Mack Brown called the game against second-ranked Notre Dame a “measuring stick” for his second-year program. And if you read between the lines of what Brown said all week, you pretty much knew the Tar Heels would have a hard time measuring up.
He called the now 9-0 Fighting Irish “one of the best teams in the country” repeatedly before the game and again after the anti-climactic 31-17 loss before a COVID-record crowd at Kenan Stadium.
He reminded us that Irish coach Brian Kelly was in his eleventh year in South Bend and that Mack had been back for only two seasons.
He said things like Notre Dame was big and physical on both interior lines, that quarterback Ian Book was a highly underrated athlete, their defense would be a real challenge for Carolina’s high-flying offense and that the Tar Heels don’t have to have a better program right now, just a better team on this day.
And for most of the first half they were at least equal if not better than the magnificent and mature men in gold helmets.
Upon taking the opening kickoff, the Irish went three-and-out after being harassed by a fired-up Carolina D. Then the teams scored four touchdowns on their next four possessions and added two field goals for a 17-17 tie at the break.
Brown did his best Bill Belichick by scoring with a minute left in the first half and then having the ball to start the second. But that’s where it began to go south in the Southern Part of Heaven. The Heels let Book and the Irish go down the field in the final 60-or-so seconds to kick a tying field goal, dogged by poor defense and untimely penalties.
And they couldn’t complete the old Patriots strategy when THEY went three and out with the second-half kickoff in a foreshadowing of going stone cold for the rest of the balmy late afternoon.
When Notre Dame wrestled away the lead for the first time, it seemed like more than a one-score game, thanks to a) an inability to stop the truly underrated Book, b) the failure to protect their supposedly-better quarterback Sam Howell, and c) the exposure of their young secondary playing a true freshman and a sophomore just off the injured list at cornerback.
Book picked them apart on sideline throws and scrambled away from the rest of the defense to make some miraculous plays, including a back-handed shovel pass to one of his four massive tight ends on third down while being chased out of the pocket by the Chazz Surratt and Jeremiah Gimmel blitz brigade.
While the stats, except for penalties, were eerily even at halftime, Notre Dame dominated the second-half numbers despite only managing one more touchdown until the last minute of the game. Carolina was given a breath of life when Tony Grimes, one of the heretofore mentioned beleaguered cornerbacks, hurried the Irish field goal kicker into going wide right with a basic chip shot.
We thought late-game hero Howell would engineer the tying touchdown and go-ahead field goal to stun the ABC national TV audience, but the Notre Dame behemoths up front were having none of it. Whereas No. 7 had completions in the first half of 13, 14, 20, 23 and 51 yards, plus a gorgeous 6-yard dime to Emery Simmons for UNC’s first touchdown, he now barely had time to unleash short passes and when he did uncharacteristically threw behind some open receivers and overthrew others.
Whereas Howell had a respectable 165 yards passing in the first half, and a 1-yard run for Carolina’s second score following Dyami Brown’s circus catch just short of the goal line, he managed only 46 through the air in the second while being sacked 5-plus times by the ever-rushing Irish. On the other hand, the ever-clever Book, a once lightly-recruited red-shirt freshman, finished with 279 yards passing and one TD, plus 48 yards rushing, second most on his team.
Oh, yes, the leading rusher in the game was named Williams, but not Javonte. It was ND’s Kyren Williams, who had 124 yards on 23 carries, including the game’s longest run for 47. Michael Carter was UNC’s best runner with 57 yards on eight totes for an average of 7.1. Why didn’t he get more touches? Ask Mack to ask Phil Longo.
“We knew coming in they are one of the best teams in the country,” Brown said for the umpteenth time. “Give Notre Dame credit. We played hard, but when they’re a lot better than you, it’s hard not to have penalties. The worst one was our jumping offsides on a fourth-and-1. That’s inexcusable.”
The Tar Heels were flagged nine times for 90 yards, and that offsides came on a play when Notre Dame may not even been planning to snap the ball. Kelly left his offense on the field at its own 24-yard line, while Book barked signals and shifted players around like the old Four Horsemen. The flag gave the Irish a first down, and nine snaps later Book completed the 97-yard drive when he jet-pitched to a wide receiver for the go-ahead touchdown.
It remained a close game until the Irish scored again to make it 14-point spread, which in the end seemed right on paper as well as on the field.
After a veritable practice game against Western Carolina next Saturday, the 6-3 Tar Heels will have to win at 10th-ranked Miami or a middling bowl game to wind up with more W’s than last season’s seven. They have seemed so much better than that for most of this COVID-marred campaign.
Photo via ACC Media.
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