Carolina entered its game with Notre Dame Saturday afternoon with a chance to prove something to national voters who hadn’t recognized its 3-0 start with a ranking. And the Tar Heels did end up proving something: they proved those voters right.
The Fighting Irish dominated the line of scrimmage all day against a once-again struggling Carolina defense, rushing for 287 yards in a 45-32 win. Notre Dame is now 21-1 all-time against UNC.
“They played great. They played like a top 10 team tonight,” UNC head coach Mack Brown said of the Irish. “We were afraid that’s what we’d see tonight.”
Carolina began the game on the front foot, welcoming star receiver Josh Downs back from an injury with a touchdown pass on 4th and goal to give the Tar Heels an early lead. The UNC defense forced the Irish offense into a 3 and out on the next possession, but could not capitalize for the rest of the first quarter. A strong 15 minutes from the defense went by the wayside.
Quarterback Drew Pyne and the Notre Dame offense woke up in a big way in the second quarter. Pyne began targeting star tight end Michael Mayer, hitting him for the Irish’s first score of the game. Less than three minutes later, Pyne went deep to receiver Lorenzo Styles, who had beaten the Carolina secondary. The Irish had taken the lead in the blink of an eye.
Carolina answered with a score of its own to Downs, but could not stop the Irish offense. Audric Estime punched in a one-yard touchdown run and the Irish added a field goal with 23 seconds left in the quarter to expand the lead to 24-14. Notre Dame received the second-half kickoff, and converted that drive into yet another touchdown. The Irish led 31-14.
The game officially spiraled out of control when Maye fumbled on the first play of UNC’s next drive while avoiding a Notre Dame blitz. The Irish recovered the ball.
“The start of the second half was an absolute killer,” Brown said.
Notre Dame drove to the goal line, where they faced a 4th and goal. Going for the kill, Pyne and the offense stayed on the field to go for it. Pyne threw an incompletion in the back of the end zone, but officials threw a pass interference flag on linebacker Cedric Gray.
Carolina fans were not pleased with the call, but no one was more irate than Brown, who stormed onto the field and ripped off his hat and headset, picking up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the process. Notre Dame would eventually score on the drive, pushing the lead to 38-14 and effectively ending the game early in the third quarter.
“We really want to win… and if I feel like something has been taken away from the kids on a play, it’s my responsibility to stand up for them,” Brown said. “That’s simply what I’m doing. If somebody throws a flag on me because I’m questioning a call, good for them.”
The later portions of the game featured a who’s who of undisciplined play: late hits by the Carolina defense, teammates barking at one another, and more breakdowns.
“Really and truly, that was called passion,” Brown said of a sideline incident involving cornerback Tony Grimes and linebacker Noah Taylor. Taylor had confronted Grimes over a late hit penalty by the cornerback, and Grimes appeared to strike Taylor in the helmet in retaliation.
Passion or not, UNC’s chance to impress on national television had devolved into a showcase of dysfunction. The latter stages of the game featured the Irish doing nothing but running the football, pushing the Carolina defensive front back with ease.
“Tonight, we just could not stop the run,” said Brown. “They just lined up and hit us right in the face. Just kept running it and running it, and we couldn’t get off the field.”
The rushing advantage manifested itself in the stats: the Irish held the ball for 38:21 and ran 25 more plays than the Tar Heels did. Carolina rushed for only 66 yards on 28 carries, by far its worst outing of the season in that regard.
The good news: the game does not affect Carolina’s conference standing, and a weak Coastal Division is ripe for the picking. The bad news? Well, it’s about everything else that happened in the game.
“Anybody that walks out of this and couldn’t see [the Irish] were better than we were doesn’t understand football,” Brown said. “I mean, the Jimmies and the Joes, they had more than we did.”
Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward
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