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Notre Dame football: Kyren Williams runs all over UNC in 44-34 victory

By Daniel Morrison

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - OCTOBER 30: Kevin Austin Jr. #4 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates a touchdown with Avery Davis #3 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the second quarter in the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Notre Dame Stadium on October 30, 2021 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - OCTOBER 30: Kevin Austin Jr. #4 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates a touchdown with Avery Davis #3 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the second quarter in the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Notre Dame Stadium on October 30, 2021 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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BLACKSBURG, VA – OCTOBER 09: Logan Diggs #22 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish warms up before the game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Lane Stadium on October 9, 2021, in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
BLACKSBURG, VA – OCTOBER 09: Logan Diggs #22 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish warms up before the game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Lane Stadium on October 9, 2021, in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

Notre Dame football: Kyren Williams runs all over UNC in 44-34 victory

3rd Quarter

North Carolina got the ball to start the second half. The run defense continued to abandon the Irish, as Ty Chandler broke off a massive touchdown run. Incidentally, he outran DJ Brown for the score. Brown, you’ll remember, was filling in for the injured Kyle Hamilton.

Notre Dame’s offense said, “That’s fine. We like playing shootouts anyways.” It was a three-play response. Kyren Williams for a first down. Lorenzo Styles for a massive gain. Then Jack Coan ran for a long touchdown run. 24-20 just like that.

It looked like Notre Dame was going to get off the field quickly, but Howell escaped pressure and North Carolina powered through the Irish secondary for a first down. TaRiq Bracy got hurt on the play too, lightening up the depth in the secondary further. That was followed by a long replay review, where they eventually determined the runner was short of the first down and one of Notre Dame’s heaters caught on fire.

It was confusing and took too long, but the Irish would get the ball back on a forced punt.

There was a disaster on the next drive, as Kyren Williams went down and immediately grabbed his knee. It looked like his leg was rolled on by a Tar Heel defender, and it looked bad too.  The Irish offense responded by pushing the ball downfield with their talented freshman running back Logan Diggs, wide receiver Lorenzo Styles, and even some from quarterback Tyler Buchner.

Williams then popped out of the injury tent, grabbed his helmet, and said he was ready to get back into the game. Getting down to the goal line became a matter of slamming your head against the wall before Diggs went over the top for six. It was his first career rushing touchdown.

The next North Carolina drive started with some controversy, as the referees ruled an obvious incompletion a catch, which in turn led to a review that overturned it. The right call was made at the end of the day, but it took way too long to get there. The very next play a roughing the passer was called on JD Bertrand for hitting Howell up high, and the Tar Heels quarterback got up slowly but stayed in the game.

Eventually, the drive turned into a wide open shot play, as the Notre Dame backups in the secondary got confused on a fake screen.

Notre Dame held a 31-27 lead for the next drive, and Kyren Williams was back in the game at running back. Still, after a bad miss by Coan and a throwaway, the Irish went three and out. A bad punt gave the Tar Heels good field position. The Tar Heels would then find themselves in third and long as the third quarter finally came to an end.

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