Extra Points: Old Irish

Today there is no gnashing of teeth over a stuffed two-point conversion (Clemson 2019), a couple of wayward field goals (Virginia Tech 2019), a quarterback gone bonkers (Virginia's Bryce Perkins with 490 total yards 2019), a blocked punt allowed (Florida State 2020) or a fake punt surrendered (Virginia 2020). There is no acid reflux over that single 50/50 ball gone the other way, those measly inches along the boundary or goal line keeping Carolina's football team from the promised land of victory.

No, what's facing Carolina Coach Mack Brown, his team and Tar Heel Nation in the aftermath of Friday's encounter with Notre Dame is the stark reality of what happens when you line up against the nation's No. 2 ranked team, coached by a man in his 11th season and populated with graduate students (four starters on defense and three on offense) and seniors (four on defense and three on offense) and that is no stranger to the big stage (2018 College Football Playoff entrant).

The Tar Heels stood nostril to nostril with the Fighting Irish for one half of Saturday's nationally televised game in Kenan Stadium. At intermission, the score was knotted at 17-17 and Notre Dame held a miniscule edge in total yards (235-230). But the immense depth, strength, athleticism, play-making ability and poise on the Irish side of the ledger came to bear the longer the game went on.

Notre Dame took control in the third quarter, bottled up the Tar Heels' potent offense and escaped Chapel Hill with a 31-17 victory. It was the Tar Heels' first loss of more than a touchdown in 22 games since Brown returned to Carolina for the 2019 season and the first time the offense had been held to under 300 yards since the Clemson game 14 months ago. The Tar Heels scored 14 points on their first two drives but could muster only a field goal their next nine possessions.

"They're big, they're strong, they're fast, they're confident," Brown said. "We just didn't hold up offensively in the second half. It looked like we had some mismatches sometimes and got whipped in certain situations."

"Our defense was outstanding," said Irish coach Brian Kelly, "especially in the second half. There's a lot to be said about holding this offense under 300 yards. Today was one of those road wins that really shows the mettle of your program."

The Irish are so deep on defense they could substitute by platoon of six players on third-and-medium or long with a front and linebackers more adept for playing the pass. That the Irish snuffed Carolina on nine of 11 third downs was significant. And they survived the loss of one of their best players, safety Kyle Hamilton, to a targeting call in the second quarter.

"They were always where they're supposed to be and they play really hard," said QB Sam Howell, who was sacked six times by a relentless Notre Dame pass rush. "They probably played harder and more physical than anyone we've played since I've been here."

Added tailback Michael Carter, "They have a lot of athletes you'll see at the next level."

And Notre Dame gives you no charity. The Irish committed only four penalties and yielded no turnovers. Meanwhile, Carolina was flagged nine times, with two of the penalties assisting Notre Dame on a field-goal drive and another one a fourth-down offside flag that kept alive what would become a third-quarter touchdown drive.

"It came down to a minute or so before it was over against the No. 2 team in the country," Brown said. "I told the team, this shows you what it's like to be a top five football team. We have to keep working so we can get in that neighborhood."

What the Irish did to dismantle the Tar Heels' prolific offense was certainly one theme of the game. The play of Irish QB Ian Book was another. And how the offense and defense worked in tandem is exactly why Notre Dame had a 35-25 time of possession advantage.

Book was a red-shirt freshman who got the start when Notre Dame came to Chapel Hill in early October 2017 because starter Brandon Wimbush was hurt. He played well as the Irish beat the Tar Heels 33-10, then won the starting job the following year. He's had an outstanding career but hasn't gotten the notoriety of, say, Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama, Trevor Lawrence at Clemson or Justin Fields at Ohio State, and Kelly seethed last week when USA Today listed its top 10 quarterbacks in college football (Howell included at No. 7) and didn't include Book.

Carolina defensive coordinator Jay Bateman last week properly lauded Book after studying tape and talking to friends in the coaching business who had faced him. "The first thing people say is how much more athletic he was after playing than they thought before," Bateman said. "He's really fast and doesn't get fooled much."

Book spliced together a highlight reel on Saturday. To begin the Irish's second scoring drive in the first quarter, he deftly sidestepped a corner blitz from Tony Grimes and connected 43 yards downfield to Javon McKinley. Then he slipped through a tiny crevice on a quarterback draw for 33 yards. And from the four yard-line, he fielded a low snap, back-pedaled and spun 360 degrees, outran two Tar Heels and spotted Kyren Williams in the flat, who reeled in the pass and dove into the end zone. Then in the fourth quarter, Book was flushed from the pocket, scrambled to his left and had Chazz Surratt hitting his right shoulder but still threw backhanded and underhanded downfield 11 yards to tight end Michael Mayor.

"I don't know if Book's in the Heisman race or not, but he should be," Brown said. "We couldn't tackle him. We harassed him, we had people around him, we could have had six sacks. We could not get him on the ground. And he made some unbelievable plays on third down.

"His record is 29-3. He's fast. He's quick. He's accurate. He's smart. He's not going to do things to get his team beat. I was so impressed with him tonight. I was impressed with him as much as any quarterback I've seen."

The Tar Heels are 6-3 with games against Western Carolina this week and at Miami the following week to tie up this pandemic-ravaged season. The offense will ponder what went wrong while the defense and kicking game will build on their contributions, the special teams being noteworthy for good overall coverage and punter Ben Kiernan's average of 50-plus yards on seven kicks.

"I was really, really proud of our defense and our kicking game," Brown said. "That's by far the best either one of them have done. Our defense kept hanging in there and hanging in there, and our kicking game gave us great field position."

Contrast the elder-statesman advantage Notre Dame enjoyed with all the many Tar Heels populating the defensive lineup who are either freshmen or in their first year in the program after transferring: Grimes with 67 snaps, Kyler McMichael 67, Ja'Qurious Conley 30, Myles Murphy 23, Cam Kelly 18, Kaimon Rucker 18, Clyde Pinder 13, Desmond Evans 11 and Kevin Hester nine.

This Notre Dame-Carolina encounter was set back in July by the ACC office in cobbling together a one-off schedule amid the pandemic to eliminate divisions and add Notre Dame as a conference team for 2020 only. But the two institutions were already scheduled for 2021-22 as part of Notre Dame signing on in 2014 to play at least five ACC games a year.

So this game in effect was round one in a best-of-three, with Carolina traveling to South Bend next October and the Irish returning to Kenan Stadium in 2022. It's actually quite convenient, as the Tar Heels will have the perfect litmus test to gauge their evolution against one of the nation's elite.

Chapel Hill based writer Lee Pace (Carolina '79) has written "Extra Points" since 1990, is the author of "Football in a Forest" and has been part of the Tar Heel Sports Network broadcast crew since 2004. Write him at leepace7@gmail.com.

Players Mentioned

Michael Carter

Ja'Qurious Conley

Desmond Evans

Tony Grimes

Sam Howell

Ben Kiernan

Kyler McMichael

Myles Murphy

Kaimon Rucker

Chazz Surratt

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