Notre Dame football: Irish down North Carolina on the road
By Ryan Shanko
The Notre Dame football team picked up their second win in a row on Saturday, downing North Carolina on the road.
The Notre Dame football team dominated for three quarters and then survived a furious comeback effort from North Carolina to defeat the Tar Heels 45-32 on Saturday, improving to 2-2 on the year.
Notre Dame football: Game 4 by the Numbers
The Notre Dame offense finally came to life in Marcus Freeman’s second win, totaling an incredible 576 yards of offense including 35 first downs, 289 yards passing, and 287 yards rushing.
It was an incredibly balanced attack that saw the first half of dominance from Michael Mayer, Lorenzo Styles, and Drew Pyne through the air and a 24-14 halftime lead. In the second half, the Irish ran the ball with incredible ferocity, mostly behind the efforts of Audric Estime, who finished the day with 17 carries for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Drew Pyne finished the best day of his career with 289 yards, 3 TDs, and no turnovers, and Michael Mayer boosted his draft stock yet again with a 7 catch, 88-yard, 1 TD performance in Chapel Hill.
On the defensive side of the ball, ND struggled to defend the pass in clutch situations, perhaps the only flaw in what was a very complete defensive day. CB Cam Hart allowed a 64-yard TD on a 4th and 21 with under 2 minutes to play, and the Irish secondary struggled to defend the deep ball all game, additionally giving up an 80-yard score in the third quarter.
The Irish were dominant with their run defense though, only surrendering 66 yards rushing on 28 UNC attempts.
Game 4 Summary
Marcus Freeman now officially has the first win streak of his career, at 2 games, and his first career road win. The Irish defense dominated in the trenches but struggled to defend the deep ball from true freshman Tar Heel QB Drake Maye.
Coming into the game as a 2.5-point underdog, Notre Dame took the adversity to heart, putting forth an overall dominant performance. Admittedly though, it would be nice to have less of a heart attack on any future 4th and 21s the defense faces this year.