The North Carolina football team took a 36-35 lead into the fourth quarter. But the Tar Heels couldn’t hold on and lost 50-43 at the No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Saturday in South Bend, dropping to a 2-4 record.
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With the win, the Irish improved to 6-0 on the season and now set up a top-five showdown with No. 1 Florida State next weekend in Tallahassee.
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Irish quarterback Everett Golson threw three touchdown passes to overcome his three turnovers and keep Notre Dame unblemished in 2014.
A controversial roughing-the-snapper penalty on UNC linebacker Norkeithus Otis kept alive the go-ahead touchdown drive for Notre Dame in the fourth quarter. From there, the Irish seized control of the contest and ran out the clock with strong ball control.
The Tar Heels remained winless all-time in South Bend. Carolina’s 43 points on Saturday are the third most scored in a UNC loss in school history.
UNC junior quarterback Marquise Williams completed 24 of 41 passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns. He also tallied a career-high 132 yards on the ground, including a rushing touchdown. Williams became the first Tar Heel in school history to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 in the same game.
“Marquise [Williams] played his heart out,” UNC head coach Larry Fedora Larry Fedora says. “He gave us a chance to win the football game. He ran the ball hard, he made some great throws, and he was a fighter out there today.”
Marquise Williams (UNC Athletics)
Williams didn’t stop there; he snagged a 23-yard pass from receiver Quinshad Davis for a score as well. Redshirt freshman Mitch Trubisky didn’t see the field for the first time this season. The UNC offense experienced good rhythm for most of the contest.
But the UNC defense struggled to stop the Notre Dame offense, giving up at least 50 points for the third time in 2014, a record for the most 50-plus-point games surrendered in a single season by the Tar Heels.
Next up for the Tar Heels is a return home to Chapel Hill to take on 5-1 Georgia Tech at Kenan Stadium in a critical ACC Coastal contest.
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