North Carolina vs. Notre Dame: Game Grades, Analysis for the Fighting Irish
Notre Dame overcame yet another uninspiring offensive performance with three more turnovers to come back and defeat the Tar Heels from North Carolina 50-43.
North Carolina, now 0-12 all-time at Notre Dame, suffered its fourth consecutive loss this season, while the Irish are a perfect 6-0, setting up a massive showdown with Florida State next Saturday in Tallahassee.
In the meantime, we have a fresh report card for the Irish, who needed every single play to get past a feisty UNC squad.
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The box score is available at NCAA.com.
| Pass Offense | B- | B |
| Run Offense | B+ | A- |
| Pass Defense | C+ | C+ |
| Run Defense | B+ | B |
| Special Teams | A | A |
| Coaching | B+ | A- |
Pass Offense
Everett Golson again had a middling performance overall, but his 21-of-38 for 300 yards passing was impressive just in time to save things—again. After going 13-of-23 for 177 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the first half, Golson added two more touchdowns after halftime to lead his team past North Carolina.
William Fuller had seven receptions for 133 yards and two scores, while Tarean Folston added 71 yards on just five receptions with a touchdown.
Run Offense
Speaking of Folston, he had an impressive 98 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, but the stats won't tell you about his tenacity and refusal to succumb to anything less than the more sure tackling UNC could throw at him.
As a team, Notre Dame had 219 yards and four touchdowns. The only thing that keeps us from giving Notre Dame a perfect "A" is the two fumbles lost by Golson. Still, it was a very nice performance worthy of an A-minus.
Pass Defense
Notre Dame has had a reputation of putting together some impressive defensive performances this season. Coming into Saturday afternoon, the Irish were giving up 12 points per game. North Carolina's do-it-all quarterback Marquise Williams torched that average by putting up 326 passing yards along with three pass-game touchdowns (two passing, one receiving).
Cole Luke did come up with a critical interception in the fourth quarter that helped secure the Irish victory, and that's certainly worth a little extra credit. Still, with so many yards and points given up in this game, we can't justify anything more than a C-plus.
Run Defense
Williams is not only UNC's best passing quarterback but also the biggest run threat the Tar Heels had on the field against Notre Dame. On his own, he put up a game-leading 132 rushing yards and managed to find the end zone with his feet once to complement his two passing touchdowns.
Elijah Hood was next in line on the stat sheet, with just 27 yards. Despite the Irish knowing Williams' running abilities, he still ran over them late into the game. Some horrible tackling technique also led to some bigger-than-they-should-have-been gains from Williams and the Tar Heels.
There's definitely a lot to improve upon before heading to Tallahassee next week, but it wasn't a total loss against Williams and the Tar Heels, who gained a team total of 184 yards with two scores on the ground.
Special Teams
With a kicker/punter like Kyle Brindza on your roster, you can rest assured that very little should go wrong with the kicking game. That was again the case, as Brindza booted most of his kickoffs through the end zone and was a perfect 6-of-6 on extra points.
He also averaged 41.8 yards on his five punts while placing two of them inside the 20-yard line.
Amir Carlisle was the only less-than-perfect part of the special teams game, averaging just 15 yards on his four kick returns. With those kinds of numbers, touchbacks would be much preferred.
Coaching
Yet again, Brian Kelly continues to do anything and everything to find ways to win.
When Notre Dame appeared shell-shocked early by UNC's uptempo offense, Kelly and his staff made some great defensive adjustments, bringing pressure on Williams to disrupt his run-and-shoot style. The Irish scored three straight touchdowns to take the lead, and despite plenty of momentum shifts, Kelly and company never let the players lose sight of what this game meant.
Every time you thought Notre Dame was losing all of the momentum and the wheels were just about to come off, some smart play-calling settled things down. The coaches did not allow the game to get away from the Irish.
Kelly is emerging as one of the top coaches in college football, and the longer this Notre Dame winning tear continues, the higher his stock will rise.
Unless otherwise noted, quotes or references to quotes were obtained firsthand by the writer.
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