Blue and Gold Illustrated

Sept. 24, 2022

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1479280

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 34 of 55

www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 24, 2022 35 GAME PREVIEW: NORTH CAROLINA BY TYLER HORKA N orth Carolina has been waiting a long time for a moment like this. The Tar Heels and Notre Dame Fighting Irish have met on the gridiron 22 times since the first matchup in 1949. North Carolina has only won two of those games, the most recent of which was a vacated victory in 2008. So, a glance at the NCAA record book would tell readers the Heels haven't beaten the Irish since 1960. Notre Dame has won five national championships since then despite not winning one in the last 34 years. Needless to say, a North Carolina win over Notre Dame has been a long time coming. But is it finally going to occur, or will the Heels come up short yet again? That hasn't been their mo- dus operandi against just Notre Dame. It's been their M.O. for as long as head coach Mack Brown has been back with the program for a second stint. In Brown's first year back in 2019, North Carolina never crept into the As- sociated Press Top 25. The Heels weren't ever supposed to anyway. Brown took over a program that went 3-9 in 2017 and 2-9 in 2018. A major rebuild was in order. That's why 7-6 with a one-point loss to then-No. 1 Clemson and a 55-13 thrashing of Temple in the Military Bowl was considered a rousing success. Perhaps it was too much of an expec- tation setter, though. North Carolina entered 2020 as the No. 18 team in the country. A 3-0 start with a 56-45 win over No. 19 Virginia Tech vaulted the Heels to a No. 5 na- tional ranking. Losses to unranked Flor- ida State and Virginia in two of the next three weeks dropped the program from the polls entirely. And that's been UNC's calling card ever since. When they go up, they're al- most certainly set to go down. Impend- ing doom. Imminent demise. The Heels can't get out of their own way. Quite literally. "We've got to mature and grow up," Brown said after a bizarre 63-61 win at Appalachian State in Week 1. "After an interception when we're up by 17 or something, we can't be over celebrating with fans. We ought to be celebrating with each other and getting back on the sideline and getting ready to go back out and win the game. "Last year, we ran on the field at Wake [Forest] and nearly lost the game. We ran on the field at NC State, and it really hurt us. Saturday we were better, but we had to run to the stands to celebrate instead of running to the sideline. Some of this stuff, you can't just make up." THE BAD, THE GOOD The Heels can't get in the way of op- posing offensive players, meanwhile. Defense, or a lack thereof, has been UNC's downfall. North Carolina's ranking in total de- fense has worsened each year Brown has been back, from No. 48 in 2019 to No. 58 in 2020 to No. 95 last year and No. 118 this year. The Heels allowed a whop- ping 468.3 yards per game through their first three, a welcome sight for a Notre Dame offense that could muster only 302 yards per game through its first two. Something has to give. And since North Carolina is on one of its hotter streaks, perhaps it will be the home team that has a letdown in Chapel Hill. It's hard to find a better depiction for what goes up must come down than North Carolina football. The telltale signs of a 3-0 start blowing up in Brown's face are there. His team al- lowed 24 points and 335 total yards to Flor- ida A&M, an FCS school, in Week 0. Then the Heels inexplicably gave up 40 fourth- quarter points to Appalachian State before hanging on to win 63-61. The Mountain- eers piled up 649 total yards against the Tar Heels, but their total was more than cut in half with a 315-yard showing in a narrow win over Texas A&M the following week. In Week 3, North Carolina once again had defensive issues in surrendering 421 total yards and 28 points to Georgia State. Those are all losing numbers. But when a team has a quarterback like red- shirt freshman Drake Maye, that's not always the case. Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME AT NORTH CAROLINA Date: Sept. 24, 2022 Site: Kenan Stadium Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET Television: ABC or ESPN Streaming: ESPN+ Radio: This game can be heard on Notre Dame IMG affiliates. Series Facts: This is the 23rd time the two programs have met. Notre Dame holds an all- time series lead of 20-2 (though one of the two UNC wins was vacated for NCAA violations). Notre Dame won the most recent meeting 44- 34 in South Bend on Oct. 30, 2021. Head coaches: North Carolina — Mack Brown (262-134-1, fourth season); Notre Dame — Marcus Freeman (1-3, first season). Noting North Carolina: Brown ranks second among active coaches with 267 career wins; only Alabama's Nick Saban (270) has more … Brown is one of five active head coaches with a national championship; Saban, Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher, Georgia's Kirby Smart and Clem- son's Dabo Swinney are the others … Redshirt freshman Drake Maye is one of four college quarterbacks in the country in the last 15 years to post 9 touchdown passes and zero intercep- tions in his first two career stars; the others are Hawaii's Cole McDonald (2018), Texas Tech's Nic Shimonek (2017) and Tulsa's David Johnson (2008) … Two of UNC's three graduate transfer additions, Corey Gaynor (Miami) and Spencer Rolland (Harvard) are starting offensive line- men … North Carolina has had four 1,000-yard receivers in the last three seasons, which is tied for No. 2 nationally; Notre Dame has not had a 1,000-yard receiver since Chase Claypool in 2019. North Carolina head coach Mack Brown has the Tar Heels off to a 3-0 start in his fourth season back with the program. PHOTO COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA ATHLETICS ON THEIR TOES North Carolina hasn't started the 2022 season on its heels, displaying an explosive offensive and looking for more

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Blue and Gold Illustrated - Sept. 24, 2022