Jeremiah Gemmel on His Fourth Down Penalty Against Notre Dame

UNC linebacker's offsides kept Irish touchdown drive alive

North Carolina linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel had four tackles and two quarterback hits in the loss to Notre Dame, but the biggest play was a penalty.

On fourth-and-one from the UNC 24, Notre Dame lined up to go for it. Gemmel and defensive tackle Ray Vohasek made a move like they were going to rush the center, causing a Notre Dame lineman to flinch. The Tar Heel defenders were called for offsides, giving the Irish a first down. They went on to score the go-ahead touchdown and never trailed again.

“I didn’t really get a look at it from the sideline or replay, but I felt like me and Ray were onside,” Gemmel said. ”What I heard from the ref was that we made a movement to try to go. So if you flinch on the line of scrimmage, that’s considered a penalty, but instead they called the offsides.”

Other than that, Gemmel was pleased with the defense’s performance against the Irish.

“I felt like this was our best communication game all year,” he said. “We were in the spot to make plays, besides the end around reverse in the second half (that Notre Dame scored on). That was a good play they drew up. For the most part, I feel like all our defensive backs linebackers and defensive linemen were in position to make plays. That was just good communication by all 11 guys on defense. They did a lot of motion. We watched it. I think we handled it pretty well.”