UNC football defense gets torched by Notre Dame

CHAPEL HILL — Notre Dame's dominance over North Carolina on the football field continued Saturday at Kenan Stadium.

The Fighting Irish (2-2) bounced back from a scoreless first period to produce a game-changing second-quarter outburst on offense that paved the way to a 45-32 triumph over the Tar Heels. It was the second straight victory for Notre Dame (2-2) under first-year head coach Marcus Freeman after two opening losses.

Notre Dame's offense managed just 55 points in its first three games, but bounced back in a big way against UNC. The Irish piled up more than 500 yards of total offense with sophomore quarterback Drew Pyne leading the way. Pyne completed 24 of 34 passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns in just his second career start. He got ground support from sophomore Audric Estime, who had 134 yards and two touchdowns rushing on 17 carries.

North Carolina (3-1) was seeking its first 4-0 start since 1997 and just its second win against Notre Dame in 23 games. The Tar Heels have beaten the Fighting Irish twice on the field — 12-7 in 1960 and 29-24 in 2008 — but the latter was vacated under self-imposed penalties by UNC after an NCAA investigation.

Here are observations and takeaways from UNC's loss against Notre Dame:

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Quarterly collapse trend continues

North Carolina's defense continued its trend of following a solid quarter of play with a really bad one.

After holding Notre Dame scoreless and to just 40 yards in the first quarter, the Tar Heels surrendered 261 yards, 13 first downs and 24 points on 27 plays in the second quarter. The Fighting Irish had 154 yards passing and 107 rushing during the quarter and averaged 9.7 yards per play.

It marked the third straight game in which UNC has seen its defense falter in such a manner.

Appalachian State racked up 40 points and 338 total yards in the final quarter against UNC on Sept. 3, but still came out on the losing end of a 63-61 score. The Tar Heels then allowed Georgia State to tally 24 unanswered points, highlighted by a 98-yard scoring drive in the third quarter Sept. 10 before blanking the Panthers in the final 15 minutes to secure a 35-28 win.

Irish D quiets UNC offense

An offense ranked fifth nationally in two key categories met its match Saturday against Notre Dame's defense.

North Carolina entered the showdown against the Fighting Irish averaging 39.3 points and 547.3 total yards through its first three games, both figures ranking fifth nationally. But after putting together a 12-play, 76-yard scoring drive on its first possession, the Tar Heels struggled to consistently move the ball. Much of UNC's 367 yards of total offense came on passing plays of 43 and 80 yards, and on its final two scoring drives after the game's outcome was already decided.Notre Dame was especially effective against the run, limiting the Tar Heels to 66 yards.

The Irish also kept UNC's redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye somewhat in check. Maye did throw five touchdown passes, but was held to 17 completions in 32 attempts and did much of his damage after the Irish had built a 20-point lead.

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Full strength at WR

North Carolina's offense was at full strength on offense for the first time all season against Notre Dame.

Back after missing two games with a knee injury on Saturday was junior receiver Josh Downs as well as senior receiver Antoine Green. Having Downs, an All-ACC performer, paid off immediately for the Tar Heels. The 5-foot-10, 175-pounder came up with a clutch catch on fourth down in the left corner of the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown that gave UNC an early 7-0 lead. Downs went up over Irish defensive back TaRiq Bracy to make the grab.

Downs got loose again in the front of the end zone with 9:20 left in the second quarter to grab a 3-yard TD pass from Maye. The second TD catch marked the second time this year and third time in Downs' career he's had multiple scoring receptions in a game.

The game marked the season debut for Green, who has been out since suffering a collarbone injury in preseason practice. He made his first catch of the season in spectacular fashion, beating a Notre Dame defender deep for an 80-yard touchdown reception from Drake Maye with 4:08 left in the third quarter. It was the 13th-longest reception in UNC history. He later added a 64-yard scoring catch to finish the game with three receptions for 150 yards.

League play begins

The Tar Heels will now turn their attention to Atlantic Coast Conference play next Saturday when Virginia Tech comes to Kenan Stadium. The Hokies (2-2), who enjoyed an open date Saturday, own a 25-13-6 advantage in the series with UNC and took a 17-10 win last year in Blacksburg.

Notre Dame will take next week off before heading to Las Vegas on Oct. 8 to meet BYU.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC football defense gets torched by Notre Dame