The North Carolina Tar Heels needed every bit of their latest bye week, with one sloppy fourth quarter at Clemson the difference between a 3-0 start and another unsurprising defeat.
UNC (2-1, 0-1 ACC) now quickly turns its attention to arguably the early, onset National Championship favorites in Notre Dame, which makes its first trip to Kenan Stadium since 2022.
Neither team knew kickoff time for this October 3 clash until late Saturday night. The Tar Heels and Fighting Irish (4-0) will kick off at 12 p.m. this coming weekend, a fourth straight noon game for the boys in Carolina Blue.
If North Carolina won in Death Valley two weeks ago, there's a good chance Saturday's game is primetime, with College Gameday coming to Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels'
defense defined their first two victories, while offense did just enough, but both sides of the football struggled in a Week 3 collapse.
UNC needs every bit of good luck going into Saturday, as Notre Dame is averaging 42.25 points per game. The Fighting Irish defense is arguably better, though, shutting out one opponent while holding the three others to 13 points or less.
Noon on ESPN for our Notre Dame game 🏈 pic.twitter.com/DrCseej4K4
— Carolina Football (@UNCFootball) September 27, 2026
North Carolina will be playing in front of a sold out crowd, which could be affected by rain in the forecast. If you know anything about Notre Dame, its fans travel well, so don't be shocked if Kenan sounds/looks like an away game on Saturday.
The Tar Heels aren't expected to win on the third, but they showed an ability to compete with TCU and Clemson. Can UNC pull off another early-season upset and shock the college football world?
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Tar Heels announce kickoff time for October 3 football game
