University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Visits No. 5 Notre Dame Saturday
October 11, 2014 | Football
SOUTH BEND, Ind. --- Looking to end a three-game losing streak, North Carolina faces No. 5/6 Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 3:30 p.m. At No. 6 in the AP poll, Notre Dame is the highest ranked team the Tar Heels have faced since falling last year at No. 6 South Carolina, 27-10.
The Tar Heels (2-3, 0-2 ACC) are coming off a 34-17 loss at home to Virginia Tech. Notre Dame defeated No. 14 Stanford last Saturday on a touchdown pass on fourth down with just over a minute remaining in the game.
AT A GLANCE
Records: North Carolina 2-3, Notre Dame 5-0
Rankings: Notre Dame is ranked No. 5 in the coaches' poll and No. 6 in the AP poll. Carolina is unranked.
TV: NBC. Dan Hicks (play-by-play), Mike Mayock (analyst), Doug Flutie (sideline) and Kathryn Tappen (sideline) have the call.
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network (click to listen), a division of Learfield Communications. Jones Angell (play-by-play), Ethan Albright (analyst) and Lee Pace (sideline) have the call. | Affiliate List (PDF)
On The Web: GoHeels.com | UNC Notes | UND.com | Notre Dame Notes
Twitter: @TarHeelFootball, @CoachFedora | @NDFootball
Fan Information: Tickets | Fan Guide | Parking Information
QUICK HITS
• Carolina's game vs. No. 6 (AP) Notre Dame is the first against a top 10 opponent since last year's loss at No. 6 South Carolina.
• UNC's last win over a top-10 team was a 31-28 victory over No. 4 Miami in 2004.
• The highest ranked team Carolina has ever defeated on the road is No. 8 Duke (1937) and No. 8 Michigan (1966).
• There are just 10 undefeated teams remaining among the 125 FBS schools. Carolina plays two of them in the next two weeks - Notre Dame (5-0) and Georgia Tech (5-0).
• Carolina's schedule is ranked the 22nd most difficult in the country by the Sagarin rankings (based on the teams UNC has played thus far).
• Carolina's remaining seven opponents sport a 28-11 overall record.
• Carolina has intercepted at least one pass in all five games this season.
• QB Marquise Williams is tied for ninth at UNC in career touchdown passes with 25. He needs one to tie Jason Stanicek (1991-94) for eighth place at 26 and three to equal Ronald Curry's (1998-2001) total of 28.
• Williams is one of nine players in the country leading his team in both passing yards and rushing yards.
• Williams (2,974 career passing yards) needs just 26 passing yards to become the 13th player in school history with 3,000 career passing yards.
• WR Quinshad Davis has 18 career touchdown catches, which ranks tied for third in UNC history with College Football Hall of Famer Art Weiner. Davis is one shy of second place Octavus Barnes and three shy of Hakeem Nicks' first-place total of 21.
• Carolina is 17th in the nation in turnovers gained and 12th in interceptions.
• Fifteen different Tar Heels have caught a pass this season led by Ryan Switzer with 19.
• Redshirt freshman DT Nazair Jones has recorded a sack in back-to-back games.
• The Tar Heels have scored on 20 of 21 red zone possessions this season with 16 touchdowns and four field goals.
CAROLINA-NOTRE DAME NOTES
• North Carolina and Notre Dame are meeting for the 19th time in a series that began in 1949. The Tar Heels have been on the wrong end of most of the previous 18 contests, winning just twice.
• Notre Dame leads the series 16-2-0. Both Carolina victories occurred in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels scored a 12-7 decision in 1960 and beat the Fighting Irish 29-24 in 2008.
• In the previous 18 meetings, Notre Dame has been ranked in 11 of those. The Irish was ranked No. 1 in the country in three of the previous meetings and in the top 10 on eight occasions.
• North Carolina faced Notre Dame every season from 1949 to 1956 and 12 times between 1949 and 1962. Saturday will be the third meeting since 2006.
• In the most recent meeting in South Bend, Notre Dame pulled away for a 45-26 victory in 2006. Notre Dame's Brady Quinn threw four touchdown passes to lead the Irish. UNC wideout Hakeem Nicks had one of his best performances with six catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman. Brandon Tate returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and had 162 all-purpose yards.
• In the most recent meeting in Chapel HIll in 2008, QB Cameron Sexton scored on a leaping 4-yard keeper to start the fourth quarter and Quan Sturdivant had the momentum-changing 32-yard interception return to help the No. 22 Tar Heels beat the Fighting Irish 29-24. Notre Dame reached the North Carolina 7-yard line in the final seconds before officials ruled - after a review - that receiver Michael Floyd fumbled the ball in what appeared to be a frantic attempted lateral. Trimane Goddard recovered, giving the ball back to North Carolina for a joyous kneel-down with 3 seconds left.
Players Mentioned
