CLEMSON – A chaotic first quarter was followed by a deadlocked 15 minutes before half in Death Valley. The Clemson Tigers forced two crucial turnovers to put a veil over some early mistakes, taking a 14-7 lead into halftime.

Both offenses were skittish, and No. 20 North Carolina’s group sputtered before the break. The Tigers’ numbers don’t look good, but two textbook drives were the saving grace. Here’s the halftime observations from Clemson-North Carolina.

-The nation’s second leading rusher was stifled in the first half. It all started with a forced fumble by freshman defensive end TJ Parker, setting the tone against Omarion Hampton. He started the game with four carries for three yards.

-For a second week in a row, Clemson got punished for a fake punt failure. This week, it’s a different monster with Drake Maye and North Carolina. Maye capitalizes four plays after the turnover with a 33-yard touchdown pass to JJ Jones. He was throwing off his back foot while shiff-arming a tackler with his left arm, and still delivered a strike. It’s already hard enough to stop him, and you can’t give him free possessions.

-Hampton was one yard from making it a 14-0 game, but cornerback Nate Wiggins had other plans. He chased down the speedster and knocked the football out, which rolled its way out of the end zone for a touchback after review. Effort play gave the Tigers extra life, and that’s two gut-wrenching mistakes by the Tar Heels.

-North Carolina had 198 yards of offense after the first quarter, but just a touchdown and two turnovers to show for it. That put the Tar Heels on pace for 792 yards. Not bad. Things changed quickly, and Wes Goodwin’s adjustments limited North Carolina to just 56 yards for the rest of the half. Chess game goes to the defensive coordinator.

-A heavy cause was the pressure from the Clemson defensive front. Pressure was prevalent from the start of the game, but it took until late in the second quarter to bring Maye down. It came in the form of TJ Parker and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. both bringing down the future top-three pick. Two sacks and three hurries don’t begin to describe how flustered Maye was.

-Quarterback Cade Klubnik caught fire on the fourth Clemson drive. He went 6-6 for 48 yards, capping it off with a three-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jake Briningstool. 14 play drive that took 6:29 off the clock. That’s the formula for success heading into the second half.

-Not to be outdone, the Tigers two more blunders of their own. Running back Will Shipley had an impressive couple of runs before fumbling at the five-yard line. Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes. Clemson responded on the next drive though, going 11 plays and 57 yards with Klubnik scoring on a keeper to take the lead.