As Clemson Bounces Back, UNC Falls Backward In Another Mismatch

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Clemson didn’t need to call on two-time ACC Championship Game MVP Cade Klubnik to throw the team’s first touchdown in Kenan Stadium on Saturday — in fact, the team didn’t have to see second or third down.

Klubnik took the first snap and delivered a backwards pass to Antonio Williams, who then threw it over the top of North Carolina’s defense to T.J. Moore. Moore outran Thad Dixon on his way to an opening play touchdown in the endzone, taking only nine seconds of game time. The Tigers just poured it on from there, going up 28-3 by the time the first quarter ended and routing the Tar Heels 38-10.

“We just really needed to do our job,” defensive back Jaiden Patterson said after the game. “People, as a whole, we weren’t as locked in, I would say. We have to just keep working, do our job and execute throughout the game.”

Two teetering teams entered Kenan Stadium in need of a win on Saturday, but one team walked in as comfortable guests while the other served as a doormat. Dabo Swinney’s squad entered 1-3 after being picked to win the ACC in the preseason. UNC was 2-2 under Bill Belichick with two uncompetitive losses against the pair of power conference teams on its non-conference schedule.

Clemson took off on Saturday, better resembling the team people expected to see when the season began. North Carolina, on the other hand, remained stuck in the mud and got left in the dust, dropping the team to 2-3 in Belichick’s first season.

“A big emphasis last week was fundamentals, better execution,” Belichick said on Saturday. “And I think there was a pretty good amount of that today, but it was overridden by the big plays we gave up on defense. And I would say the lack of first down production on offense at times. When we’re behind the sticks, it puts us in tough situations offensively. And defensively, we gave up too many explosive plays. When we stopped giving those up, then we were able to be competitive in the game, but we gave up too many in the first quarter.”

Belichick’s squad once again found itself in a mismatch against a power conference team, which has now happened twice at home. Given that both teams entered the game coming off a bye and needing to generate some traction, it was all the more troublesome that UNC couldn’t keep up.

The Tigers made mincemeat of the North Carolina defense in the first quarter, running track meets through the secondary for 233 yards and four touchdowns just in the first 15 minutes. At one point, it felt like Clemson could name its own score and go from there. Klubnik didn’t even need to play a full three quarters, as he checked out of the game late in the third quarter.

“We had two or three missed assignments, miscommunications and just didn’t make good plays in the deep part of the field,” Belichick said. “If you make mistakes in the deep part of the field, you give up a lot of yards. We just- we can’t do that. We just can’t do it.”

UNC’s lack of offensive creativity and inability to generate explosive plays kept it from going score-to-score with Clemson, as it struggled to effectively move the ball down the field with any consistency. Max Johnson, who started in relief of the injured Gio Lopez, threw the ball 42 times and picked up just 213 yards on 26 completions. Most of the pass plays were short passes going to the sidelines or screens for the running backs, and very few of those went even 10 yards.

“Our first four possessions, we had the ball inside the 10 twice,” Johnson said about the offensive drives stalling out. “So being able to kind of figure that out in that moment. Now, I thought we had some good drives that we put together. They didn’t finish in a touchdown or a field goal, which we needed to do better getting across the 50 and finishing drives. But they’re a good team. Their record doesn’t speak for itself. They’ve got really good players, so do we, but we’ve got to come together and get ready to work.”

Beyond the final result, Saturday’s game further revealed how far behind the Tar Heels are compared to their counterparts. A struggling Clemson team made its way to Chapel Hill for a “get-right game” while further exposing North Carolina’s deficiencies as a team.

Although the season is heading on a downward path, the Tar Heels continue to stress internal unity. They have seven ACC games remaining after the open date this coming week. So far, each of the team’s three losses has spiraled out of control quickly. North Carolina will have to find ways to get the jump on — or at least hang around with — the remaining teams on the schedule to salvage the season and steer the ship in the right direction. 

“If you get down, then it just gets worse,” Johnson said. “So if you get down, then you stay down. So that’s why you have to completely change your attitude and change your mindset on each and every drive. Look at the guy to the left and the right, and be like, ‘Hey, let’s go do it on this one.’ So if you give up in the first quarter, then nothing’s ever gonna change. But if you don’t give up and keep pushing forward, you have a chance.”