The Notre Dame football team moved their record to 7-1 on the season, as star running back Kyren Williams ran for over 200 yards in the victory.
Before the season started, a lot of people circled USC and North Carolina in back-to-back weeks as one of the toughest stretches of games on the Notre Dame football schedule. As it worked out, that wasn’t the case.
Clay Helton was the first coach at a major FBS program to lose his job this season, while the Tar Heels fell off the map from the word go, behind a struggling offensive line and amid severe turnover at the skills positions.
North Carolina entered this game against Notre Dame football at just 3-4, with losses to Florida State, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech. Notre Dame football is the first really good team that they’ve played. Of course, it’s not like Notre Dame hasn’t had its own issues this year.
The Irish still aren’t confident at quarterback, let alone their offensive line, and the offense has struggled as a result.
For this game, All-American safety Kyle Hamilton would be unavailable, following a knee injury against USC. Meanwhile, Jack Coan continued to start at quarterback for the Irish.
Notre Dame football: Kyren Williams runs all over UNC in 44-34 victory
1st Quarter
Notre Dame football started with the football, playing an up-tempo style that was marked by short routes and three-step drops. Eventually, they stalled and gave it to North Carolina, who, in turn, also stalled out. Kyren Williams had a big return to set the Irish offense up on an awkward punt by the Tar Heels.
That short field saw the Irish break out freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner and the read-option running game. He ran well, including a nice stiff arm, draining the first quarter clock down to just a couple of minutes, before throwing a touchdown pass to Avery Davis.
North Carolina came back looking to move quickly on offense, and they were more than willing to run Howell. They crossed midfield before getting crossed up and needing to take a timeout. By that point, both teams had burnt two timeouts in the first quarter.
You don’t see that too often. It took North Carolina out of sync, as they immediately had a run get stuffed and had an offensive lineman false start before Howell connected on a deep shot for 42 yards. They snuck in one more run before the quarter ended.
Notre Dame football: Kyren Williams runs all over UNC in 44-34 victory
2nd Quarter
North Carolina opened the second quarter with a Ty Chandler touchdown run on a toss play. Replay reviewed and confirmed that he got in, tying the game 7-7.
On Notre Dame’s response drive, Avery Davis became the main target for Jack Coan. Davis converted a couple of first downs for the Irish before Buchner came in to grab another. The drive stalled, though, when a bloody Coan had to throw the ball away. The Irish settled for a field goal, making it 10-7.
Sam Howell’s legs continued to give the Notre Dame football team’s defense fits. The Irish defensive line kept coming just short of getting to Howell, while he ran it effectively on the zone read and designed draw plays all half. A back-shoulder throw on third and long and a tunnel screen got the Tar Heels inside the Irish 10.
A holding call would take seven points off the board, and the drive stalled on an Isaiah Foskey sack. Jayson Ademilola was there for the assist on the sack. North Carolina kicked a field goal to tie the game at 10.
Notre Dame football got the ball back with around three minutes left and they quickly marched to Tar Heel territory, on the back of a big Michael Mayer gain. Notre Dame would stall on the 36, choosing to go for it on 4th down. Coan’s pass fell incomplete, but a facemask on North Carolina extended the drive anyways.
The Irish took advantage, with a back-shoulder touchdown throw to Kevin Austin on the very next play.
A good return gave North Carolina a shot before the half, with only a minute left to play. Confusion with the chains and play clock gave North Carolina a free timeout, and the Tar Heels sliced through the Irish defense with draw plays. Eventually, Howell made a mistake, scrambling and getting tackled in bounds without any timeouts.
After a quick spike, the Tar Heels settled for three to end the first half, making it 17-13.
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.
Notre Dame football: Kyren Williams runs all over UNC in 44-34 victory
4th Quarter
North Carolina failed to gain the first down and instead used Howell to drop kick a punt that rolled inside the 10. That didn’t matter, though. Kyren Williams, determined to prove his knee was fine, took a run up the middle with no room, reversed field, hit the edge, and took the ball 91 yards for an Irish touchdown. He stiffed armed a defender down in the backfield and got a massive block from Michael Mayer downfield. 38-27.
DJ Brown, Kyle Hamilton’s replacement, then immediately intercepted Sam Howell. Tack on an unsportsmanlike foul on North Carolina, and the Irish were in a position to bury the Tar Heels. Avery Davis took an end-around inside the five, but the drive stalled there. North Carolina made a stand and Brian Kelly opted to kick a short field goal to make it 41-27. Not quite a dagger.
The next drive started with another Notre Dame injury. Isaiah Foskey was injured making a tackle, and stayed down for a long time, before running off the field. That drive eventually ended in a Sam Howell touchdown drive to keep North Carolina in the game. Again, the Irish missed multiple tackles, including a potential sack. The next drive for Notre Dame became the Kyren Williams show, as he marched towards 200 yards.
With about three and a half minutes left and Notre Dame deep in Tar Heel territory, North Carolina started using their timeouts. Buchner misfired on third and long, but a flag came out for pass interference that gave the Irish life to end the game. Admittedly, it was a soft call. It did give Notre Dame time to drain more clock, though, which they did. However, they couldn’t find the endzone. Instead, with 1:40 left, Kelly called timeout and opted for a field goal to make it a two-score game. 44-34.
Sam Howell marched North Carolina downfield, but they ultimately ran out of time. Notre Dame wins 44-34.
Notre Dame football: Kyren Williams runs all over UNC in 44-34 victory
Quick Takeaways
The offensive rhythm works when Notre Dame goes with its up-tempo approach. This is because it takes the pressure off the offensive line, and it makes it so Jack Coan’s lack of composure in the pocket and his lack of arm talent aren’t as important as they would be in the downfield passing game. This rhythm is completely different when Tyler Buchner comes into the game, as they move to a slower, run-based offensive philosophy. The trick is finding a balance between the two systems. North Carolina struggles on defense, but the rhythm never left the Irish.
The secondary without Kyle Hamilton was never going to be the same. Sam Howell is one of the top quarterbacks in his class, and this was always going to be that unit’s biggest test this year. At the end of the first quarter, Howell hit a wheel route for 42 yards that Hamilton would likely have been able to takeaway. TaRiq Bracy went down at the start of the second half, which hurt the secondary a lot too. A fake screen towards the end of the third quarter ended in an easy touchdown throw, where it became clear how confused the secondary is without Hamilton on the field.
Then, give Brown credit too, he had a great pick on Howell in the 4th to set up the offense. On top of all that, the secondary’s attitude just felt different. It was almost like they were less confident and less interested in coming up and attacking the run game. For his part, Hamilton was on the sidelines doing his best to act as an extra coach.
Kyren Williams went down with an apparent knee injury. He had his leg trapped under a defender who tackled him along the sideline, and immediately he grabbed at his right knee. The trainers then took him into the injury tent. However, he popped out of the tent quickly and looked ready to go back into the game, strapping his helmet on. He would come back on the next offensive possession and dominate. Williams ended the day with 22 carries for 199 yards and a touchdown.
It looks like we’re accepting a two-quarterback system at Notre Dame, and that’s just something fans will have to adjust to for the rest of the season. This isn’t one of those systems where they trade drives or trade every two drives, though. They’re going to come in and out randomly for each other, giving wildly different looks to defenses. That can be very difficult to prep for, but it’s important to make sure that Buchner throws enough to let that still be a threat.
The pass rush seemingly couldn’t get home, which was a bit of a surprise. Pass protection has been one of North Carolina’s biggest weaknesses this year, but Notre Dame struggled to force sacks or tackles for loss in this game. They did put some pressure on Howell, but more often than not he slipped away and was able to create plays where he should’ve lost yardage. By the end of the day, they had two sacks, plus an intentional grounding while Howell was wrapped up, but there should have been a lot more from this defensive line.
Isaiah Foskey stayed down during the fourth quarter, before running off the field. It was hard to tell what happened, but that would be a major loss to Notre Dame if he spent any amount of time out. He didn’t return to the game.
The run defense was suspect at best. Linebackers weren’t filling gaps properly. There wasn’t much pressure or havoc created in the run game by the defensive line. Blitzes took players out of position. The defensive backs seemingly couldn’t read runs and were waiting for Tar Heel runners to hit the second level. Marcus Freeman went prevent right before the half, and North Carolina could get anything they wanted. It was rough, and that’s before you consider all of Sam Howell’s success in draw plays and the read option.
Braden Lenzy got banged up early in the game, and got a lot less time after that, being evaluated for an injury. This did open up space for young wide receivers to get more playing time. Lenzy would later be ruled out for the rest of the game with an upper-body injury. Still, Lorenzo Styles has been playing the way Braden Lenzy was supposed to for years now, so it might just be time for the young players to get their shot.
North Carolina had never won in South Bend, coming into the game, at 0-12. That streak of losing in South Bend continued, and now North Carolina is 0-13 at Notre Dame.