The North Carolina football team (3-1, 0-0 ACC) fell 45-32 to Notre Dame (2-2) in Chapel Hill on Saturday after struggling in all three phases of the game.
What happened?
North Carolina drove down the field on its opening drive, converting on fourth and goal off a touchdown pass to wide receiver Josh Downs in the corner of the end zone. On the Tar Heels’ first drive, Maye had 39 yards through the air and 33 on the ground. On the ensuing drive, the Fighting Irish were quickly forced to punt.
After a short lived drive, UNC punted again and Notre Dame returned it into Tar Heel territory — a drive that ended in a missed field goal attempt. North Carolina was then forced to punt again, and the Tar Heels carried a 7-0 lead as the first quarter came to an end. Notre Dame got on the board on the next drive off a touchdown reception from tight end Michael Mayer.
Notre Dame then scored on its next drive off a 30-yard touchdown pass from Irish quarterback Drew Pyne to give Notre Dame its first lead of the day.
North Carolina came right back down and answered on its next drive, after a bomb from Maye ended up in the hands of wide receiver J.J. Jones, putting the Tar Heels in another goal-to-go situation. Maye then threw another short touchdown pass to Downs to make it 14-14.
The Irish then drove right back down the field, retaking the lead as running back Audric Estime walked it in from the one yard line. The Tar Heels couldn’t move the sticks on their next drive and punted — leaving the Irish 2:15 on the clock to drive.
The short drive came back to hurt North Carolina, as Notre Dame slowly drove down the field and hit a 40-yard field goal to take a 10-point lead into halftime. The Irish’s 24 halftime points were as many as they had scored in a game this season until Saturday.
The Fighting Irish received the second half kickoff and scored in just six plays to take a 31-14 lead. Then, another short North Carolina drive and punt quickly turned into another Notre Dame touchdown.
