It’s all about Kyren
Williams runs for 199 yards, including a 91-yard TD, as Notre Dame beats UNC
SOUTH BEND — On a night when he had a 91-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, Kyren Williams once again gave credit to his offensive line as No. 11 Notre Dame held off Sam Howell and upset-minded North Carolina 44-34 on Saturday in a game that had over 1,000 yards in offense.
“Their blocking means everything to me because I know what they do every week,” the 5-foot9, 199-pound Williams said after rushing for a career-high 199 yards on 22 carries. “I just appreciate all of my boys working collectively as a group.”
Coach Brian Kelly’s Fighting Irish improved to 7-1 with their third straight victory — and ruined the 400th collegiate game for North Carolina Hall of Fame coach Mack Brown.
“We did some good things with good balance on offense running it and throwing it,” Kelly said. “I really love this team. I love their grit but I like they are getting better.”
The Irish won despite being outgained by the Tar Heels (4-4) in total yardage, 554-523. But the Irish outrushed the Tar Heels 293-223.
Despite the loss, Brown was impressed by both teams’ play. “I thought it was a great game,” he said. “Both teams played really hard, both offenses ran up and down the field, and neither defense played great.”
Howell, who became the Tar Heels’ first quarterback with over 10,000 passing yards in his junior season, finished with 341 yards on 24-of-31 passing with one touchdown and one interception. He added another 101 yards on 18 carries, one a 31-yard touchdown run that kept the Tar Heels in it at 41-34 with 7:23 to play. It was the third game this season he has passed for over 300 yards and rushed for more than 100.
“He’s a warrior,” Kelly said, Howell, naturally, was disappointed.
“I thought we played a pretty good game,” Howell said. “(I) had the pick late that hurt us . we had some penalties as well. But I thought we played a decent game on offense. We had all of our weapons kind of involved in the game plan.”
After Howell’s touchdown run, Notre Dame responded with a 13-play, 73-yard drive that ate up 5:46 of the clock, leading to Jonathan Doerer’s third field goal of the game from 21 yards that were the final points of the wild
scoring night.
With Notre Dame, which led 17-13 at halftime, clinging to a 31-27 lead early in the fourth quarter, Williams, took a simple handoff from quarterback Jack Coan right and then reversed his field, breaking past defender Tomon Fox.
“I knew I was going to score
as soon as I stiff-armed No. 12 (Fox),” Williams said. The Irish running back got a block downfield from tight end Michael Mayer before outracing linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel to the end zone, tying the sixth longest touchdown run in Notre Dame history.