Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 6, 2021 21 BY TYLER HORKA M aybe the light show is a use- ful tool in South Bend team after all. Like they did a week prior against USC, the lights at Notre Dame Stadium purposely went out between the third and fourth quarters. Shirtless students held their phones up in the air with flashlight mode activated. Other fans around the stadium joined them — in holding up their phones, not taking off their shirts — as the stadium lights started to flicker. Music boomed from stadium speakers. Notre Dame led North Carolina by four points entering at the time, and the Irish player who feeds off electricity (or the literal lack thereof when the lights go out) the most flashed some of his own shortly after play resumed. Junior running back Kyren Williams took a rushing play that was supposed to go between the tackles to the right side of the field and went 91 yards down the left sideline for the touchdown Notre Dame needed to gain comfortable separation in eventually beating the Tar Heels 44-34. "Our guys didn't come out flat," head coach Brian Kelly said. "They came out with great energy. That was really the emphasis; come out with the same kind of standard of how we play. No. 11 Notre Dame (7-1) led for most of the night. The Irish trailed North Carolina (4-4) for less than a minute in the third quarter. Both offenses had their way, but the Irish were a step ahead from the start. Williams ran 22 times for a career- high 199 rushing yards and finished with another career-best with 261 all- purpose yards when adding in his punt return (47) and receiving (15) yardage. Graduate student Jack Coan completed 16 of 24 throws for 213 yards with a touchdown while adding a 21-yard score on the ground. Notre Dame gained a season-high 523 yards of total offense. North Carolina quarterback Sam How- ell did his best to outduel the Irish, but his 24-of-31 passing night for 341 yards with a touchdown plus 18 rushing attempts for 101 yards and another score were not enough for the Tar Heels to spring an up- set. North Carolina still gained 564 yards of offense. The Irish were outgained for the sixth time in eight games this season. Games aren't won and lost in box scores, though. The scoreboard is the only thing that matters in the end. Notre Dame has been on the right side of it in seven of its first eight games. "I really like this team," Kelly said. "I love their grit. But I also love the fact that they're getting better each week, and that's a really good thing." FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 7, NORTH CAROLINA 0 Top Moment: Notre Dame brought pressure on North Carolina's first punt. A running-into-the-kicker penalty flag was picked up because it was ruled Isa- iah Foskey tipped the ball after it was kicked, and Kyren Williams' career-long 47-yard punt return to the UNC 41-yard line stood as a result. The return set up the Irish's first touchdown of the night. Feature Performer: In addition to his lengthy punt return, Williams had six carries for 24 yards and one catch for six yards. He was a focal point of the Notre Dame offense in the first quarter. Stats: North Carolina outgained Notre Dame 112-76. The Tar Heels aver- aged 7.5 yards per play to Notre Dame's 5.1. Both teams converted 2 of 3 third- down attempts. Time of possession was roughly even at 7:48 for UNC and 7:12 for Notre Dame. Items: Notre Dame's promising first drive was derailed by a third-down sack near midfield … Senior Bo Bauer played great defense down the sideline on a wheel route from North Carolina running back Ty Chandler to hold the Tar Heels scoreless on their first drive … Fresh- man quarterback Tyler Buchner threw his third touchdown of the season on a seven-yard pitch-and-catch to graduate student wide receiver Avery Davis. SECOND QUARTER NOTRE DAME 17, NORTH CAROLINA 13 Top Moment: Coan connected with senior wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. on a 21-yard fade into the left corner of the end zone. Austin has struggled at times this season, but he reeled in his fourth touchdown of the year on the play. It gave Notre Dame a 17-10 lead late in the first half. Feature Performer: Coan com- pleted 7 of 11 passes in the second quar- ter. He was definitely in his best groove of the night early in the game. The touchdown to Austin to take a halftime lead was a big turning point in the game. Stats: North Carolina outgained Notre Dame 127-121. The two teams ran the same number of plays (19) in the quarter. Items: North Carolina tied the game at 7-7 on the first play of the quarter … A Notre Dame drive stalled in the red zone, resulting in a 31-yard field goal by graduate student kicker Jonathan Do- erer … Junior defensive end Isaiah Fo- skey and senior defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola combined on a third-down sack to force a North Carolina red zone field goal … North Carolina tacked on another field goal on a seven-play, 51- yard drive without any timeouts to work with in the closing minute of the half. THIRD QUARTER NOTRE DAME 31, NORTH CAROLINA 27 Top Moment: It hasn't been a secret that Coan isn't the most mobile quar- TARRED AND FINISHED Notre Dame jumps out to early lead, runs by North Carolina in the fourth quarter to improve to 20-2 all time against the Tar Heels Junior running back Kyren Williams set new career highs with 199 rushing yards and 261 all-purpose yards (rushing, receiving and returns) against North Carolina. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER