UNC Football Moments After – UNC vs. Clemson 31-20 Loss
UNC Tar Heels Football Team Allows Miscues Turnovers and Penalties to Doom Their Quest for a Victory in Tigers Stadium
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina football team faced off against Clemson on Saturday afternoon. It was a wild first half for the Tar Heels. UNC drove down the field on their first offensive possession of the game, but Omarion Hampton fumbled on the seven-yard line. Meanwhile, the Carolina defense came out ready to play and got three straight stops to start the game disrupting everything Clemson wanted to do offensively with their physical aggressive play. Early on, the Heels’ offense had no problems driving up and down the field on Clemson’s defense. Clemson had no answers for Omarion Hampton in the running game or JJ Jones and Tez Walker in the passing game as the Heels were up 7-0 early in the first quarter.
On three of UNC’s first four offensive possessions, they had red zone trips, but on two of those possessions Omarion Hampton fumbled. The second fumble was a huge backbreaker for the Tar Heels because Hampton fumbled it right on the goal line or it would’ve been a 65 yard-touchdown. Those two fumbles by Omarion Hampton were his first two of the season. That’s 14 possible points the Tar Heels could’ve had without the turnovers. Instead, Carolina was in a close intense game with Clemson after the Tigers finally scored a touchdown early in the second quarter after being held scoreless in the first quarter.
After the two fumbles by North Carolina’s offense, it felt like it had a trickle effect on the way they played going forward. The Tar Heels’ offense sputtered and struggled to move the ball after their early touchdown. Drake Maye wasn’t as accurate as he usually is in the passing game, and they went away from the running game late in the first half, which led to their offensive struggles. In addition, a few questionable personal fouls against the Tar Heels defense allowed Clemson to extend a couple of their drives. No personal foul call bigger than the one called right before halftime against North Carolina that put Clemson in position to score their second touchdown of the game. If there was no penalty, North Carolina would’ve had an interception on that play and had the ball with over a minute left with a chance to score right before halftime. However, Clemson would go into halftime with a 14-7 lead.
In the second half, both teams’ defenses would get back-to-back stops before Clemson would finally strike first after halftime with a touchdown to go up 21-7. UNC would respond quickly with a three-play scoring drive after an Omarion Hampton 55-yard touchdown run to get the game within 7 points for the Heels. By this time in the game, Clemson had found some success in the running game with both of their running backs Phil Mafah, and Will Shipley, and even quarterback Cade Klubnik, and it helped push their lead to 14 after a Will Shipley touchdown run. However, the Tigers did get some help from the Tar Heels with some untimely penalties for Carolina that extended Clemson’s offensive drive.
The penalties against the Heels were huge killers for them all game long. North Carolina had 10 penalties for 75 yards in this game and a few of them were questionable, which didn’t help UNC out at all. Clemson made sure to capitalize on the Tar Heels’ miscues and was a huge reason the Tigers were in a position to put up 31 points in this game. Carolina only had success on two of their six offensive drives in the second half as they struggled with their passing attack, especially in the last three quarters. The Heels’ struggles offensively were costly for them because the defense was on the field for most of the game and was worn down by the end of the game. North Carolina couldn’t overcome their mistakes defensively with the penalties, blown coverages, lack of gap discipline, and the lack of production offensively as it led to their 31-20 loss to Clemson.
UNC Game Stats
UNC Total Offense- 457 yards
Rushing 248 Passing 209
UNC Passing: Drake Maye 16-36-209 yards 1TD 1INT
UNC Rushing: Omarion Hampton 19-178 yards 2TDs, Drake Maye 10-67 yards
UNC Receiving: Tez Walker 4-70 yards, JJ Jones 5-60 yards 1TD
Clemson Total Offense- 466 yards
Clemson Passing: Caleb Klubnik 21-32 219 yards 1TD
Clemson Rushing: Will Shipley 18-126 yards 1TD, Phil Mafah 23-84 yards 1TD, Cade Klubnik 12-44 yards 1TD
Clemson Receiving: Adam Randall 2-57 yards, Will Shipley 2-53 yards
UNC Bright Spots
Omarion Hampton had 19 carries for 178 yards and two touchdowns.
Tez Walker had 4 catches for 70 yards.
JJ Jones had 5 catches for 60 yards and one touchdown
Needs Work
Offensive coordinator Chip Lindsay needs to do a better job of sticking with plays that are successful and needs to focus on running the ball more. Lindsay also needs to get the tight ends more involved in the passing game because they are a matchup nightmare for the opponent. Too many times he went away from his best playmakers in this game and had very questionable play calls in critical situations, which ultimately hurt the Tar Heels’ offensive success in this game. The lack of offensive success also puts too much pressure on the defense and leaves them on the field entirely too long.
Drake Maye needs to be accurate in throwing the ball down the field and the offensive line needs to be completely better in pass protection. The combination of both issues is hurting the offense’s success and causing them to sputter in games.
The defense needs to shore up their run defense. The linebackers and defensive backs are overrunning the play and are out of position on these plays, which is really hurting the defensive success against the run. Their missed tackles in space allow opponents to gash them for big runs, which has been a common theme over the last few games for the Tar Heels.
The defensive coaching staff must be better with their in-game adjustments. The North Carolina defense over the last few games in the fourth quarter has been terrible. Opponents are running the ball all over them, and players are getting caught out of position on too many occasions. It would help if they were put in different formations to stop some of the offensive success late in the game and that’s something the defensive coaches must be better at.
The coaching staff can also help the defense be more effective by rotating more of their defensive players off the bench so the defensive starters can be fresher late in games.
Final Observations
North Carolina falls to 8-3 on the season, 4-3 in the ACC. Earlier today, Louisville beat Miami and clinched their spot in the ACC Championship game against Florida State. This means the hopes for a chance to be in that game are over for the Tar Heels and they didn’t reach one of their preseason goals for this season. The losses to Virginia and Georgia Tech were just completely unacceptable and it cost them a chance at a special season. Not only are the Tar Heels not going to the ACC Championship, but they are now not playing good football. The offense and defense have been inconsistent over the last few weeks with their play.
In one game the offense plays well, and the defense plays poorly, and the next week vice versa. They haven’t put together a good performance on both sides of the ball against an ACC opponent since the Miami game. That was five weeks ago. That is on the coaching staff. They haven’t prepared their players at the highest level to be successful out there on the field consistently from week to week. There needs to be changes made to overcome these challenges of becoming a consistently great football team. The talent is there so the Tar Heels need to look internally and put together a coaching staff that can push these players to the success they’re truly capable of.
Drake Maye is going to be a top 2 pick in this year’s upcoming NFL Draft and they aren’t even in the ACC Championship this year, which is totally unacceptable. You could even make an argument that the talent the Tar Heels have is being wasted. That shouldn’t be the case. The coaching staff is saying all the right things in the offseason and after practices about challenging and preparing these players to be successful, but the play on gameday is not matching their words. There is a lot of work to do to put this football program in a position to be better and finally take the next step. The coaching staff needs to take them there. Next up is NC State on Saturday, November 25.