Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 30, 2021 33 GAME PREVIEW: NORTH CAROLINA BY TYLER HORKA S o you want to be a college foot- ball fan in 2021? You better know what you're signing up for. Heck, maybe even sign a consent form or waiver. "We're seeing so much parity in col- lege football," North Carolina head coach Mack Brown said. "It's like a roller coaster when you hop on it and you feel like you're in good shape. Then you go back down and come back." Look up the ride Judge Roy Scream at Six Flags Over Texas and you'll re- late to what Brown is talking about. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. That's almost exactly what North Caro- lina's season has been like. Almost. The only difference is that you would have to throw in an unexpected stall while the train car is climbing for the initial drop. That stall before the ride ever got going would symbolize UNC's 17-10 loss to Virginia Tech in the season opener. The car eventually got going again with back-to-back 59-point offensive outbursts in wins over Georgia State and Virginia, but then it was right back down with a 45-22 loss to Georgia Tech. Up again with a 38-7 win over Duke, down again with a 35-25 loss to Florida State. The highs were emphatically high. The lows were devastatingly low. In their most recent game, a 45-42 win over Miami, the Tar Heels accomplished something that had Brown feeling hopeful about the future: they won a close game when adversity struck while the outcome was in doubt. "Just find a way to win," Brown re- called telling his team before the Miami game. "That's the only thing that's im- portant tonight." That'll be the only thing that's impor- tant when North Carolina takes on the Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium, too. The losses to teams deemed inferior at the time of kickoff were surely frus- trating for Brown. But a win over Notre Dame on the road would make up for a lot of what was lost in those defeats. WHATEVER IT TAKES Just because it hasn't been the Col- lege Football Playoff type of season many thought North Carolina was capable of putting together doesn't mean it hasn't been a productive year for junior quar- terback Sam Howell, a preseason Heis- man Trophy contender. And if not for those three losses in North Carolina's first six games, maybe he would still be in the conversation for the coveted trophy. Howell has completed 129 of 211 pass attempts (61.1 percent) for 1,851 yards with 18 touchdowns and six intercep- tions. He has also rushed 96 times for 494 yards and five scores. His team isn't one of the best in the sport, but he might still be one of the best players at his position. Two of Howell's five rushing scores came against Miami. Both came in the second half. He came away from that game with the same line of thinking as Brown: for once in 2021, the Tar Heels exhibited a refuse-to-lose mentality. "Obviously, this season has been up and down with so many mixed emo- tions," Howell said. "But we didn't just lay down. I thought on both sides of the ball and special teams, we laid it all out there on the field and gave it everything we got. And that's all I ask from this team. That's all we can do." North Carolina's offensive shortcom- ings are well documented. Yes, the Tar Heels have Howell. And yes, they have a running back in graduate student Ty Chandler who has rushed for 588 yards and seven touchdowns. In addition, sophomore wide receiver Josh Downs is one of the most dynamic slot threats in the country. He has 837 yards and eight touchdowns on 60 receptions. The drop-off from that trio is quite significant, though. North Carolina has a trio of wide receivers who only have 11 Facts & Figures NORTH CAROLINA AT NOTRE DAME Date: Oct. 30, 2021 Site: Notre Dame Stadium Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET Television: NBC Radio: This game can be heard on Notre Dame IMG affiliates. Series Facts: This is the 22nd all-time meeting between Notre Dame and North Carolina. The Fighting Irish lead the series 19-2 and won the last meeting 31-17 in Chapel Hill on Nov. 27, 2020. Head coaches: North Carolina — Mack Brown (19-13, third season of second stint; 88-59-1, 13th season overall); Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (108-40, 12th season). Noting North Carolina: Junior quarterback Sam Howell has thrown a touchdown pass in 32 straight games, which is the longest active streak in the country … Howell ranks second in program history in career passing yards with 8,755 … Sophomore wide receiver Josh Down has scored a touchdown in eight straight games, which is one game behind the all-time school record … Graduate student linebacker Tomon Fox has 24 career sacks, which is tied for third in UNC history … North Carolina was ranked in the top 10 of the preseason Associated Press Poll for the first time since 1997, but has since fallen out of the rankings … Mack Brown is one of just five active head coaches who has won a national championship … UNC led the country in fourth-quarter scoring margin in 2019 and 2020 at plus-116, and the Tar Heels are plus-24 in that statistic this season … North Carolina had the 12th-best third-down conversion rate in the country through Week 7 at 48.9 percent. Junior quarterback Sam Howell has thrown for 264.4 yards and rushed for 70.6 yards per game for the Tar Heels. He has also accounted for 23 touchdowns. PHOTO COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA ATHLETICS A RICKETY RIDE Like many teams in the sport this season, the Tar Heels have struggled to find consistency from one week to the next