Clemson Football: Defensive Grades, Report Card vs. UNC
The Clemson football defense held North Carolina on a two-point conversion to seal the game Saturday. Here’s our grade for the unit.
In a match up where the offense just couldn’t get anything going, the Clemson football defense kept the Tigers in the game.
The Clemson football team, which improved to 5-0 on the season, narrowly escaped defeat Saturday afternoon, beating the North Carolina Tar Heels 21-20 in Chapel Hill.
As we continue to look back at the win, here’s our defensive grades for the match up.
Defensive Report Card:
The defense had a bad start and a bad finish (sort of) with a solid middle. The Tigers allowed UNC freshman QB Sam Howell to throw a bomb on just the fourth play from scrimmage to give the Tar Heels a 7-0 lead.
After that, though, the defense settled into the game.
The unit bent, but it didn’t break. They gave up a few big runs and allowed UNC to gash them up the middle- the Tar Heels’ top two rushers averaged 5.5 YPC combined- but the defense didn’t give up points. North Carolina’s second TD of the game came following a turnover that gave the Tar Heels a short field.
After keeping the team in the game, the defense had one job: Find a way to get off the field one more time with a little more than nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and a seven point lead.
They couldn’t do it.
Howell converted on two fourth downs and led the Tar Heels on a 16-play drive that culminated in a touchdown.
North Carolina elected to go for two, though, and the defense came up with a huge stop. That play may very well have saved the Tigers’ season and hopes of getting back to the CFB Playoff. Of course, it should be noted that had the Tar Heels scored, the game wasn’t over and the Tiger offense would’ve had time to drive down the field and answer.
Grade: B-
Next. 5 Things that went wrong in UNC victory. dark
It wasn’t a great outing for the defense. They didn’t do a great job against the run, but they found ways to get off the field. Even though they gave up the touchdown at the end of the game, they came away with a stop on the two-point conversion. They bent, but they didn’t break. You have to give them credit, no doubt.