While Notre Dame's defense has looked good throughout the 2026 season, the BYU matchup exposed fundamental problems that North Carolina hinted at and that have been brewing for two seasons now. Photo by Rob Gray - IMAGN Images To start the season, Notre Dame's defense came in with the expectation that it would be one of the best defensive units in the entire country. It has Leonard Moore, one of the best safety duos in the country, a talented linebacker group, and an experien

While Saturday night in Provo, Utah, was a calamity of errors for the entire Notre Dame football team, the performance of CJ Carr was possibly the most disappointing given the opportunities that were presented. Photo by IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect It all began with the expectations Carr had coming into this season. Whether it was the Heisman hype, the talk about his control of the offense in spring camp, the competitiveness coaches raved about, or the reports coming out

William Shakespeare wrote, “Discretion is the better part of valor,” in Henry the Eighth, Part 1. Though not widely attributed to him, the quote suggests that caution is often the better move. Photo by USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect Many seem to have forgotten that quote when discussing Notre Dame Football and its decision to opt out of a bowl game last season after being snubbed for the College Football Playoff. For a while, it seemed like a largely forgotten hot-butt

The Fighting Irish set the tone for what would be an extremely dominant performance on the first play of the game, as Boubacar Traore came unblocked for the strip-sack on Davis Warren, which led to a score less than two minutes into the contest. They would never look back. Photo by USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect The Irish defense imposed its will early in the game, holding Stanford to just 86 total yards of offense in the first half. Traore would punctuate his incredib