Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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in the fourth quarter. He ended the day with 169 total yards — 98 rushing on 18 carries and 71 receiving on five catches. Folston's 5.4 yards per carry, along with Golson's 5.9 (12 carries for 71 yards), led Notre Dame to a 5.09 aver- age — the first time since the season opener it topped 4.0 yards per carry. "I feel like my performance was pretty good," Folston said. "I still have to get better at some things — pass pro- tection, a little bit of stamina and stay- ing humble while knowing that there is always something to work on." After he fumbled and then threw an interception on Notre Dame's first two possessions, Golson settled down to lead the Irish to 21 unanswered points. During that stretch, they outgained the Tar Heels 223-15 in yardage. "If you take away those three turn- overs that I had, the score looks a bit more lopsided," said Golson, who fin- ished 21-of-38 passing for 300 yards. "If I don't turn the ball over, I think we have something pretty special going. "It just goes back to our preparation. I have to do a better job. We definitely have something pretty good brewing." On the flip side, the Irish defense struggled to slow a fast-paced North Carolina attack. The Tar Heels routinely relied on a no-huddle offense to keep the aggressive-minded Irish defense on its heels. Prior to this matchup, Notre Dame had not given up more than 17 points in a game. North Carolina topped that and then some in the first half alone. Redshirt junior quarterback Mar- quise Williams led the attack, throw- ing for 303 yards, rushing for 132 and accounting for four touchdowns — two passing, one rushing and one re- ceiving. "If there was one guy in the game that probably took it over at times, it was him," Kelly said. "He's difficult to defend. He's a great runner and threw the ball effectively. We couldn't tackle him. We had him two or three times where we couldn't get him down." Williams's 23-yard touchdown catch came after Golson's second fumble late in the third quarter and gave the Tar Heels a 36-35 lead. On its ensuing pos- session, Notre Dame managed a first down before it was forced to punt. Two false start penalties later, senior Kyle Brindza was set to punt from Notre Dame's own 32-yard line. North Caro- lina sophomore returner Ryan Switzer botched the return before hopping on his own fumble to seemingly preserve North Carolina's chance to grow its lead. It would not, however, get that chance. Tar Heels' senior linebacker Norkei- thus Otis was flagged for roughing the snapper, a personal foul that gave Notre Dame an automatic first down and re- newed life. The revived drive culminated in Folston's nine-yard scoring reception and a successful two-point conversion toss from Golson to senior tight end Ben Koyack. "We had alerted the officials on what we thought were a couple of occasions that were overt and made them aware of it," Kelly said of the rare penalty. "They actually communicated to us that they had seen it as well, and if it happened again they were prepared to make the call." North Carolina head coach Larry Fe- dora said he would be "better off not