Dabo Swinney reinstating Vic Burley could not have come at a better time for Clemson

After being suspended for the first two weeks of the season, Vic Burley is back with the team. Dabo Swinney reinstated Burley this week ahead of the Clemson Tigers' ACC opener versus the North Carolina Tar Heels. While Swinney certainly had his grounds to punish Burley for his late-summer arrest, it did not take long for him to accept that he needed his team's best defensive lineman back.

"I'm not gonna kick him off for being stupid ... he took ownership of it," Swinney said upon reinstating Burley to the team. "Cost him some money, too. Pretty big consequences when you get suspended."

In Burley's extended absence, Clemson's defensive line rotation took one hit after another. It lost Oklahoma transfer Markus Strong for the season after Week 1. While Amare Adams, Andy Burburija, Champ Thompson, and others tried their best to hold down the fort, it became readily apparent that this unit was undermanned and outmatched with every passing snap. It is this defense's bottleneck.

Dabo Swinney and Vic Burley have to trust each other to stave off UNC

With Bill Belchick's UNC program coming to town this week, Swinney and Burley need to get on the same page quickly to help stave off the Tar Heels' upset bid. Belichick will want to play ball control on offensive with the occasional deep ball thrown off the hand of Billy Edwards Jr. While Will Heldt and the pass-rush were able to generate pressure versus Georgia Southern, run defense is still a concern.

Even if Clemson did hold the Eagles to 22 rushing yards on 18 carries, LSU ran all over the Tigers the previous week. Against the only Power Four team Clemson has faced this season, the Tigers gave up 309 rushing yards on 58 carries for four touchdowns to LSU. If Clemson were to surrender its season average of 165.5 yards per game on the ground, it could tip the scales in North Carolina's favor here.

In short, Swinney is going to have to allow Burley to play some in this game. He may not have been listed on the depth chart at either defensive tackle spot coming in, but Burley will surely play. This game against North Carolina could be the deciding factor in Clemson's ACC overall viability this year. The UNC date was supposed to be a gimme on Clemson's schedule, but the Tar Heels are looking up.

Frankly, it is not about the amount of snaps Burley plays in this one, but rather how impactful he can be whenever he is out on the field. He needs to make his presence felt early and often in this game. It will allow the other players in the defensive line rotation to catch their breath and be more productive as well. Clemson might not have the deepest defense in the ACC, but it got the big boost it needed.

If Burley and Clemson's defensive line rises to the occasion, it can hand UNC its first loss of the year.

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