North Carolina Tar Heels fall to Notre Dame Fighting Irish 50-43

It almost all went right. The game started with two Everett Golson turnovers that the North Carolina Tar Heels turned into 14 points. Then when Notre Dame had settled down, North Carolina refused to go away. In the end, two Tar Heel turnovers ended the upset for the Tar Heels. One was an Ill-advised Marquise Williams interception and the other was an Elijah Hood fumble, both in the second half.

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Still, Thomas Moore was looking at an onside kick for one more chance with about a minute to go. That was as close as it got. North Carolina became 0-12 at Notre Dame Stadium and 2-4 on the current season.

The Tar Heels played a very hard game and they played it throughout. There was no disjointedness to this loss that marked their other losses. Perhaps that was because the platoon was scrapped and Marquise Williams played the whole way. There was an attempt to run the ball, and force Notre Dame to respect the run. There were even trick plays, including a wide receiver pass to the quarterback for a touchdown.

The Tar Heel defense still missed too many tackles, but seemed to get some pressure on Golson to force him to think. Notre Dame running back Tarean Folston had a big day with three touchdowns and around 150 yards of total offense.

I also learned that you can rough the long snapper, and that kick catch interference is variable.

Play of the Game

With 8:04 in the fourth quarter and down 43-36, Marquise Williams scrambled to the left on third down. He found nothing there and was about to get tackled when he decided to fling the ball at the closest receiver. That was caught by Cole Luke of Notre Dame and the Irish took it from there and made the score 50-36, which was more or less out of reach.

Were You There When…

North Carolina had already tried a Wildcat play where you flip it back to the quarterback. This time they let Ryan Switzer swing around and give it to Quinshad Davis who then threw it to quarterback Marquise Williams for the score.

Oct 11, 2014; South Bend, IN, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Marquise Williams (12) throws in the third quarter against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 50-43. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

I Want Him on My Team…

Marquise Williams QB

In a game where he had to be all everything, Marquise was all everything. Except for that pick in the fourth (he was due for a mistake), Williams played one heck of a game for his team. He 24 of 41 for 303 passing yards. He had 132 rushing yards. He went for the trifecta of one passing-rushing-receiving touchdown. He outdueled Everett Golson, his one-time recruiting class mate. He just didn’t win.

Final Thoughts

North Carolina is not dead as this game showed. They are a step closer to coming back to relevance, and that process will have to continue against Georgia Tech where their defense will truly be tested. There will not be a lot of passing yards going on for the secondary, but tackling will be at a premium. Meanwhile I am starting to think that Florida State-Notre Dame is going to be a shootout.