Belichick, UNC vs. Freeman, Carr, Notre Dame Final Box Score, Top Player Stats and Highlights

The No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish further cemented their status as national championship contenders on Saturday, beating the North Carolina Tar Heels 37-26 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Notre Dame entered the game as a 19.5-point favorite, per FanDuel Sportsbook, and after falling behind 7-0 early in the first quarter, the Fighting Irish established dominance by reeling off 21 unanswered points, although North Carolina tightened things up late in the first half and early in the second.

UNC had no answers for Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr and wide receiver Jordan Faison, who torched head coach Bill Belichick's defense. Here is a rundown of the key statistical performers from Saturday's game:

Player	C/ATT	YDS	TD/INT	RUSH YDS/TD
CJ Carr, QB, ND	21/29	234	4/0	15/1
Billy Edwards Jr, QB, UNC	17/28	208	3/2	13/0
Player	CAR/YDS	RUSH TD	REC/YDS	REC TD
Jonaz Walton, RB, ND	23/120	0	2/28	0
Nolan James Jr, RB, ND	9/65	0	1/6	1
Demon June, RB, UNC	6/13	0	1/12	0
Player	REC	REC YDS	REC TD	YDS/REC
Jordan Faison, WR, ND	8	132	2	16.5
Jaden Greathouse, WR, ND	2	18	1	9.0
Jordan Shipp, WR, UNC	7	109	0	15.6
Jelani Thurman, TE, UNC	5	50	2	10.0
Shamar Easter, TE, UNC	3	24	1	8.0

After the Irish punted on their opening drive, North Carolina marched quickly down the field, culminating in a six-yard touchdown pass from Billy Edwards Jr. to Shamar Easter:

Notre Dame began to pour it on from there, though, as Carr threw a pair of spectacular touchdown passes to Faison with a 12-yard scoring toss to Jaden Greathouse sandwiched in between over ND's next three offensive drives:

The Tar Heels seized some momentum back before halftime with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Edwards to tight end Jelani Thurman with 21 seconds left in the second quarter:

That momentum carried over into the second half, as Jaden Jefferson started the third quarter off with a bang, returning the kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown:

The Tar Heels fumbled the snap on the extra point, allowing Notre Dame to maintain a one-point lead.

Notre Dame had an emphatic answer, tailoring a 17-play, 75-yard drive that took over nine minutes off the clock. The Irish converted three fourth downs on the drive, including a three-yard touchdown run by Carr on fourth-and-goal:

However, like North Carolina, Notre Dame botched the extra-point attempt with an errant snap, so the ND lead sat at seven.

The Fighting Irish put the game out of reach on their next two drives, as Carr accounted for his fifth total touchdown of the day on a six-yard pass to Nolan James Jr. before Notre Dame added a field goal to make it 37-20.

UNC made the score look a bit better cosmetically when Thurman found the end zone for a second time, but with 2:36 remaining in the game, there wasn't enough time to make a comeback.

It wasn't always easy for the Irish on Saturday, but they improved to 5-0 on the season with an impressive victory.

Head coach Marcus Freeman's team looked unstoppable at times on offense, which is why they are a popular pick to run the table in the College Football Playoff.

As for the Tar Heels, they are now 2-2 following a 2-0 start, and some of the optimism that existed early in the season is starting to wane.

UNC will try to bounce back next week when it goes on the road to face Pittsburgh, while Notre Dame will host Stanford next Saturday.