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Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Observer

Irish overcome turnovers, move to 6-0

20141011, 20141011, Football, Notre Dame Stadium, vs UNC, Zach Llorens, Zachary Llorens-8
Zach Llorens
After a suspenseful game that kept Irish fans at the edge of their seats, Notre Dame defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 50-43. This win advanced the Irish further into their undefeated season, 6-0, but wasn't the easy win some students expected to watch.

Freshman Julia Szromba said she was surprised by the fight UNC put up, which became obvious immediately after the two touchdowns they scored in the first quarter.

“Everyone was saying it was going to be a blowout,” she said. “Even though there were some scary moments, the fact that it was close for a while made it really exciting. Obviously, we were happy that the team turned it around.”

The reactions from the roller-coaster football game were obvious in the student section.

“The atmosphere in the student section changed so much," Szromba said. "From dead silence after that first UNC touchdown to the final 50 push-ups, it was unreal."

Freshman J.P. Bruno said the silence in the student section following a touchdown by UNC was not a sense of hopelessness from Irish fans but rather just surprise.

“I never once felt the hope leave the student section,” he said. “Yeah, it was rough being down early on, but it seemed like everyone knew we were just looking for a rhythm.”

Some moments stood out for students, such as Officer Tim McCarthy's weekly pun instructing the crowd "not to shortchange yourself by using good sense."

“My favorite part is always the safety pun at the end of the third quarter,” freshman Andrew Pott said. “Also, the weather was just a little bit better than last week’s game.”

Bruno said one memorable moment during the game especially caused the student section to erupt into chaos.

“My favorite part was definitely the blocked extra point,” he said. “I know it seems like such a small play, but it was such a turning point. The students went wild, and you could just tell we had another advantage for the rest of the game.”

A grand total of 50 points scored by Notre Dame also meant a sea of students hoisted up into the air.

“I was doing push-ups at the 43 mark,” Szromba said. “Being up there surrounded by students all feeling the same thing with the same spirit and energy was definitely the best part of the game for me.”

The focus now shifts to the highly anticipated game against the Florida State Seminoles that takes place in Tallahassee this Saturday.