UNC vs. Notre Dame: Score and Twitter Reaction

A week before a showdown with the No. 1 team in the nation, Everett Golson and the No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish narrowly avoided a letdown in a 50-43 win over North Carolina as turnovers once again plagued Brian Kelly's team.

SportsCenter noted the historical implications of the show put on by Golson and the offense:

After late-game heroics to remain undefeated last week, Golson finished Saturday with a pair of costly fumbles and an interception but redeemed himself in the final frame with a go-ahead touchdown to finish 21-of-38 for 300 yards and three scores. He also registered 71 yards on 12 carries, second only to Tarean Folston's 18 carries for 98 yards and a pair of scores.

That ground game led by Folston bailed out Golson repeatedly, gaining 223 yards and four scores on 41 carries (5.4 per-carry average). The star of the shootout, though, was sophomore wideout William Fuller, who brought in seven catches for 133 yards and two scores.

North Carolina got a superhuman effort from junior quarterback Marquise Williams, who scored as a passer, rusher and receiver Saturday. His 303 yards and two touchdowns through the air kept the Tar Heels in it, while his 132 yards on 18 carries and a score led the team in rushing (and made him the first to eclipse 100 yards against the Notre Dame defense all season). His 23-yard touchdown reception put his team ahead late in the third quarter.

Langston Wertz Jr. of the Charlotte Observer summed up the epic performance from Williams nicely:

The turnover issues that have plagued Golson as of late showed up again early Saturday, as he was hit and lost the football on the Fighting Irish's very first drive.

That put his team in an early 7-0 hole after Tar Heels freshman tailback Elijah Hood found paydirt from six yards away. On the very next drive, Golson put his team down two scores by stepping up into a clean pocket and hitting North Carolina linebacker Jeff Schoettmer in the chest, who took it back for a touchdown.

Tom Fornelli of CBSSports.com put it best:

"

Everett Golson begins this week the same way he’s been playing the last few weeks: by turning the ball over.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) October 11, 2014"

Eventually, Golson was able to calm down. He hit Fuller with their first of two touchdown connections on the day, and then the staff elected to lean on the ground game for production—which resulted in three first-half touchdowns and more than 100 yards.

Even Kelly had admitted prior to the contest that the rushing attack was more of a way to set up the pass this season, as captured by Lou Somogyi of 247Sports.com:

"

We feel very comfortable where what we’re able to do from an offensive standpoint with our run game. We’re not a run-first, smash mouth, we’re-going-to-run-the-ball-down-your-throat [team]. We definitely use it to set up our play-action passes. I think we’ve been very effective with our play-action down the field. I don’t look at it saying it’s a weakness of our offense.

"

Directly after the Fighting Irish came out of the tunnel up just 28-26 to start the second half, it was clear Kelly was committed to the ground-and-pound approach with a sporadic dash of deep passes to keep the Tar Heels defense honest. 

That approach would lead to the second Golson-Fueller touchdown connection of the day, this time from 35 yards away, but the vibe of the 35-26 contest took a dramatic turn late in the third quarter. 

Again, it was turnovers. Golson lost his second fumble of the game after a North Carolina field goal brought it to 35-29. One trick play later saw wideout Quinshad Davis hit his quarterback for the score to give the Tar Heels a one-point advantage.

For Golson, not only was the season in jeopardy but his pursuit of individual accolades took a hit, too, as Bryan Fischer of NFL.com pointed out:

The talent discrepancy eventually began to rear its head as the final frame progressed, though, as Williams gunned a late interception and Golson capitalized on poor coverage to toss his third score of the day to put the Fighting Irish ahead for good.

Already up 43-36, Notre Dame got the ball back after a few miscues from the opposition, and Folston punched in his second touchdown of the day to finalize the score, although the final tally does not do the entirety of the hotly contested encounter justice.

Up next for the Tar Heels after the crushing loss is another stiff test, this time against the previously ranked No. 22 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who now rest at 5-1 after Saturday's 31-25 loss to Duke.

Notre Dame has even bigger plans, though. It would not be outlandish to suggest that Golson and his teammates overlooked the Tar Heels a tad—understandable with a date against No. 1 Florida State on the docket next.

The showdown is arguably the biggest of any this season, although many, such as Brandon George of The Dallas Morning News, feel that Notre Dame's performance Saturday suggests troubles are ahead for Golson and Co.:

Given the College Football Playoff implications on the line in Tallahassee, Kelly's up-and-down team will receive its biggest test to date, but the same can be said for Jameis Winston and the Seminoles if turnover issues get cleaned up in the week of preparation.

North Carolina vs. Notre Dame was just an appetizer.

Statistics and info courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.