Notre Dame Football: 3 takeaways from win over No. 19 North Carolina

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CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 27: Kyren Williams #23 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half of their game at Kenan Stadium on November 27, 2020 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

1. Notre Dame is probably a playoff lock

This was the one game that stood between Notre Dame and a perfect regular season. A road game against a surging North Carolina team was intimidating and looked to be that one potential slip-up before the ACC title game.

The Irish avoided that Week 13 letdown with a huge win at North Carolina, adding to that playoff resume.

Not only does this win add the the resume but the Irish have two regular season games remaining against Syracuse and Wake Forest which should both be wins — although the latter is a bit more challenging. If Notre Dame gets to that ACC title game with an 11-0 record, it likely won’t matter if the Irish lose to Clemson in a rematch unless it’s a 3-4 touchdown game.

Notre Dame has played well enough to be in the position to be knocking on the door for the No. 1 spot in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Meeting Clemson with an unblemished record in the ACC title game will likely be all the Irish need to get to the playoff. This win was a major road block, but it was avoided.

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