Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/884790
20 OCT. 23, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI I n a workmanlike performance, Notre Dame (5-1) dominated both sides of the line of scrim- mage while defeating North Car- olina (1-5) for its fourth consecutive victory by at least 20 points. With sophomore quarterback Ian Book making his first career start while junior Brandon Wimbush rested an injured foot, the Irish leaned primarily on their No. 7-ranked rush- ing attack to control the action. Notre Dame outrushed the Tar Heels 341-86 yards and held the ball 13 more minutes, while the Irish defense forced North Carolina into 10 series where it had the ball three plays or less. Sophomore running back Deon McIntosh carried 12 times for 124 yards and tallied on 35- and 24-yard touchdown runs to pace the ground attack. Junior Josh Adams had 13 car- ries for 118 yards, highlighted by a 73-yard scoring run — his sixth run this season of at least 59 yards. "This offense shows for itself if you look at the numbers," Book said of his starting debut in which he passed for 146 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, and rushed for 45 yards on 12 attempts. "… We have 10 guys on the field who do amaz- ing and make my job a lot easier and make this offense as good as it is." Meanwhile, the Irish defensive line controlled the action against an injury-ravaged North Carolina team that seldom got untracked and didn't pick up a first down until its sixth series. Notre Dame also generated three turnovers. "To come down here and win a third road game is hard to do," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly sum- marized. "I really liked our ability to take the football away today. We were able to be disruptive. We were pressuring the quarterback most of the day. "We weren't as probably oppor- tunistic as we had been this year of- fensively, but when we needed it … We put together a great second half in terms of controlling the clock and running the football." FIRST QUARTER: 0-0 Top Moment: The Irish ended the quarter facing second-and-goal at the North Carolina 6-yard line after driving 74 yards and converting two short third-down situations. Top Performer: The Notre Dame defense forced three-and-outs on all three North Carolina possessions, al- lowing only seven yards total offense on nine plays. Most significant of these three series was when the Tar Heels began a drive at their 49 after making a fourth-down stop. Stats: The Irish started their four drives at the 19-, 17-, 10- and 20-yard lines before getting untracked on the final series. Items: North Carolina stuffed a Book quarterback sneak on fourth- and-one to take possession at its 49 with 6:08 left in the quarter, but the Tar Heels were unable to take advan- tage, losing three yards on three plays before punting. Junior Irish corner- back Shaun Crawford recorded an eight-yard sack to begin that drive. SECOND QUARTER: NOTRE DAME 16, NORTH CAROLINA 7 Top Moment: With 12:38 left, Adams took a handoff through the left side and rambled for a 73-yard touchdown to give Notre Dame a 14-0 cushion. Prior to that scamper, Adams' nine runs totaled 33 yards. Top Performer: Despite losing a fumble during the quarter, UNC quarterback Chazz Surratt kept the Tar Heels within striking distance by completing 5 of 14 passes in the quar- ter for 82 yards while facing much duress from the Notre Dame defense. On third-and-10, he connected on a 25-yard touchdown to Anthony Ratliff-Williams with 1:50 left to nar- row the deficit to 14-7. Surratt also carried seven times for 41 yards, to- taling 123 yards of total offense in the second quarter. Front Line Work Force Irish outrush North Carolina 341‑86 yards while dominating in 33‑10 win Sophomore running back Tony Jones Jr. was part of another dominant Notre Dame running attack that amassed 341 rushing yards in the 33-10 win at North Carolina. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA