By Will Vandervort.
When North Carolina visits Clemson’s Death Valley Saturday at 7 p.m., it should be an entertaining contest to say the least.
On one side of the field sits an offense that hopes to find a consistent running game, while also fixing its red zone issues that cost Clemson a victory at top-ranked Florida State.
On the other side sits a defense that has been embarrassing to watch at times this season, especially last week when it gave up 789 yards and nine touchdowns in the Tar Heels 70-41 loss to East Carolina.
“I think they have kind of beaten themselves in some areas,” Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris said. “They have kind of broken down on some coverage situations. I’m sure they are like we are.”
The Tigers (1-2, 0-1 ACC) have beaten themselves, too. Seven times in its overtime loss to Florida State, Clemson reached the red zone—inside the opponent’s 20-yard line—and four times it came away with no points. Two drives ended with missed field goals, one time on a fumble and another ended with a turnover on downs.
“We have to find a way to win,” Morris said. “There are about six things that went wrong. Let’s just get one of those six things right, we win the ballgame. Let’s say we make the first kick – we win the ballgame.”
Morris would like to get all six of those things right this week, and North Carolina might be a good opponent to help fix those things. The Tar Heels (2-1, 0-0) rank 123rd in total defense, 122nd in passing defense, 117th in scoring defense and 109th in rushing defense.
The biggest issue for North Carolina is tackling. Defensive Coordinator Vic Koenning says his defense is missing 30 to 40 percent of the time when it comes to tackling.
“Tackling, tackling and getting to the ball,” Koenning told the Daily Tar Heel earlier this week. “We were missing tackles at a thirty to forty percent clip. There wasn’t any play where we didn’t have somebody there technically. We just weren’t able to tackle people in space.
“(The) two biggest things we felt like we gotta get better at is what we call gap integrity — who’s got what gap, stay in the that gap, that’s your job — and then missing tackles.”
But Morris doesn’t believe that will be an issue for North Carolina this week. He thinks the Tar Heels performance in last week’s loss will inspire them to come out and play better this Saturday.
“They are searching for the right combination at times, but they will be ready to go. I can promise you that,” the Clemson coach said. “Those guys will be ready to go. It will be a great night. It will be a lot of fun.”
It will be fun for the Tigers if they can find some consistency in the running game. Morris and head coach Dabo Swinney were pleased with the way C.J. Davidson ran—minus the fumble of course—as he gained 54 yards on 12 carries, but they were disappointed in the fact Wayne Gallman and Adam Choice did little in helping out with production. Gallman gained just six yards on four carries, while Choice had nine yards on six carries.
There were also some inconsistencies on the offensive line that contributed to some of those issues.
“There’s plenty more to be had. These first three games we’ve been figuring some things out,” Swinney said. “I think whether it’s getting the right combination up front in our offensive line – who does what the best – those are all things that we’re kind of getting some guys experience.
“Adam Choice, Wayne Gallman, guys that haven’t played at this level. All those things after three games I think are coming together for us. We’ve done some really, really good things.”
Through three games, the Tigers are averaging a respectable 152.3 yards a game, but those are numbers they expect to get better. With Deshaun Watson now starting at quarterback, the Tigers could get the quarterback position more involved in the running game like it did the previous three seasons with Tajh Boyd.
Watson rushed for 30 yards and scored a touchdown in last week’s game against Florida State.
Some of the running game we have, it goes down as passes. Y’all see it in the stats as passes, but it’s part of our running game,” Swinney said. “We look at it differently than y’all do. Some of our shovel things, some of our speed motion, some of the screens that are built into our run game, things like that, that’s all part of our running game.
“So it’s all based on taking what the defense gives you. But as far as just specifically our backs and our quarterbacks, our offensive line, there’s a lot more to be had. I think we’ll continue to improve there.”
And that’s something both North Carolina’s defense and Clemson’s offense are hoping to do on Saturday. The thing is, only one of them will truly get better.