Notre Dame football wins likely final regular season test over UNC

The Notre Dame football team went into Chapel Hill to take on the No. 19 Tar Heels, and came away with a crucial ACC victory inside Kenan Stadium.

The Irish got the ball to start the first half, but the offense looked out of sync, as the Tar Heels forced a three-and-out. With the ball in their hands, it did not take long for North Carolina to get on the board, as Sam Howell navigated a seven-play, 50-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead early in the fourth quarter.

It did not take the Irish long to respond, as Ian Book led a surgical drive that covered 75 yards in nine plays. In that drive, he leaned heavily on the run game, as both Kyren Williams and Chris Tyree did most of the work before Williams plunged in from two yards out.

In a half that would be a back-and-forth battle, the Tar Heels responded immediately, going 75 yards as well, but doing it in only seven plays. The narrative around the North Carolina offense is that they can score quickly, and in bunches, and that was evident on that drive, with Howell hitting Dyami Brown on a 51-yard strike down to the one.

Howell would cap off the drive with a one-yard score of his own.

As was the case every time one team scored, Notre Dame came right back, showing some big-play ability of their own. Book was terrific on the drive, avoiding traffic and hitting Javon McKinley for 43 yards. On the next play, Book scampered 33 yards down to the six, and two plays later, he would once again avoid the blitz and hit Williams for a four-yard touchdown.

Finally, the defenses for each team would step up, as there were four straight punts before back-to-back field goals ended the half at 17-17.