Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs North Carolina Tar Heels Match Player Stats On Oct 07, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Oct 7, 2017

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Deon McIntosh ran for 124 yards and two touchdowns while No. 21 Notre Dame allowed its defense to control most of the game in defeating North Carolina 33-10 on Saturday at Kenan Stadium.

Josh Adams added 118 yards and one long touchdown run for the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame (5-1) used backup quarterback Ian Book, a sophomore, in place of injured starter Brandon Wimbush, and it still had enough firepower to overwhelm the Tar Heels (1-5).

Adams, whose 73-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the longest play of the game, had only two of his 13 carries in the second half.

Book, who had thrown a total of eight college passes prior to the game, completed 17 of 31 passes for 146 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions. Much of the game was played in the rain.

Wimbush missed the game with a strained right foot that apparently was suffered a week earlier during a romp past Miami of Ohio.

Adams and Book had help because McIntosh ran for 35- and 24-yard touchdowns in the second half. McIntosh did his damage on 12 carries.

North Carolina quarterback Chazz Surratt was 19 of 42 for 179 yards. He threw for one touchdown and was picked off once.

Irish defensive lineman Julian Okwara batted a Surratt pass and made the interception, returning the ball to the North Carolina 14 on the first snap of the second half. That resulted in Justin Yoon's 29-yard field goal as Notre Dame boosted its lead to 19-7.

Earlier, the Tar Heels didn't pick up a first down until less than 8 1/2 minutes remained in the second quarter. North Carolina reached the Notre Dame 19 on the drive, but a fumble curtailed that scoring chance.

North Carolina only had to go 47 yards for its first points after Book was intercepted by safety Myles Dorn. Surratt threw 25 yards to Anthony Ratliff-Williams for the touchdown on third down with 1:50 remaining in the first half.

The Irish then punted, but came up with a safety when defensive lineman Jay Hayes tackled running back Jordon Brown in the end zone with 28 seconds left in the half.

Notre Dame scored on the first play of the second quarter, with Book throwing 6 yards to tight end Durham Smythe to complete an 80-yard drive after the Irish punted twice and were stopped on a fourth-and-1 in the first quarter.

NOTES: Notre Dame RB Josh Adams has nine touchdown runs of at least 35 yards in his career. ... Notre Dame holds an 18-2 lead in the series, with the only losses coming in Chapel Hill in 1960 and 2008. ... Notre Dame has converted for 73 points off its opponents' 14 turnovers this season. ... The Tar Heels dropped to 0-4 in home games this year. ... North Carolina was in danger of being shut out in the first half for the second week in a row; it failed to score in the opening 30 minutes at Georgia Tech. ... North Carolina is home again next week against Virginia. ... Notre Dame has next week off before an Oct. 21 home game with Southern California.