No. 2 Notre Dame topples No. 19 Tar Heels 31-17
No. 2 Notre Dame traveled to Chapel Hill Friday to battle the No. 19 North Carolina Tar Heels. And the battle began early with Carolina's 50-yard scoring drive capped with a 6-yard strike from Sam Howell to Emery Simmons to give North Carolina the 7-0 lead.
The Fighting Irish looked to preserve their undefeated record with a 9-play, 75-yard drive then culminated in a Kyren Williams 2-yard TD run. But it would not be an easy task to keep the lid on the Tar Heels. The Heels went to the air for a 51-yard Dyami Brown completion to set up a goal line run by Howell to give the Heels the 14-7 lead.
Unlike the 47 points they put up in the win against Clemson or the 45 points they garnered against Boston College, the Notre Dame scoring machine that managed to tie the game 14-14 before the end of the first quarter was matched blow-by-blow by the Heels.
After a Personal Foul led to Notre Dame Safety Kyle Hamilton's ejection for targeting, the Tar Heels moved the ball effectively down field but only mustered a field goal from the drive which put them on top 17-14.
AT THE HALF:
Notre Dame 17
North Carolina 17
The second half was a test of the Tar Heels strength on defense. The Tar Heels defense, which is still a developing project for Mack Brown and his staff, kept the Tight End dense offense from running the score up as much as it had in their previous game against Boston College.
The Notre Dame offense had several opportunities but the only two that stuck were the Ben Skowronek 13-yad touchdown run - capping a 13-play 97-yard drive and a short rushing touchdown by Kyren Williams that put the Irish up 31-17 with under two minutes left in the game.
While the defense performed probably better than anticipated, the Carolina offense was stifled in the second half not posting a single point to add to the 17 first-half points.
FINAL SCORE:
Notre Dame 31
North Carolina 17
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