Upcoming CFB game: Fighting Irish to face Tar Heels

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will play their CFB road game against the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday, September 24, at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, NC.

Clutchpoints' Chris Spiering predicted the Fighting Irish's chance of winning over the Tar Heels. Spiering noted that despite losing their first game of the season to the Ohio State Buckeyes, he had high expectations for North Carolina after their last result of a 24-17 victory over the California Golden Bears.

However, Spiering mentioned that their loss in Week 2 against the Marshall Thundering Herd was surprising and, according to him, they need to bounce back if they want to be competitive this season.

For the Tar Heels, Spiering said that they have an easy and favorable schedule, especially the non-conference ones. Last week, the Tar Heels defeated the Georgia State Panthers and with an upcoming win against the Fighting Irish could move up their rankings.

The Tar Heels have an easy and favorable schedule, particularly in non-conference games. They defeated the Georgia State Panthers last week and could move up the rankings with a win against the Fighting Irish this weekend, as observed by Spiering.

Fighting Irish’s winning chance

According to several sources, the Fighting Irish's offense is expected to struggle for the next game. They averaged 18.3 points per game right and the primary QB Tyler Buchner has yet to tally a touchdown pass this season. Meanwhile, the backup QB Drew Pine recorded all three of the team’s passing touchdowns.

There was no confirmation on who will be Freeman’s starting choice for the offense and who would be given the possession of primary QB for the next game. Moreover, the Fighting Irish must improve their rushing game and implement the strategy of their main offensive play, according to sources.

There was no word on who would be Freeman's starting choice and who would be the primary QB for the next game. According to sources, the Fighting Irish must also improve their rushing game and implement the strategy of their main offensive play.

The Fighting Irish's two primary RBs Audric Estime and Chris Tyree haven't performed quite well this season. Estime managed to rush for 130 yards and tallied two touchdowns, while Tyree rushed for 109 yards out of 26 carries. Both of them need to improve and they have a chance of it because Tar Heels allowed 37.7 points per game, according to ClutchPoints.

On the other hand, the Fighting Irish defense could be a focal point to winning the game against the Tar Heels. Howard Cross III, DJ Brown, Jack Kiser, and JD Bertrand lead the team’s defense. As the team’s leading tacklers, they could beat Tar Heels’ offense that was led by QB Drake Maye, who recorded 11 touchdown passes this year.

Freeman, who was facing the expectation to win the upcoming second road game against the Tar Heels, said that he was preparing for the win, as quoted by Tom Noie of the Notre Dame Insider.

“I think I’ve knocked out all the firsts, right?” Freeman said.

“We’ve knocked out all those. Yeah, let’s talk about an opponent. Let’s talk about preparing for a game and what it takes to have success.”

Cross, leading the Fighting Irish for 21 tackles, said that he was looking for the game against the Tar Heels.

“Going on the road, we’re in the swing of it now,” Cross said.

“No more, ‘Oh, I wonder how the first game is going to go (or) oh, am I going to be able to do this?’ All the niceties and everything are out of the way. Now we can play football.”