The Clemson football team survived a game against the North Carolina Tar Heels. What went wrong in the Tigers’ 21-20 victory in Chapel Hill?
The Clemson football team somehow survived a thriller against the North Carolina Tar Heels Saturday afternoon in Kenan Stadium.
The Tigers escaped with an ugly 21-20 victory over the Tar Heels in a game in which they were outplayed and out-coached, according to Dabo Swinney.
Clemson fell behind early following a North Carolina 40-yard touchdown from Sam Howell to Dyami Brown on the fourth play from scrimmage. The Tigers’ offense had seemingly settled into the game after they drove 90 yards down the field and 10 plays and scored to tie the game, but just a possession later, Travis Etienne would fumble and give North Carolina great field position.
The Tar Heels took advantage and took a 14-7 lead. Just before the half, the Clemson football offense would answer with a touchdown drive of its own to tie the game at 14.
Neither time scored in the third quarter, and Trevor Lawrence found Tee Higgins on a 38-yard touchdown pass to take a 21-14 lead with just over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.
It seemed as if Clemson football had finally locked up the win, but North Carolina still had some magic left. The Tar Heels went 16 plays for a touchdown and elected to go for two to try and win the game with a little over a minute left. They came up short on an option play-call and the Tigers held on.
So, what went wrong in this one for Clemson football? The answer is a lot. Here’s a look at five things.
5. Travis Etienne’s fumble
Travis Etienne carried the ball 16 times for just 67 yards and a touchdown. Though his yards per carry was down, the major issue with Etienne was the fumble that occurred in the first half of the game.
The Tigers had finally seemingly gotten momentum and were looking to take a lead in the second quarter.
The defense got a stop and the offense was moving. That’s when Etienne burst up the middle for a nice gain, but allowed a UNC defender to strip him of the football.
The result was UNC recovering the fumble and taking over around midfield. The Tar Heels would later score and take a 14-7 lead.
Etienne has had some trouble early in the season holding onto the football and needs to get that cleaned up heading into the bye week.
4. Trevor Lawrence’s errant passes
Trevor Lawrence played much better against UNC than he has in the past few games, contrary to what most will believe.
He was basically the lone play-maker for the offense all day, along with Tee Higgins. He made plays with his legs and his arm in critical situations in the first half. Ultimately, Lawrence finished the day with 206 yards and one touchdown passing, as well 45 yards rushing and a touchdown.
However, in the second half, Lawrence missed on several throws that could’ve potentially allowed the Tigers to put the game away earlier.
UNC put pressure on him and it just seemed that he couldn’t get anything going.
Lawrence has not played up to the same level that he showed us in the Alabama game this season. Much of it has to do with him pressing. Either way, he needs to get into a rhythm.
3. The rushing defense
The Tigers were gashed up the middle on running plays for much of the afternoon and there’s really no way around it.
They came away with some good pressure and did an excellent job getting off the field for the most part, but the rushing defense looked a bit exposed in this one.
North Carolina continued to push the pile. The offensive line got a push off the ball. The Tigers couldn’t stop runners in the backfield and, instead, allowed UNC to rush the ball at will.
RB Michael Carter averaged 6.2 yards per carry and Javonte Williams also had 4.9 yards per carry.
2. Defense couldn’t get off the field when it mattered
Despite bending in the rushing game, the defense played well for the most part.
After giving up the touchdown to start the game, they didn’t allow another UNC touchdown until the Etienne fumble.
The defense kept the Clemson football team in the game when the offense couldn’t get anything going in the second half. They pressured Sam Howell, came away with sacks and did an excellent job.
However, they couldn’t get off the field when it mattered.
With more than nine minutes remaining, the defense was tasked with getting one last stop. They had North Carolina in fourth down situations twice and allowed a freshman QB to make plays to extend the drive. Ultimately, North Carolina scored a touchdown and made it a one-point game.
You have to credit the defense for getting the stop on the two-point conversion, but you also have to realize that it wasn’t a great call from that Tar Heel offense. Had they just ran the ball up the middle, they likely would’ve had a great chance at converting.
Even so, the defense showed grit making the stop, but they never should’ve been in that situation to begin with.
1. The Offensive Line
The offensive line was penalized for five false starts Saturday afternoon. Jackson Carman was pulled for a series after his second one of the game.
But, the penalties and lack of discipline weren’t the only problems with the offensive line.
The unit couldn’t pass-protect. There were far too many times when Trevor Lawrence was being hurried, forced out of the pocket or sacked. He was hit on several of his throws and that very well may have contributed to him being inaccurate in the second half.
Not only could the offensive line not pass-protect all that well against a base UNC defensive front without many exotic blitzes, they also didn’t get much of a push or open up holes in the running game.
A unit that was deemed one of the top offensive lines in the country just didn’t get the job done Saturday afternoon. They have experience and they have talent to get better, but that was not what a Clemson football fan wanted to see from the guys up-front against North Carolina.