By the Numbers: Jonaz Walton and the Run Game Carry Notre Dame Football Past North Carolina

Notre Dame is 5-0 after a 37-26 win at North Carolina, and the running game is the reason. The Irish ran 45 times for 241 yards, their most this season, and Jonaz Walton supplied half of it. The freshman carried 23 times for 120 yards in the first 100-yard game of his career. He came into Saturday with 108 rushing yards total.

The ground game also controlled the clock. Notre Dame held the ball for 37:04 and ran 74 plays to North Carolina’s 51. The third quarter was the clearest example. The Irish had it for 13:18 of the 15 minutes, including a 17-play, 75-yard touchdown drive with 14 runs and three fourth-down conversions, and North Carolina ran three offensive plays in the period.

Notre Dame needed all of it, because the defense had its toughest afternoon of the season. North Carolina scored four touchdowns, one more than the first four opponents managed combined, and its 26 points doubled the previous high allowed. The double-digit win streak survived, at 15 games, by 11 points.

Here’s how the numbers tell the story of Notre Dame’s fifth win of 2026.

Key Stats

17 plays, 75 yards, 9:10 – The drive that followed North Carolina’s 98-yard kickoff return, which had cut the lead to 21-20. Notre Dame faced three fourth downs on it and converted all three. Walton ran for four yards on fourth-and-2 and seven on fourth-and-1, and Carr scored on fourth-and-goal from the 3.

120 – Walton’s rushing yards on 23 carries, both career highs, in his first 100-yard game. He’s the second Irish back to reach 100 this season, joining Nolan James Jr. against Michigan State. Walton also caught the first two passes of his career for 28 yards and returned a kickoff 28 yards, giving him 176 all-purpose yards.

241 – Notre Dame’s rushing yards on 45 attempts. The previous season high was 177 at Purdue a week earlier.

13:18 to 1:42 – Third-quarter time of possession. Notre Dame ran 24 plays in the period. North Carolina ran three and finished at minus-3.

37:04 – Notre Dame’s time of possession for the game. The Irish ran 74 plays to North Carolina’s 51.

5 – Touchdowns Carr accounted for, four passing and one rushing, his most this season. He completed 21 of 29 for 234 yards without an interception. The four touchdown throws match his career high, which he set at Arkansas last season and equaled against Rice in September.

132 – Jordan Faison’s receiving yards on eight catches, both career highs, with touchdowns of 28 and 39 yards. Four of those catches came on the drive that tied the game in the first quarter. It’s Notre Dame’s second 100-yard receiving game of the season, following Micah Gilbert’s 170 against Michigan State.

15 seconds – Game clock between Notre Dame’s first two touchdowns. Faison’s 28-yarder tied it at 7 with 6:41 left in the first quarter. On North Carolina’s next snap, Boubacar Traore got a hand on a Billy Edwards Jr. throw and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa intercepted it, returning it to the Tar Heel 12. Carr found Jaden Greathouse for the touchdown on the following play at 6:26. Since 1960, Notre Dame has scored two touchdowns closer together only four times. Just one of those pairs came on two touchdown passes, when Ian Book hit Miles Boykin and Alizé Mack 14 seconds apart against Stanford in 2018.

14 – Points off turnovers. Luke Talich picked off Edwards on North Carolina’s very next possession, and Notre Dame went 77 yards for Faison’s 39-yard touchdown.

35 seconds – Game clock that ran between North Carolina’s touchdown with 21 seconds left in the first half and Jefferson’s return. The Tar Heels scored 13 points in that span and turned 21-7 into 21-20.

4 – North Carolina touchdowns, three on offense and one on the kickoff return. Notre Dame’s first four opponents had three combined.

77 – North Carolina’s rushing yards on 23 carries. It extends the run of opponents held under 100 to six games, and it’s also the most any opponent has gained on the ground this season. Wisconsin’s 67 in the opener had been the high.

98 – Jefferson’s return. The longest play by a Notre Dame opponent before Saturday was a 53-yard completion by Michigan State. It’s also the first non-offensive touchdown scored against the Irish in 2026.

3-for-5 – Notre Dame on fourth down. One miss came on fourth-and-goal from the 2 in the second quarter. The other came on the final possession, when Walton ran for 12 yards on fourth-and-13 with 16 seconds left.

Milestones, Firsts, and Career Highs

Notre Dame’s streak of double-digit wins reached 15 games. No active FBS streak is longer, and no Notre Dame team has had a longer one. It ties Oklahoma (1955-56) and Florida (2008-09) for fifth on the all-time list, with Georgia and Texas next at 16. The 11-point margin is the second-smallest of the run. Only last October’s 34-24 win over USC was closer.

The 15 straight wins overall rank ninth in program history. Carr has started all 15, which puts him third on Notre Dame’s list for consecutive wins as a starting quarterback. Only Tony Rice (23) and Ian Book (16) won more in a row.

Six straight opponents have now been held under 100 rushing yards, a run that began at Stanford last November. That ties the stretches from 1932-33, 1964, 1965 and 1982 for the third-longest in school history.

The 14 runs on the third-quarter scoring drive matched the 14 Notre Dame ran on one possession against Air Force in 2000. The Irish ran 15 times on a single drive against Pittsburgh in 2003.

Carr’s four touchdown passes gave him 37 for his career, three shy of Rick Mirer’s 40 (1989-92) on Notre Dame’s all-time list at #9. Through five games, he’s 88-of-124 for 1,197 yards with 13 touchdowns and one interception.

Faison has caught a pass in 26 consecutive games. No Irish receiver had a run that long since Chase Claypool also reached 26 across 2017 and 2018. Faison’s day moved him to 18th in program history in receiving yards (1,689) and 16th in receptions (123).

Traore made all six of his tackles in the first half, tying his career high. His tackle for loss was the 20.5th of his career, which puts him in a tie with Mike Goolsby and Rocky Boiman for 38th on Notre Dame’s all-time list.

Talich’s interception was the sixth of his career, tying Christian Gray and Adon Shuler for second among active Irish players behind Leonard Moore’s seven. Talich also blocked the extra point after North Carolina’s final touchdown. Viliamu-Asa’s pick was his third career interception.

The Irish have 11 takeaways through five games and have turned it over once.

Spencer Porath is 6-of-7 on field goals and 26-of-26 on extra points this season after going 1-for-1 and 4-for-4 on Saturday.

Firsts on the day:

Jonaz Walton – 100-yard rushing game, and his first career reception

Ty Washington – first catch of the season, a six-yarder that moved the chains before halftime

Career highs

Jonaz Walton with 23 carries, 120 rushing yards, two receptions and 28 receiving yards. Jordan Faison with eight receptions and 132 receiving yards. Boubacar Traore matched his career best with six tackles, and CJ Carr matched his with four touchdown passes.

Positive Trends

The offense answered every time it had to. North Carolina’s opening touchdown was followed by a seven-play, 75-yard Notre Dame touchdown drive. The kickoff return was followed by the 17-play drive. North Carolina’s final touchdown was followed by Notre Dame recovering the onside kick and keeping the ball until seven seconds remained.

The run game took over after halftime. Notre Dame ran 30 times for 166 yards in the second half. The drive after the long third-quarter march was built on six Nolan James Jr. carries for 49 yards before Carr hit him for a six-yard touchdown.

Carr didn’t give North Carolina anything. Twenty-one completions in 29 attempts, four touchdown passes, no interceptions, no sacks. He was 6-of-7 in the fourth quarter.

The defense created the game’s two turnovers on back-to-back North Carolina possessions in the first quarter, and Notre Dame scored touchdowns off both. Traore was in the backfield all day, finishing with a team-high six tackles, four quarterback hurries, a tackle for loss and the deflection that set up the first interception.

Faison was the most reliable target on the field. He was targeted nine times and caught eight, and he added 20 yards on two punt returns.

Negative Trends

The middle eight went to North Carolina, 13-0. The Tar Heels scored with 21 seconds left in the first half and again 14 seconds into the third quarter. Notre Dame’s pregame notes put the Freeman-era middle-eight margin at 417-124 entering Saturday. It now stands at 417-137.

Notre Dame got to the 1-yard line in the second quarter and came away empty. Walton reached the 1 on second-and-goal, Carr lost a yard on third down, and the fourth-down throw to Cooper Flanagan fell incomplete. North Carolina took over at its own 3 and drove 97 yards in 15 plays for the touchdown that made it 21-14 at the half.

Kickoff coverage gave up the biggest play of the game. Micah Drescher’s kick to open the second half came down at the North Carolina 2, and Jefferson went the distance.

Penalties were costly in the scoring areas. Jaiden Ausberry’s unsportsmanlike conduct foul on third-and-goal from the 13 gave North Carolina a first down at the 6, and the Tar Heels scored on the next snap. In the fourth quarter, a holding call on Flanagan wiped out a 31-yard Walton touchdown run.

The red-zone defense had its worst day of the year. North Carolina scored touchdowns on all three of its trips inside the 20. Notre Dame’s first four opponents had scored two red-zone touchdowns in seven trips combined.

The secondary gave up more through the air than it had all season. Edwards threw three touchdown passes, one more than the first four opponents managed combined, and Jordan Shipp caught seven balls for 109 yards. His 44-yarder on third-and-3 set up North Carolina’s first touchdown.

Third downs were a struggle after halftime. Notre Dame went 1-for-6 on third down in the second half and 4-for-11 for the game.

Team Notes

Faison, Shuler, Carr and Drayk Bowen were Notre Dame’s coin-toss captains. The Tar Heels won the toss and deferred, so the Irish got the ball first.

Attendance at Kenan Stadium was 50,500.

This was the 24th game between the programs. Notre Dame leads the series 22-2, and 12 of the last 13 meetings have gone to the Irish.

The Irish are 8-2 all-time at Kenan Stadium and have won their last four trips to Chapel Hill (2017, 2020, 2022 and 2026).

Against the ACC, Notre Dame is 226-85-3 all-time and 94-44-3 on true road trips. Freeman is 21-4 against the league overall and 10-3 in its stadiums.

Freeman’s teams have played five true road games with a noon Eastern kickoff and won four of them. Clemson in 2023 is the lone loss.

Bill Belichick fell to 6-10 in his second season at North Carolina.

Final Word

North Carolina gave this defense more trouble than anyone has in 2026. Shipp had 109 receiving yards, the Tar Heels went 97 yards in 15 plays right before halftime, and all three of their red-zone trips ended in touchdowns. Add a kickoff return for a score and it was a one-point game early in the third quarter.

What Notre Dame did next was notable. Freeman lined his offense up and ran it at a defense that knew it was coming, converted three fourth downs on one drive, and took control back without throwing the ball more than three times on that possession. Walton, a freshman who began the day with 108 career yards, carried most of it. Carr didn’t throw an interception, and the defense’s two picks turned into 14 points.

Stanford comes to South Bend next Saturday. The kickoff coverage and the red-zone defense are the two things from this film that need the most attention, and between them they gave up 13 points in 35 seconds of game clock.