October 3, 2026 Week 5 · Regular Season Belt defended

Notre Dame defends the belt, 37–26, on the road at North Carolina.

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North Carolina 26

Away · Defending Holder

Notre DameAP No. 3 37

AP poll, week 5: Notre Dame No. 3 at North Carolina unranked · No. 1 that week: Texas. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Notre Dame came in 308 days into reign #332, which began with a win over Stanford, with 4 defenses already behind it; this was its 5th defense. The reign is still going — 5 defenses and 308 days so far.

For North Carolina this was its 14th shot at the belt; it had held the belt once before.

This is the only time North Carolina and Notre Dame have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

Notre Dame's defense dominated early, intercepting North Carolina quarterback B. Edwards Jr. twice in the first quarter alone to set up quick touchdown scores. The Fighting Irish built a commanding 21-7 lead by the end of the first quarter with touchdown passes from C. Carr to J. Faison and J. Greathouse, then added another TD pass to Faison in the second quarter to extend their advantage. North Carolina mounted a late comeback bid with touchdown passes to S. Easter, J. Thurman, and another score late in the fourth quarter, but Notre Dame's strong defensive performance and control of the line of scrimmage—evidenced by their 241 rushing yards and 37:04 time of possession—proved decisive in the 37-26 belt-holding victory.

Two consecutive first-quarter interceptions by Notre Dame (K. Viliamu-Asa and L. Talich) that led to back-to-back touchdown passes, establishing early defensive dominance
C. Carr's 39-yard touchdown pass to J. Faison in Q2 that extended Notre Dame's lead to 28-7 and proved to be the game-clinching score
J. Jefferson's 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in Q3 that gave North Carolina life but came too late to overcome Notre Dame's cushion
North Carolina's blocked extra point in the final minutes on their last touchdown, symbolizing how close they came but ultimately fell short

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

By Quarter

Line score

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
North Carolina	7	7	6	6	26
Notre Dame	14	7	6	10	37

Pulled directly from CFBD’s play-by-play record, the same source as every score in the lineage.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

North CarolinaNotre Dame

Total yards285475

Rushing yards77241

Passing yards208234

First downs1826

3rd down conv.5/104/11

Turnovers20

Penalties–yards3–204–32

Time of possession22:5637:04

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 10:54	North Carolina	+44 yd	(11:05) Shotgun #9 B.Edwards Jr. pass complete short middle to #1 J.Shipp caught at ND 36, for 44 yards to the ND 10 (#2 D.McKinney; #8 A.Shuler), 1ST DOWN
Q1 9:34	North Carolina	+6 yd	(09:39) Shotgun #9 B.Edwards Jr. pass complete short right to #84 S.Easter caught at ND 07, for 6 yards to the ND 00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 09:34, 1ST DOWN #90 R.Verhoff kick attempt good (H: #93 J.Horvath, LS: #48 G.Burt)
Q1 6:41	Notre Dame	+28 yd	(06:47) No Huddle-Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete deep middle to #6 J.Faison caught at UNC00, for 28 yards to the UNC00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 06:41, 1ST DOWN #35 S.Porath kick attempt good (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci)
Q1 6:31	North Carolina	+12 yd	(06:41) Shotgun #9 B.Edwards Jr. pass intercepted by #27 K.Viliamu-Asa at UNC24 broken up by #5 B.Traore QB hurried by #5 B.Traore #27 K.Viliamu-Asa return 12 yards to the UNC12 (#27 J.McGill)
Q1 6:26	Notre Dame	+12 yd	(06:29) Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete short right to #1 J.Greathouse caught at UNC00, for 12 yards to the UNC00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 06:26, 1ST DOWN #35 S.Porath kick attempt good (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci)
Q1 3:48	North Carolina	+0 yd	(03:53) Shotgun #9 B.Edwards Jr. pass intercepted by #28 L.Talich at ND 23, End Of Play
Q1 3:00	Notre Dame	+24 yd	(03:07) No Huddle-Shotgun #22 A.Williams rush right for 24 yards gain to the ND 48 (#7 P.Waters), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
Q2 14:53	Notre Dame	+39 yd	(14:58) Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete deep right to #6 J.Faison caught at UNC00, for 39 yards to the UNC00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 14:53, 1ST DOWN #35 S.Porath kick attempt good (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci)
Q2 0:21	North Carolina	+14 yd	(00:25) Shotgun #9 B.Edwards Jr. pass complete short right to #45 J.Thurman caught at ND 00, for 14 yards to the ND 00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 00:21, 1ST DOWN #90 R.Verhoff kick attempt good (H: #93 J.Horvath, LS: #48 G.Burt)
Q2 0:14	North Carolina	+28 yd	(00:21) #92 A.Burrell kickoff 63 yards to the ND 02 #20 J.Walton return 28 yards to the ND 30 (#39 D.Forkpa)
Q3 14:46	Notre Dame	+98 yd	(15:00) #36 M.Drescher kickoff 63 yards to the UNC02 #24 J.Jefferson return 98 yards to the ND 00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 14:46 #93 T.Ruffin pass attempt failed PENALTY UNC Holding declined
Q3 5:36	Notre Dame	+3 yd	(05:44) No Huddle-Shotgun #13 C.Carr rush right for 3 yards gain to the UNC00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 05:36 PENALTY UNC Offside declined #39 J.Scaife rush attempt failed
Q4 14:54	Notre Dame	+6 yd	(14:59) Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete short left to #2 N.James Jr. caught at UNC09, for 6 yards to the UNC00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 14:54 #35 S.Porath kick attempt good (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci)
Q4 7:05	Notre Dame	+31 yd	(07:07) #35 S.Porath field goal attempt from 31 yards GOOD (H: #39 J.Scaife, LS: #96 J.Vinci), clock 07:05
Q4 4:31	North Carolina	+21 yd	(04:37) No Huddle-Shotgun #9 B.Edwards Jr. pass complete short right to #1 J.Shipp caught at ND 30, for 21 yards to the ND 27, out of bounds at ND 27, 1ST DOWN
Q4 2:39	North Carolina	+10 yd	(02:39) No Huddle-Shotgun #9 B.Edwards Jr. pass complete short left to #45 J.Thurman caught at ND 03, for 10 yards to the ND 00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 02:36, 1ST DOWN #90 R.Verhoff kick attempt failed ( blocked by #28 L.Talich) (H: #93 J.Horvath, LS: #48 G.Burt), out of bounds at ND 00

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

North Carolina

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Billy Edwards	17/28	208	7.4	3	2

Notre Dame

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
C.J. Carr	21/29	234	8.1	4	0

Rushing

North Carolina

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Benjamin Hall	10	36	3.6	8
Jaylen McGill	4	15	3.8	12
Billy Edwards	3	13	4.3	10
Demon June	6	13	2.2	6

Notre Dame

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jonaz Walton	23	120	5.2	0	18
Nolan James Jr.	9	65	7.2	0	11
Aneyas Williams	8	42	5.3	0	24
C.J. Carr	4	15	3.8	1	9
Team	1	-1	-1.0	0	0

Receiving

North Carolina

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jordan Shipp	7	109	15.6	0	44
Jelani Thurman	5	50	10.0	2	15
Shamar Easter	3	24	8.0	1	12
C.J. Sadler	1	13	13.0	0	13
Demon June	1	12	12.0	0	12

Notre Dame

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jordan Faison	8	132	16.5	2	39
Micah Gilbert	3	34	11.3	0	14
Jonaz Walton	2	28	14.0	0	15
Jaden Greathouse	2	18	9.0	1	12
Nolan James Jr.	1	6	6.0	1	6
Ty Washington	1	6	6.0	0	6
Aneyas Williams	3	6	2.0	0	3
Cooper Flanagan	1	4	4.0	0	4

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

North Carolina

Player	TOT	SOLO	TFL	PD	QB HUR	TD
Derek Mcdonald	12	5	0	0	0	0
Peyton Seelmann	9	5	0	1	0	0
Leroy Jackson	8	6	0	1	0	0
Jaiden Patterson	7	4	0	2	0	0
Jonathan Agumadu	7	4	0	0	0	0
Gregory Smith	5	3	0	0	0	0
Peyton Waters	5	2	0	1	0	0
Jaylen Harvey	4	4	2	0	0	0
Isaiah Johnson	3	2	0	0	0	0
Tre Miller	3	1	0	0	0	0
Nicco Maggio	3	1	0	0	0	0
Javion Butts	2	2	0	0	0	0
Kaleb Cost	2	1	0	0	0	0
Trey Giddens	2	1	0	0	1	0
Jaylen McGill	1	1	0	0	0	0
Jaden Jefferson	1	1	0	0	0	1
Timir Hickman-Collins	1	1	0	0	0	0
DQ Forkpa	1	1	0	0	0	0
Kenton Dopson III	1	1	0	0	0	0
Donovan Hoilette	1	0	0	0	0	0
Melkart Abou-Jaoude	0	0	0	0	1	0

Notre Dame

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Boubacar Traore	6	6	0	1	1	4
Jaylen Sneed	4	3	0	0	0	0
Armel Mukam	3	3	0	1	0	0
Luke Talich	3	3	0	1	0	0
Jayden Sanders	3	3	0	0	0	0
Francis Brewu	3	2	1	1	0	1
Adon Shuler	3	2	0	0	1	0
Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa	3	2	0	0	0	0
Drayk Bowen	2	1	0	0	1	0
Jaiden Ausberry	1	1	0	0	0	0
Christian Gray	1	1	0	0	0	0
Leonard Moore	1	1	0	0	2	0
Joey O'Brien	1	1	0	0	0	0
Dylahn McKinney	1	0	0	0	0	0
Loghan Thomas	1	0	0	0	0	0
Bryce Young	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

North Carolina

No recorded stats in this category.

Notre Dame

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Team	1	0	0

Interceptions

North Carolina

No recorded stats in this category.

Notre Dame

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa	1	14	0
Luke Talich	1	0	0

Kick Returns

North Carolina

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jaden Jefferson	1	98	98.0	98	1

Notre Dame

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jonaz Walton	1	28	28.0	28	0

Kicking

North Carolina

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Rece Verhoff	0/0	0.0	0	2/3	2

Notre Dame

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Spencer Porath	1/1	100.0	31	4/4	7

Punt Returns

North Carolina

No recorded stats in this category.

Notre Dame

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jordan Faison	2	20	10.0	14	0

Punting

North Carolina

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Aeron Burrell	3	134	44.7	0	0	52

Notre Dame

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Jasper Scaife	1	34	34.0	0	0	34

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401858250) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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