Notre Dame survived a major scare last Saturday when they
narrowly defeated North Carolina, 50-43. The Tar Heels were aided by another
three turnovers by Everett Golson that helped spot them a 14-0 lead. Despite
the turnovers and overall sloppy play, the Irish were able to move the ball
efficiently all afternoon and made enough plays on defense to win the game. Coming
away with a win is always a good thing, but the Irish will have to be much
better this Saturday when the take on the defending champion Florida State
Seminoles.
As expected, Notre Dame had a ton of success offensively to
the tune of 50 points and 519 yards of total offense. Everett Golson did commit
three turnovers that led to three easy North Carolina touchdowns, but he also
did a lot of great things. Golson threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns
while adding another 71 yards on the ground. Golson continues to lead this
Irish offense to one of the most explosive units I have ever seen at Notre
Dame, but they can still be better if they limit the mistakes. I was hoping
that either Tarean Folston or Greg Bryant would rip off a long run, but Folston
definitely provided many big chunk plays that were desperately needed out of
the running back position. Folston got the Irish offense started after trailing
14-0 by catching a screen pass and running for 37 yards. Overall, Folston was
the best player for the Irish on offense and racked up 169 yards of total
offense and three touchdowns. In addition
to Folston, wide receiver Will Fuller continued his strong season by adding two
more touchdown receptions and 133 yards on seven catches. Notre Dame will need
more big performances and a lot fewer turnovers going forward if they want to
remain undefeated.
As bad as the defense struggled at times, they also were not
helped out by the Irish offense. The three Golson turnovers directly led to 21
points due to one pick-six and two short fields, so the 43 points surrendered
made it seem like the defense struggle the entire game. Notre Dame allowed a
staggering 510 yards of total offense and they had plenty of difficulties with
North Carolina’s up-tempo attack. The Irish had a hard time lining up
defensively and were caught off guard by allowing many big plays. However,
Notre Dame’s defense did step up and make some plays when it was needed the
most. When Notre Dame scored to make it
14-7, the defense forced a punt after the Tar Heels gained one first down and
they had a three-and-out after the Irish tied the game 14-14. With those two
stops, the Irish were able to score three unanswered touchdowns to give them a
21-14 lead and some momentum going forward. In addition to the key stops, Notre
Dame’s defense came away with two huge turnovers that led to two Irish
touchdowns, one of which coming right before halftime that set up a Folston
6-yd touchdown run to give Notre Dame a 28-20 lead. Then with Notre Dame
leading 43-36 midway through the fourth quarter, Cole Luke intercepted an
ill-advised pass that allowed the Irish to go on a 10-play, 81 yard touchdown
drive to seal the victory. It certainly wasn’t the defense’s best effort, but
it was enough to win the game.
-Eric Tichelbaut
Twitter: @etichel07
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