University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Lucas: Notre Dame Rapid Reactions
October 30, 2021 | Football, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Quick takeaways from Carolina's visit to South Bend.
By Adam Lucas
1. Carolina struggled defensively on the way to a 44-34 loss at Notre Dame.
2. The Carolina defense has now allowed 40+ points in consecutive games for the first time in the Mack Brown era. Overall, it's the first time that has happened since the final two games of the 2015 season, when the opponents were high-powered Clemson and Baylor. The Tar Heels have given up 40.3 points per game in the last three outings. The last two opponents have posted their season highs in points against an FBS opponent. "Our defense gave up too many big plays again and too many drives," Mack Brown told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network. "They were disappointed."
3. Not much doubt about the decisive sequence in the game. After Carolina had marched down the field for a 20-17 lead on the opening drive of the second half, the Tar Heels had the momentum and had a chance to take control. But the Irish immediately answered with a three-play scoring drive to retake the lead at 24-20. They never trailed the rest of the game.
4. The Carolina offense did enough to win the game. There was one interception, but other than that, the Tar Heels were solid taking care of the ball against an Irish defense that ranks seventh in the country in takeaways per game. For the most part, Sam Howell was accurate (24-for-31 for 341 yards) and continued to dazzle with his running ability, as he rushed 18 times for 101 yards, including a 31-yard scoring run. Carolina ran the ball well (5.6 yards per carry), mostly protected Howell (three sacks allowed, one of which came late when the Heels were in desperation mode) and spread the ball around more than they had in recent games, but they couldn't do enough to outscore a Notre Dame offense that was moving the ball too easily.
5. Howell has now set the program record by being responsible for 101 touchdowns in his decorated career. He also became the program's all-time leader in passing yards, passing T.J. Yates. "Sam played great," Brown said. "He had one of his best games ever. I also thought he was a tremendous leader. He was down there trying to help the defense and pick them up. I'm really proud of Sam in this environment on the road. He hung in there and fought and competed and gave us a chance to win until the last play."
6. Tough break for the Tar Heels at an important moment in the game, when an apparent Notre Dame injury gave the officials time to review the spot on a would-be D.J. Jones catch for a first down early in the third quarter. After an extensive review, it was determined that Jones was shy of the mark, and Carolina had to punt.
7. It didn't take Notre Dame long to demonstrate they'd read the book on the Tar Heel defense, which has struggled with mobile quarterbacks. On the second Irish drive, they inserted their backup quarterback, Tyler Buchner, who is a bigger running threat than starter Jack Coan. Aided by a big punt return, Buchner's legs helped Notre Dame to the first score of the game, as he ran the ball into the red zone and then connected with Avery Davis for a seven-yard touchdown pass. Ultimately, however, Notre Dame had success with both quarterbacks.
8. A big part of the defensive issues: they could never get the Irish in third-and-long. Not metaphorically, but literally. Notre Dame never faced a third down of 9+ yards that counted (a third and 14 was wiped out by a penalty), and their average distance to go on third down was 4.3 yards. Carolina, meanwhile, averaged 6.5 yards to go on third down. The Irish averaged 10.7 yards per play on first down. Sure, that includes a 91-yard rush...but even if you take that out, the Irish still averaged 8.1 yards per play on first down.
9. As you might have already figured out from the above stats, the Tar Heels weren't good enough at stopping the run. Against a Notre Dame team that had been fairly pedestrian on the ground coming into Saturday night, Carolina allowed 293 rushing yards and seven yards per rush.
10. The Tar Heel offensive braintrust clearly spent the bye week figuring out ways to diversify the passing game. One beneficiary was Justin Olson, who caught two passes in the first 13 minutes of the game. The sophomore had just one catch all season coming into the game. Tar Heel wide receivers not named Josh Downs had caught a combined three passes in the previous two games. They snagged four in the first half against Notre Dame (Olson's two plus two from Antoine Green). Downs still had a stellar night, catching 10 passes for 142 yards.
11. Carolina has mastered the art of mysterious penalties in South Bend that have an impact on the game. In 2014, it was a phantom "roughing the snapper" call that helped Notre Dame to a seven-point win. On Saturday, it was a personal foul facemask whistled on Trey Morrison away from the play that gave Notre Dame a first down on a fourth down play, leading to a touchdown 90 seconds before halftime. A holding penalty also wiped out a first half Tar Heel touchdown and forced the Heels to settle for a field goal, and a late pass interference flag was a bit of a head-scratcher. "We had our chances," Brown said. "We score a touchdown and we have a holding penalty that brings it back, and that cost us four points. We stop them on fourth and three, and we have a facemask penalty that leads to seven points for them." Brown is also probably going to be frustrated by the film on Notre Dame's 91-yard touchdown run, when Myles Murphy appeared to be about to make the tackle before he was wrestled down from behind.
12. Even Brown's fourth down gambling preferences have their limits. Facing fourth and half a yard after the review in #4, Brown elected to punt because Carolina was backed up on its own 27-yard line. The thinking, of course, is you give the defense a longer field to prevent the opponent from scoring. That line of reasoning, unfortunately, became moot when the Irish promptly zipped down the field for a touchdown to make it 31-20 with 4:56 left in the third quarter. Brown had said recently that improved defense would allow him to make more conventional fourth down choices. After that score, though, Notre Dame had scored on five of its six possessions and five straight.
13. The way fans do--and don't--travel for road football games has changed in the past decade. But Carolina fans turned in a very strong showing in South Bend, with pockets of blue throughout Notre Dame Stadium. It was just the third trip for Carolina to South Bend in the last 50 years, and the rarity coupled with high preseason expectations likely persuaded numerous fans to make early plans to take the trip. Unfortunately, the Tar Heels remain winless at Notre Dame and 2-20 overall against the Irish.
14. If you liked Saturday's matchup, you'll enjoy 2022, when the Tar Heels and Fighting Irish will meet for the third straight season. Notre Dame is scheduled to come to Chapel Hill on Sept. 24.
Â
1. Carolina struggled defensively on the way to a 44-34 loss at Notre Dame.
2. The Carolina defense has now allowed 40+ points in consecutive games for the first time in the Mack Brown era. Overall, it's the first time that has happened since the final two games of the 2015 season, when the opponents were high-powered Clemson and Baylor. The Tar Heels have given up 40.3 points per game in the last three outings. The last two opponents have posted their season highs in points against an FBS opponent. "Our defense gave up too many big plays again and too many drives," Mack Brown told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network. "They were disappointed."
3. Not much doubt about the decisive sequence in the game. After Carolina had marched down the field for a 20-17 lead on the opening drive of the second half, the Tar Heels had the momentum and had a chance to take control. But the Irish immediately answered with a three-play scoring drive to retake the lead at 24-20. They never trailed the rest of the game.
4. The Carolina offense did enough to win the game. There was one interception, but other than that, the Tar Heels were solid taking care of the ball against an Irish defense that ranks seventh in the country in takeaways per game. For the most part, Sam Howell was accurate (24-for-31 for 341 yards) and continued to dazzle with his running ability, as he rushed 18 times for 101 yards, including a 31-yard scoring run. Carolina ran the ball well (5.6 yards per carry), mostly protected Howell (three sacks allowed, one of which came late when the Heels were in desperation mode) and spread the ball around more than they had in recent games, but they couldn't do enough to outscore a Notre Dame offense that was moving the ball too easily.
5. Howell has now set the program record by being responsible for 101 touchdowns in his decorated career. He also became the program's all-time leader in passing yards, passing T.J. Yates. "Sam played great," Brown said. "He had one of his best games ever. I also thought he was a tremendous leader. He was down there trying to help the defense and pick them up. I'm really proud of Sam in this environment on the road. He hung in there and fought and competed and gave us a chance to win until the last play."
6. Tough break for the Tar Heels at an important moment in the game, when an apparent Notre Dame injury gave the officials time to review the spot on a would-be D.J. Jones catch for a first down early in the third quarter. After an extensive review, it was determined that Jones was shy of the mark, and Carolina had to punt.
7. It didn't take Notre Dame long to demonstrate they'd read the book on the Tar Heel defense, which has struggled with mobile quarterbacks. On the second Irish drive, they inserted their backup quarterback, Tyler Buchner, who is a bigger running threat than starter Jack Coan. Aided by a big punt return, Buchner's legs helped Notre Dame to the first score of the game, as he ran the ball into the red zone and then connected with Avery Davis for a seven-yard touchdown pass. Ultimately, however, Notre Dame had success with both quarterbacks.
8. A big part of the defensive issues: they could never get the Irish in third-and-long. Not metaphorically, but literally. Notre Dame never faced a third down of 9+ yards that counted (a third and 14 was wiped out by a penalty), and their average distance to go on third down was 4.3 yards. Carolina, meanwhile, averaged 6.5 yards to go on third down. The Irish averaged 10.7 yards per play on first down. Sure, that includes a 91-yard rush...but even if you take that out, the Irish still averaged 8.1 yards per play on first down.
9. As you might have already figured out from the above stats, the Tar Heels weren't good enough at stopping the run. Against a Notre Dame team that had been fairly pedestrian on the ground coming into Saturday night, Carolina allowed 293 rushing yards and seven yards per rush.
10. The Tar Heel offensive braintrust clearly spent the bye week figuring out ways to diversify the passing game. One beneficiary was Justin Olson, who caught two passes in the first 13 minutes of the game. The sophomore had just one catch all season coming into the game. Tar Heel wide receivers not named Josh Downs had caught a combined three passes in the previous two games. They snagged four in the first half against Notre Dame (Olson's two plus two from Antoine Green). Downs still had a stellar night, catching 10 passes for 142 yards.
11. Carolina has mastered the art of mysterious penalties in South Bend that have an impact on the game. In 2014, it was a phantom "roughing the snapper" call that helped Notre Dame to a seven-point win. On Saturday, it was a personal foul facemask whistled on Trey Morrison away from the play that gave Notre Dame a first down on a fourth down play, leading to a touchdown 90 seconds before halftime. A holding penalty also wiped out a first half Tar Heel touchdown and forced the Heels to settle for a field goal, and a late pass interference flag was a bit of a head-scratcher. "We had our chances," Brown said. "We score a touchdown and we have a holding penalty that brings it back, and that cost us four points. We stop them on fourth and three, and we have a facemask penalty that leads to seven points for them." Brown is also probably going to be frustrated by the film on Notre Dame's 91-yard touchdown run, when Myles Murphy appeared to be about to make the tackle before he was wrestled down from behind.
12. Even Brown's fourth down gambling preferences have their limits. Facing fourth and half a yard after the review in #4, Brown elected to punt because Carolina was backed up on its own 27-yard line. The thinking, of course, is you give the defense a longer field to prevent the opponent from scoring. That line of reasoning, unfortunately, became moot when the Irish promptly zipped down the field for a touchdown to make it 31-20 with 4:56 left in the third quarter. Brown had said recently that improved defense would allow him to make more conventional fourth down choices. After that score, though, Notre Dame had scored on five of its six possessions and five straight.
13. The way fans do--and don't--travel for road football games has changed in the past decade. But Carolina fans turned in a very strong showing in South Bend, with pockets of blue throughout Notre Dame Stadium. It was just the third trip for Carolina to South Bend in the last 50 years, and the rarity coupled with high preseason expectations likely persuaded numerous fans to make early plans to take the trip. Unfortunately, the Tar Heels remain winless at Notre Dame and 2-20 overall against the Irish.
14. If you liked Saturday's matchup, you'll enjoy 2022, when the Tar Heels and Fighting Irish will meet for the third straight season. Notre Dame is scheduled to come to Chapel Hill on Sept. 24.
Â
Players Mentioned
Wide Receiver
/ Football
Wide Receiver
/ Football
Quarterback
/ Football
Running Back
/ Football
Defensive Back
/ Football
Defensive Line
/ Football
Wide Receiver
/ FootballUNC Women's Basketball: Tar Heels Fend Off Columbia, Go 3-0 in Cancun Challenge
Saturday, November 29
UNC Women's Basketball: Tar Heels Outshoot Kansas State, 85-73
Friday, November 28
WBB: Post-South Dakota State - Nov. 27, 2025
Thursday, November 27
UNC Women's Basketball: Nivar Records Triple Double in Win vs SDSU, 83-48
Thursday, November 27