One That Got Away: Notre Dame Blows Early Lead

Notre Dame began another march as Clausen hit Robert Hughes in the flat for 15 yards, but the Tar Heel defense rose up again.

Reserve tackle Al Mullins beat Irish center Dan Wenger and stripped the ball from Clausen in the pocket. Mullins pounced on it and Carolina was in business at the Notre Dame 42.

Tailback Shaun Draughn appeared to score from 35 yards out only two plays later, but the play was called back for a holding penalty.

This proved to be only a temporary relief for the gassed Irish defense. Sexton dove in on a rollout a few plays later to give Carolina its first lead of the day at 29-24 as the game moved to the fourth quarter.

The Irish may have been rattled after being outscored by 20-7 in just over 15 minutes, but Clausen kept his cool.

He hit Floyd for 24 yards and tossed a screen pass to Allen for 14 more. The drive stalled just outside the Tar Heel 20, however, as a fourth-down pass came up short.

Notre Dame got the ball back with 10 minutes remaining and ripped off three first downs before stopping themselves again. Carolina forced Clausen to scramble and throw another interception, this time to Deunta Williams at the Tar Heel 23 with 4:50 left.

Sexton and Draughn tried to run out the clock, and they were nearly successful. A well-executed third down pass was ruled incomplete with just under two minutes remaining, and the Heels were forced to punt.

It appeared that Carolina’s Brooks Foster caught the ball and the ground caused him to lose it upon impact, but the replay officials ruled in favor of Notre Dame.

Clausen came onto the field with 83 yards between him and Irish immortality, and he almost pulled it off. He started with a 30-yard laser to Tate and picked up two more first downs as time ticked down below a minute.

The Tar Heels applied more pressure and Clausen found himself down to a fourth and 13 with 11 seconds left. A bullet to Floyd would have picked up a first down inside the ten with a chance to run one more play, but Floyd lost the ball as he fought to break free.

The Irish outgained North Carolina by a whopping 472-322 yards, but committed five turnovers to none for the Tar Heels. Notre Dame also could not stop Nicks and Draughn when it mattered most. Nicks had nine catches for 141 yards and ran roughshod over the Irish cornerbacks.

Draughn had 91 yards on only 17 carries, and ran over Maurice Crum and Dan McCarthy for first downs when they came up to meet him in the hole.

Aside from the turnovers, the clear difference between these two young and promising teams is the power and athleticism of the Carolina defense.

Although Notre Dame’s passing attack may be the envy of college football as Clausen matures, the front seven must get help if the Irish are going to contend any time soon.

Here is a review of the key questions that helped to determine the outcome:

Which team will run the ball most effectively?
Carolina outrushed Notre Dame by 121-89, and the important yards came in the second half.

Will Clausen find holes in the aggressive Tar Heel secondary?
Definitely, but he also found Sturdivant at the wrong time.

Will the Irish be able to hold Tate in check?
Mike Anello took care of Tate for the day with a clean tackle on Carolina’s first punt return.

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