Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/393046
GAME PREVIEW: NORTH CAROLINA BY LOU SOMOGYI ALL THE 'TRAPPINGS' Two of the most prominent clichés in athletic competition are "letdowns" and "trap games." Letdowns are a huge part of Notre Dame football lore, from having a 23‑ year unbeaten streak at home ended in 1928 to Carnegie Tech the week after the emotional and legendary "One For The Gipper" win versus Army, to the 41‑39 defeat at home to Boston Col‑ lege in 1993 the week after No. 2 Irish defeated No. 1 Florida State. Purdue usually is the embodiment of an annual letdown game for Notre Dame. Meanwhile, the trap game is roughly defined as sandwiching a quality foe between two marquee or nationally ranked opponents. North Carolina this year has all the trappings of that definition: • The game comes between No. 14 Stanford — which had defeated Notre Dame in four of the last five seasons and had gone to four straight BCS bowls — and the trip to No. 1 Florida State, the defending national cham‑ pion. • It occurs during the middle of Oc‑ tober, which is the time of the year when Notre Dame's players are pre‑ paring for mid‑term exams prior to fall semester break Oct. 18‑26. • The Tar Heels were good enough to be a fashionable preseason top‑25 team — No. 16 by ESPN.com, No. 18 by Phil Steele's, and No. 24 by USA To- day and Sporting News — after winning six of their last seven games in 2013 and returning 15 starters on offense (eight) and defense (seven). • After getting shellacked 70‑41 at East Carolina Sept. 20 and losing the next week at Clemson 50‑35, North TOP STOrylineS Sophomore safety Dominquie Green started all 13 games as a rookie in 2013 and has been a bright spot on a maligned Tar Heels defense. PHOTO BY JEFFREY CAMARATI