Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1313320
28 DEC. 5, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED line with 5:52 left and a 24-17 lead. It ended with a touchdown and North Carolina having 80 seconds to score twice. In a familiar occurrence, Notre Dame ran the ball when everyone on the opposing sideline knew it wanted to and wasn't stopped. "A bunch of big turkey legs will be handed to the O-line," senior line- backer Drew White said. Six of the eight plays on that drive were runs by sophomore running back Kyren Williams, and they net- ted 66 yards. The first play of the drive was a 47-yard outburst, Notre Dame's longest rush of the day. IRISH DEFENSE REGISTERS SIX SACKS North Carolina posed a unique threat to the Notre Dame defense. Coming into the contest, the Tar Heels averaged 563.4 total yards of offense, producing 329.9 yards through the air with the other 233.5 yards coming on the ground. This meant that the Notre Dame defensive line needed to pressure prolific North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell without relying on blitz- ing linebackers and safeties for help, as they needed to remain in coverage more often than usual. The defensive front four responded to such a challenge, with five sacks from five different linemen, the most this unit has produced all season. "They're doing a good job this year. I get to face them every day in practice, and I see it," Notre Dame fifth-year quarterback Ian Book said. "I see the potential that group has, and they showed that tonight and guys stepped up and made plays. "It's a scary D-line so I feel for the other quarterbacks. They do an unbe- lievable job of putting teams behind the chains and giving our offense an opportunity." The defensive line was led by fifth-year senior defensive end Ad- etokunbo Ogundeji with two sacks and at least one quarterback hurry that didn't make it into his box score. "Ade was relentless with the pres- sure," head coach Brian Kelly said. Fellow defensive ends Justin Ademilola and Isaiah Foskey like- wise contributed a sack apiece. Defensive tackles Myron Tagovailoa- Amosa and Rylie Mills each chipped in with half a sack. This is the first career sack for Mills, a true freshman who has received an increase in playing time as the season has progressed. In total, the Notre Dame defense had six sacks, also a season high. The remaining sack came from lineback- ers Drew White and Marist Liufau, who split it. ✦ NORTH CAROLINA VS. NOTRE DAME QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON North Carolina 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 6:23 6:59 5:48 5:46 13:22 11:34 24:56 Third-Down Conversions 1-1 1-4 0-3 0-3 2-5 0-6 2-11 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 0-1 Average Field Position NC-33 NC-3 NC-23 NC-28 NC-21 NC-26 NC-23 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 8:37 8:01 9:12 9:14 16:38 18:26 35:04 Third-Down Conversions 0-1 1-3 1-4 2-3 1-4 3-7 4-11 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Average Field Position ND-22 ND-27 ND-14 ND-32 ND-24 ND-23 ND-24 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards NC ND Nega ve 9 4 0-5 29 39 6-9 6 9 10-19 8 12 20-29 4 1 30-39 0 1 40-49 0 2 50 or more 1 1 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score North Carolina 2 2 0 0 Notre Dame 6 4 1 1 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) North Carolina • 2-6 ND46 Carter rush for 26 yards to the ND20 • 2-15 NC48 Howell pass complete to Brown for 51 yards to the ND1 • 3-20 NC19 Howell pass complete to Downs for 10 yards to the NC29 (Hamilton), PENALTY ND targe ng (Hamilton) 15 yards to the NC44 Notre Dame • 1-10 ND18 Book pass complete to McKinley for 43 yards to the NC39 • 1-10 NC39 Book rush for 33 yards to the NC6 • 1-10 ND29 Book pass complete to McKinley for 53 yards to the NC18 • 1-10 ND11 Williams rush for 47 yards to the NC42 INSTANT TAKEAWAYS FROM FORMER NOTRE DAME LINEBACKER MIKE GOOLSBY • "Notre Dame lost some players today, but still got it done. If there was a weakness to this team, it is the secondary and you expect losing Hamilton to hurt. "Then you play North Carolina with Sam Howell, who just put up 50-something points last week and threw a bunch of touchdowns, but you go out and hold him to 17 and a shut- out in the second half? "The Fighting Irish stepped up today." • "A question all year long for Notre Dame is whether or not they have the depth to be a championship-level team. That is the mark of a championship-level program. "Everybody wants to win every game by a four-touchdown margin but today Notre Dame showed some of that mental toughness and left Chapel Hill with a good win." Join us after every game for the Live Show on YouTube! BlueandGold.com's Mike Singer and former Fighting Irish captain and linebacker Mike Goolsby will recap the game and give their instant analysis. www.youtube.com/c/bluegoldillustrated Freshman defensive tackle Rylie Mills (No. 99), who has received an increase in playing time, recorded his first career sack against UNC. Notre Dame had a season-high six versus the Tar Heels. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS