Notre Dame Football: Game-by-game predictions for 2017

North Carolina plans to defend their home turf against the Irish despite the numerous losses on offense. The offense has had time to gel together after the departure of sensation Mitch Trubisky and seems to be all systems go when the Irish take the field in Chapel Hill. The Irish find themselves as immediate victims in a game that gets out of hand early.

With the game slipping further out of hand in Notre Dame’s biggest flop of the season, backup QB Ian Book gets his first good look at the playing field. The run game is quickly ditched as Notre Dame’s second team gets most of the further action. Adams leaves the game with less than 70 yards as Dexter Williams receives his largest workload of the season. Quarterback Brandon Harris has a field day against the struggling Irish defense in a game that Kelly and Co. are in a hurry to put behind them.

The final score makes the game appear closer than it really was in part to Notre Dame scoring some garbage time points as UNC worked to run down the clock. This game serves as a big wake up call for the Irish as Kelly denies a quarterback controversy before the first reporter can get the words out of his mouth.

Final: Notre Dame 17, North Carolina 30 (4-2, 1-1 ACC)