Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BY DOUGLAS FARMER F or the first time this season, Brian Kelly's preseason prediction came true. The Notre Dame head coach repeatedly said this year's rendition of the Irish would need to outscore opponents, rather than rely on a stingy defense. The No. 6 Fighting Irish (6-0) did just that in a high-scoring, back-and-forth tilt against North Caro- lina (2-4), prevailing 50-43. "Lots of points, lots of penalties, lots of turnovers, lots of things to correct, but lots of resolve on Notre Dame's part," Kelly said. "Those kids keep playing." They needed to keep playing after two turnovers within the game's first seven minutes — including an intercep- tion returned for a touchdown by North Carolina — put the Irish in a 14-0 hole before the offense had run its ninth play. "You can't do that against anybody in the ACC and any 'Power Five' confer- ence," Kelly noted. "You can't just say here's 14 points and then go play from there. "But we managed to find a way, to battle back and get up on them. … Our guys know how to win football games. They found a way to win this one, and that's the most satisfying [takeaway from the game]." A five-play, 88-yard touchdown drive ending in a 13-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Everett Golson to sophomore wide receiver Will Fuller with 7:09 remaining in the first quar- ter cut the deficit to 14-7 — and began Notre Dame's offensive onslaught. "Once we get on a roll, it's hard to stop us," senior left guard Nick Mar- tin said. "There's no doubt about that. When we're in our game, we can be a special offense." Fuller's second touchdown catch — a 35-yarder to open the second-half scoring en route to a seven-catch, 133- yard day — provided the back-end of a seven-possession stretch during which Notre Dame scored five touchdowns, with three rushing scores sandwiched by Fuller's tallies. "We just knew that they couldn't stop us," Fuller said. "That first score was a long drive, and we worked the ball efficiently. We knew we could score on them and move the ball." Sophomore running back Tarean Folston got the third of those three rushing scores before he added Notre Dame's final two touchdowns, a nine- yard reception and a six-yard run, both FINDING A WAY The Irish overcome miscues and battle back to outscore North Carolina 50-43