Undergods North Carolina will seek to spoil the College Football Playoff dream of Notre Dame when the Tar Heels battle against eh undefeated Fighting Irish on Friday.
No. 2 Notre Dame (8-0, 7-0 ACC) at No. 25 North Carolina (6-2, 6-2)
No. 2 Notre Dame heads into Friday’s pivotal ACC clash in Chapel Hill as the team to beat, but the No. 19th ranked North Carolina believes it has the weapon to upset the travelers who knocked off then-No. 1 Clemson on Nov. 7.
Kick-off time at Kenan Stadium is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET with live coverage on the ABC network and live streaming on WatchESPN.com. Ahead of the 21st clash between this two programs, the all-time series has Notre Dame dominating with an 18-2 record in a series that began in 1949.
Notably, both of North Carolina victories occurred in Chapel Hill, with the last win being a 29-24 result for the Tar Heels in 2008. This season will be the fourth meeting between the two programs since 2006.
A victory for the Fighting Irish (8-0, 7-0 ACC) would see them move even closer to playing for its first-ever conference championship and make a return to the College Football Playoff.
However, the college football experts think today’s matchup will be closer than it looks, despite ESPN’s Football Power Index giving Notre Dame a 71.3% to win today and the Irish winning the last two games, including last season’s 33-10 result.
Ready to take the field and test Kelly team’s defense on Friday is a North Carolina (6-2, 6-2) side that has the high-scoring offense and has one of the most talented rosters in the league.
“It’s obvious we’ve made a lot of progress,” UNC coach Mack Brown said Friday. “Are we ready to beat the No. 2 team in the country? Who knows? But it’s a great a challenge for us.”
This trip to North Carolina is expected to be the toughest game remaining on Notre Dame’s regular-season schedule.
“Certainly we want to take care of what’s in front of us, so what’s important for us is North Carolina,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. “But we know what the schedule looks like.”
North Carolina, which has two league losses already, might very well be out of the College Football Playoff runnings, but it is trying to stay in the hunt for a spot to play in the ACC title game.
— Photo credit goheels.com
