Mack Brown is nothing if not a soothsayer. But when it came down to backing up his own words, he sent in the punting team.
At halftime, with the Tar Heels trailing Notre Dame by four points, Brown said “the first five minutes of the second half will determine the outcome.”
His gallant, if still mistake-prone, team had the ball with a chance to take back the lead over the multi-talented Fighting Irish. The Heels had apparently picked up a crucial first down on a tackle-breaking reception by D.J. Jones. But the play was reviewed and the call reversed.
On the way to 564 total yards, they faced a fourth down and two feet to go on their own 27-yard line. The scoreboard clock showed an ominous 10:20 left in the third quarter, 20 seconds away from those first five minutes of the second half. With really nothing to lose, Brown refused to gamble and sent in the punting team; Ben Kiernan hit a rugby rocket 54 yards to the Notre Dame 19.
The Irish, who were hot and in the middle of five consecutive scoring drives, marched 81 yards in five-plus minutes to take a two-score lead, from which Carolina tried but ultimately could not recover.
UNC finished the third quarter exactly as it did the first half – four points down and in possession of the ball. By then, the gold-helmeted hosts spurred on by 80,000 plus fans at Notre Dame Stadium had solved Jay Bateman’s defense and scored on drives of 1, 5 and 13 plays to run out the clock and win 44-34.
Carolina showed an NBC TV audience in prime time that it has a team capable of competing with almost any opponent, but one that continues to be plagued by penalties, poor execution in the kicking game and eventually deadly defensive mistakes.
- The Tar Heels stayed under 100 yards in penalties for the first time in three games but still committed nine, several hurting their own drives and helping Notre Dame’s. Sam Howell’s 5-yard touchdown run that would have given them their first lead was nullified by a holding call on guard Marcus McKethan and they settled for tying the score on Grayson Atkins first of two field goals. A face-mask penalty on Trey Morrison kept an Irish touchdown drive alive. And a flag for illegal substitution helped them score and take their first 11-point lead. In all, UNC gave the Irish four of their 24 first downs on penalties.
- Four times, Carolina decided to run kickoffs back and only once brought the ball out beyond the 20-yard line, giving away valuable field position. And earlier, they allowed the Irish to return a punt 47 yards that led to Notre Dame’s first touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
- And holding ND’s run-pass offense to 203 yards in the first half, Carolina gave up 320 in the second half, including plays of 91, 40 and 21 yards. Containing Irish tailback Kyren Williams, who outran Javonte in last year’s loss at Kenan, became increasingly difficult. After Howell quick-kicked the ball inside the 10, Williams got bottled up and broke contain on the left side to sprint 91 yards and away from pursuing Tar Heels down the sideline.
Containing Howell and Josh Downs was plenty problematic for Notre Dame, which gave up more than half of the Tar Heels’ yardage to the dangerous duo. Howell ran for 101 and passed for 341 with two touchdowns, and the oft double-teamed Downs still managed 10 catches for 142 yards but never scored. Downs’ over-the-shoulder, acrobatic catch on the right sideline led to Carolina’s first touchdown, Ty Chandler’s 3-yard dive for the pylon.
Chandler had another terrific outing, rushing for 83 yards and 53 on his second touchdown that gave Carolina its last lead, 20-17. Unfortunately, the Irish needed only three plays to counter, the last two on passes from grad transfer quarterback Jack Coan who almost matched Howell’s night with 241 yards and two TDs.
Before Notre Dame’s decisive field goal with 97 seconds left, Howell had hit a wide-open Antoine Green for a 33-yard scoring strike and ran in his team’s last touchdown on a bulldozing 31-yard scramble off right tackle. He finished the night in South Bend as UNC’s all-time leader in passing and elipsed 10,00 total yards. What a way to go out under the gaze of Touchdown Jesus.
Before the game, Brown said the keys to victory were run the ball and stop the run; force takeaways and don’t turn it over; don’t miss tackles and break some tackles and “no penalties.” Thanks to Williams’ second half, Notre Dame won the run battle. Howell’s late interception was the only turnover of the game. Despite Cam Kelly and Cedrick Gray combining for 23 tackles, the rest of the Tar Heels missed way too many of them and other assignments. And we’ve already covered penalties.
So, a season of such promise now stands at 4-4 with perhaps the three toughest games on the schedule left in November. It begins at noon Saturday against 8-0 and 10th-ranked Wake Forest at Kenan, followed five nights later by a trip to Pitt, which must win to keep its ACC Coastal hopes alive and, after Wofford on November 20 Senior Day, a visit to N.C. State for its Senior Day. The Wolfpack has lost three straight to Carolina and may still be playing for its first Atlantic Division championship.
The once-mighty Tar Heels must win two of those four to go 6-6 and get to a third straight bowl game, although a meager one it will be.
Even the ever-stoic Howell showed his resignation with class. “I’m excited to finish this thing out,” said the junior of entering (what could be) his final month of college football.
Photo via AP Photo/Carlos Osorio.
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