Quick Hitters - North Carolina vs. Notre Dame

Isaac Schade presents Quick Hitters from North Carolina’s 31-17 home loss to Notre Dame on Friday afternoon.

Quick Hitters from North Carolina’s 31-17 home loss to Notre Dame on Friday afternoon.

Highlights:

Condensed Game:

• For a young team learning how to win, today was a lesson on the importance of every detail and every moment. The turning point of the game was not some athletic, crunch-time play, but rather a seemingly insignificant offsides penalty against Carolina early in the second half. With just shy of 10:00 remaining in the third quarter, Notre Dame faced a fourth-and-one from their own 24 and elected to keep their offense on the field. Whether the Irish intended to actually run a play or not, we'll never know, because the Heels jumped. Notre Dame subsequently marched the length of the field and broke the 17-17 tie with a touchdown and never looked back. 
• As strange as it sounds to say, this was actually the largest loss (in terms of number of points) of Mack Brown era 2.0. The game felt close the entire time and yet Carolina lost by 14. It's the first time in the past two years UNC has lost by two scores (or double-digits). The previous largest deficit was seven, which happened twice last season (38-31 to Virginia, 34-27 to Pitt).
• Ben Kiernan, who has not been needed much this season thanks to the dynamic Tar Heel offense, was Carolina's biggest weapon in the game. Kiernan punted seven times; five of which landed inside the 20. Of the two that didn't, one went to the 21 and the other to the 40 (but came from the UNC nine-yard line). Only one of the seven punts was returned. On a day (perhaps the only day this season) when Carolina struggled to score, the field position aid that Kiernan provided the defense was invaluable.
• The game started with a Notre Dame three-and-out. From there the teams traded touchdowns on the next four possessions and it appeared we had another high-scoring affair on our hands. That reality was not meant to be, however (at least for the Tar Heels). Following those two touchdowns, Carolina had nine more possessions. Seven of those nine possessions resulted in punts (including every possession of the second half except the final one which was a turnover on downs). 
• Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book is slippery. He's the type of player you love if he’s on your team and are eternally frustrated by if he’s not. The quintessential example tonight occurred on a third-and-six from his own 20-yard line early in the fourth quarter. Surrounded by multiple Tar Heels, Book backhand-flipped the ball which floated through the air interminably and somehow found its way into the waiting arms of an Irish receiver. Here's the play: 

• The Tar Heels have never beaten an AP top-two team.
• Tony Grimes started today as a 17-year-old-supposed-to-be-high-school-senior against the number two team in the country. Wrap your brain around that. 
• In the second quarter Carolina converted a third-and-18 followed immediately by a third-and-20 (via a Notre Dame targeting penalty). At that point, it felt like those types of miracle plays were lining up to potentially turn into a special day for Carolina.
• Carolina's first touchdown of the day was also Emery Simmons' first of the season. Making a highlight-worthy catch, Simmons went up and (legally) over the back of the defender to turn a potential interception into six points. See for yourself:

• On Carolina's second touchdown drive, the big play was a 51-yard completion to Dyami Brown. Brown came off the field injured after the play but ultimately returned to the game. Hopefully he won't have any lingering effects going forward. 
• Penalties were once again a major bugaboo for the Tar Heels, particularly in some inopportune moments (like the aforementioned offside penalty). Cutting down on these numbers will be necessary for the Tar Heels to take the next step nationally. 
• For the first time all season Javonte Williams didn't score a touchdown.

• Also for the first time all season, Carolina was held below 400 total yards. The Heels managed just 298. The previous season low was 401 against Boston College. This breaks a streak of six straight games with 500-plus total yards. 
• Given how explosive the Tar Heel offense has been all year, all credit goes to the Notre Dame defense who put together a game plan to slow down the multi-faceted Carolina attack.
• The Carolina defense hasn't had an interception since the Duke game.
• Carolina’s usual game script of owning the fourth quarter was not meant to be tonight. Notre Dame outscored the Tar Heels 7-0 in the final 15:00. Sam Howell and company were just never able to get any momentum going.

Mack Brown postgame press conference

Players postgame press conference

Sam Howell

Chazz Surratt

Jeremiah Gemmell

Michael Carter

Remember to check in for Quick Hitters after every North Carolina football game. The Tar Heels will next host Western Carolina on Saturday, December 5. Kickoff time and television broadcast channel are yet to be announced.

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