over eight yards per carry, and Williams had rushed for over 100 yards in five of his last six games. The task at hand would not only be to stop that two-headed monster, but also quarterback Sam Howell, whose big-play ability can crush a defense at any time.

What ensued was a beautiful game by the Irish defense, one that not only did, in fact, hold both Carter and Williams in check, but also this high-powered North Carolina as a whole, as they mustered only 17 points in the game.

To put things in perspective, after the Irish loss, Carter rushed for 381 yards and five touchdowns in his next two games. Williams, had only three carries the following week, but then exploded against Miami (FL), rushing 23 times for nearly 250 yards and two touchdowns.

This tandem harassed defenses all season long, but not the Irish, who put together one of the more impressive games of their season. Beating No. 1 Clemson was the highlight, but this was a game that had to be up there in terms of dominant defensive wins for Brian Kelly.

In total, the Irish defense held the two stars to only 85 yards combined, completely shutting down the best running back tandem in all of college football. It was a signature moment for Clark Lea as the defensive coordinator for the Irish and likely went a long way in him landing a head coaching job towards the end of the season.