CLEMSON —When fans look back at last year’s ACC Championship Game, immediately they think Clemson’s defense dominated the North Carolina Tar Heels.

The Tigers beat North Carolina 39-10 that night in Charlotte, so you can see why they might think such a thing. However, that was not the case.

The Tar Heels, who invade Memorial Stadium this Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. kick on ABC, tallied 386 yards of offense. Quarterback Drake Maye completed 26-of-42 passes for 268 yards. They were 9-of-16 on third down.

“Actually, we did not do a great job,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “They had twenty-six first down and they were nine-of-sixteen on third down and they were a lot more efficient than we wanted them to be.

“I think (Maye) was about sixty-four percent completion. So, we did not do quite as good of a job as the score indicated.”

What happened?

How did the Tigers (6-4, 3-4 ACC) win by 29 points?

It was the red zone. North Carolina (8-2, 4-2 ACC) was just 2-for-5 in the red zone. The Tigers stopped them on downs, had a Nate Wiggins 98-yard interception return for a touchdown and blocked a kick.

“Kind of like we have done this year,” Swinney said.

Maye, who rarely turns the football over, threw two interceptions that night.

The Tar Heels are definitely taking care of the football this year. They lead the ACC with a plus-11 turnover ratio and are second in turnovers committed with just eight.

In the red zone, they are much more efficient too. UNC ranks first in the ACC with 32 red zone touchdowns and scored on 47 of 51 red zone trips.

“It was kind of bend but don’t break night for us defensively,” Swinney said. “It was not a game that we felt comfortable, honestly because again, they were moving the ball. We just held up in the red zone.”

The Tar Heels will likely move the football on Saturday, though Clemson’s defense is much better too.

North Carolina ranks first in the ACC in seven major offensive categories, while Maye leads the conference in four major passing statistics, including yards per game (314.5), completion (231), total yards (3,145) and passer rating (157.4).

The Tar Heels also have the ACC’s best running back and wide receiver in Omarion Hampton (123.6 ypg) and Tez Walker (100.0 ypg). In just six games back, Walker has 35 catches for 600 yards and six touchdowns.

“We are going to have to be better,” Swinney said. “We are going to have to be better on third down. We have got to defend better on the back seven. That was probably the worst thing we did all of last year was our pass defense and we have made great improvements.

“But this will be a huge challenge because they are a big-play offense. I mean massive explosives (plays). A lot of it comes from Drake. He is a guy that looks to run, and when he looks to run, he will create, extend, scramble, and then hit a guy for a 60-yard touchdown. And it just drives you crazy.”

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