Blink and you’ll miss a first down. Or a touchdown. Or some type of explosive play.
With North Carolina’s offense, they come in floods — and more frequently than any team in the country. The Tar Heels are first nationally in plays of 10 or more yards, at 22.6 per game, just ahead of Alabama, and third with 7.75 plays of at least 20 yards per game (minimum four games).
North Carolina is ranked No. 25 and fighting just to be on the fringe of the New Year’s Six race, but still presents Notre Dame’s defense a test nearly as difficult as stopping Clemson. The standard for the Irish in this game is effective damage control rather than domination.
Head coach Mack Brown’s second team of his second tenure at North Carolina is a threat to score from inside its own territory on any play. No opposing defense feels truly comfortable even if the starting field position is inside the 10-yard line.
The Tar Heels’ 7.5 yards per play ranks third in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) among teams that have played more than three games. They scored at least four touchdowns in all but one of their first eight contests and have cleared 40 points in each of the last four.
The offense is balanced and has chunk-play generators all over the skill positions. It is manned by a quarterback who’s aggressive in pushing the ball downfield and often successful in completing those throws. And it’s one of only three FBS offenses to earn top-10 overall passing and rushing grades from Pro Football Focus (PFF).
Brown’s fast success in what was considered a rebuild situation when he took over is tied to an instant-impact quarterback. Not a month after his (re)hiring in November 2018, he flipped four-star and top-150 overall recruit Sam Howell from Florida State. Howell won the job in training camp and threw 38 touchdown passes in 2019, the most ever by a true freshman in the FBS. His play, as much as anything, led to a 7-6 record and a five-win improvement from 2018.
