Notre Dame Opponent Recap: Week Ten

Recapping how Notre Dame's opponents fared in week 10 of college football action

It was an interesting weekend for Notre Dame's 2020 opponents, which went 3-6 on the weekend. Notre Dame's current opponents are 35-46 on the season, but the Irish are about to hit a stretch against the best opponent son the schedule.

Let's recap how Notre Dame's opponents fared this weekend:

NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS (5-2) at DUKE BLUE DEVILS (2-6)

Result: North Carolina beat Duke by a 56-24 score

North Carolina bounced back from its loss to Virginia in impressive fashion, jumping all over the rival Blue Devils. UNC scored 21 points in the opening quarter and took a 42-10 lead into halftime.

The Tar Heel ground attack carried the day, racking up 338 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Junior Javonte Williams racked up 151 yards and three scores, and Michael Carter added 85 yards and another score.

Duke running back Mataeo Durant rushed for 132 yards and score in a losing effort.

SOUTH FLORIDA BULLS (1-6) at MEMPHIS TIGERS (4-2)

Result: Memphis beat South Florida by a 34-33 score

South Florida appeared to be on track to pick up its second win of the season, which would have ended its five-game losing streak, but it was not meant to be. 

The Bulls outscored Memphis 24-7 in the second quarter to take a 27-13 lead into halftime. At one point in the fourth quarter South Florida had a 33-20 lead, but Memphis scored 14 points in the final four minutes of the game.

Quarterback Noah Johnson had his best performance of the season, throwing for 217 yards and two scores while completing 20-29 passes.

PITT PANTHERS (4-4) at FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES (2-5)

Result: Pitt beat Florida State by a 41-17 score

Florida State seemed poised to turn its season around when it competed hard against Notre Dame and followed that up with a 31-28 upset victory over then No. 5 North Carolina. That momentum is now completely gone. After getting blasted by Louisville (48-16) two weeks ago, the Seminoles came out of their bye week and took another beating at the hands of Pitt.

Florida State jumped out to a 14-3 lead, but Pitt scored the next 21 points. Pitt welcomed back quarterback Kenny Pickett, who completed 21-27 passes for 210 yards.

Neither offense performed well, and Pitt had just 358 total yards of offense, but it turned three Florida State turnovers and another turnover on downs to score four touchdowns on drives of less than 50 yards.

Florida State had one of the ugliest stat lines of the weekend, passing for 144 yards on 41 pass attempts. 

BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES (5-3) at SYRACUSE ORANGE (1-7)

Result: Boston College beat Syracuse by a 16-13 score

This was another ugly game. Boston College outscored Syracuse by a 399-240 margin, and the ground game showed further flashes of breaking out (191 yards), but a pair of missed field goals and poor red zone offense kept this game closer than it should have been.

BC running back David Bailey rushed for 125 yards on 25 carries. Quarterback Phil Jurkovec completed 20-29 passes for 208 yards and a touchdown. 

Louisville's (2-5) game at Virginia was postponed. Georgia Tech (2-5) and Wake Forest (4-2) had bye weeks.

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