No. 3 Notre Dame Pulls Away in Second Half, Beats UNC Football in Chapel Hill

No. 3 Notre Dame imposed its will in the second half at a rainy Kenan Stadium, pulling away from a spunky Tar Heel team for a 37-26 win Saturday.

“Hard-fought game,” head coach Bill Belichick said afterward. “Proud of the way our guys competed. We just weren’t able to make enough plays, really in any area.”

UNC scored first after forcing an Irish punt and driving 74 yards on its ensuing possession, capping the drive with a six-yard touchdown pass from Billy Edwards to Shamar Easter. But Notre Dame answered in force, as quarterback C.J. Carr threw touchdown passes of 28, 12 and 39 yards on each of the Irish’s next three drives. Receiver Jordan Faison brought in two of those touchdowns en route to a career-best performance: eight receptions for 132 yards. Two of Notre Dame’s three touchdowns in the sequence came after intercepting an Edwards pass.

The Irish threatened to truly blow the game open on their next drive, moving the ball all the way to the Tar Heel 3-yard line. But UNC changed the momentum by stopping Notre Dame on fourth down, as Carr threw incomplete in the back of the end zone despite having an open man in the flat. Carolina made the most of the break, driving 97 yards the other way and finishing the drive with an Edwards touchdown pass to Jelani Thurman. UNC scored with just 21 seconds remaining on the first half clock, and Notre Dame kneeled out the half with the score 21-14.

The Tar Heels didn’t wait long to score again, as freshman receiver Jaden Jefferson took the opening kickoff of the second half 98 yards for a touchdown, giving Carolina two scores in the span of just 35 seconds.

“That was Jaden Jefferson’s first time ever touching the football in a college game,” receiver Jordan Shipp said. “Everybody was on the field, we should have gotten a flag. We were all out there celebrating with him.”

UNC could have tied the game with an extra point, but the snap was bobbled in the rain and the try was aborted.

Still trailing 21-20 on the Irish’s next drive, Carolina has several chances to get off the field and give the ball back to its offense. Notre Dame faced three fourth downs on the drive, but converted all of them — including a touchdown run by Carr on 4th & goal from the 3-yard line.

“I thought we had chances on a couple of those plays,” Belichick said. “The last one, the quarterback scrambled, and we had that one too and weren’t able to make the play.”

The Irish extended the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter with a touchdown run from back Nolan James. The Notre Dame rushing attack as a whole dominated in the third quarter, totaling 122 yards on 20 carries. For the entire game, UNC managed only 69 yards on the ground.

“They’re an inside running team,” Belichick said of the Irish. “And they ran it inside.”

Edwards finished 17-for-28 for 208 yards and tied a career high with three touchdown passes along with his two interceptions. Shipp was responsible for 109 of Edwards’ yards, while Thurman reeled in two of the touchdown passes. Carr finished 21-for-29 with 234 yards and four touchdowns for the Irish.

Saturday’s loss drops Carolina to 2-2 on the season. The Tar Heels will be back in action next Saturday when they visit Pittsburgh at 12 p.m.

Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward

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