CLEMSON — Clemson picked up its second win of the season in dramatic fashion, coming back to beat North Carolina 28-20 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
The Tigers trailed until five minutes left in the game when Gideon Davidson scored on a nine-yard touchdown run. It was the first touchdown of Davidson’s career, and it was enough to give the Tigers the victory.
Tyler Brown added a long rushing touchdown late in the fourth quarter that extended the lead before an interception by Elliot Washington sealed it.
Clemson moves to 2-1 on the young season and has now won eight straight over the Heels.
Offense Finding Something?
The Tigers went over 400 yards of total offense, with 187 of those coming on the ground. The Tigers also finished 5-of-13 on third down after starting 1-for-5. Clemson was also 1-of-1 on fourth down.
The Tigers averaged 6.1 yards per play and 10.8 yards per completion.
Brown Should Have Slid
Brown’s 34-yard run with about a minute left put Clemson up 28-20. However, if he slides inside the 10- yard line, Clemson only has to kneel on it to win. The Heels were out of timeouts and could not stop the clock.
Weather Delays
Three games this season, and all three have been delayed by weather. And all three have been lengthy delays. The football Gods surely seem to be angry with someone.
When the delay hit, North Carolina appeared to be going in for a touchdown that might have put the game away. However, once play resumed, the Clemson defense held the Heels to a field goal, giving the offense a chance to take its first lead of the game.
After the Tigers went up for the first time all afternoon, the defense responded by getting a stop on the next possession.
This team just looked different after the delay. The offense was much better, and the defensive line was far more disruptive, including Amare Adams, who had a huge stop late..
Reynolds Growing Up
It was a pretty rough start for the freshman signal caller, but it felt like we were watching him grow up right before our eyes in the second half. Reynolds was pretty up and down in the first half, more down than up until that final possession of the second quarter, but he was much more steady in the second half.
The freshman’s passes were more on point in the third and fourth quarters, and he was getting the ball out quicker, as he finished 20-29 for 215 yards, with his first career touchdown pass, a 27-yarder to Christian Bentancur in the third quarter. However, there was one pretty bad interception as well, on a deep ball to a wide-open Bryant Wesco.
His 14-yard pass to T.J. Moore on the go-ahead drive might be a sign of things to come.
Inconsistent Running the Ball Early, Finding It Late
Before the weather delay, the offense failed to pick up yards on the ground consistently. After the delay, Davidson ran for more than 50 yards on the go-ahead drive that put him over the century mark for the first time in his career.
This offense just could not get the ground game going early on. Even bringing in Grant Wise at RG at different points during the game and Easton Ware at RT, didn’t help much.
However, the team managed to finish with 186 rushing yards against a team that had yet to allow an opponent to average three yards per carry. The Tigers averaged 5.2 on Saturday, while Davidson had 16 carries for 105 yards.
You could just see the unit gaining confident the deeper you got into the game. Then over the final eight minutes, after the delay. everything started to click.
Chris Johnson Jr. was an absolute non-factor in the run, totaling two carries for zero yards.
Weak Run D Got Better Down Stretch
Tom Allen’s unit is just too soft up the middle to be an effective, run-stopping defense. Far too often, North Carolina runners were into the second level of the defense before they were even touched. No matter how this game played out, that is a concern moving forward.
The Tigers held up better in the third quarter after allowing more than 100 yards on the ground in the first half, but the Heels dedicated themselves to the running game in the fourth, and ended with well over 200 yards on the ground. That just isn’t the recipe for success for any defense.
Benjamin Hall finished with 130 rushing yards and averaged close to eight yards a carry.
However, Clemson did bow up after the delay, stopping the Heels three times, including on a 4th and short, giving the ball back to Reynolds and the offense with a chance to ice it.
The Tigers finished with five tackles for loss and three sacks.
Special Teams
We already know what kind of start Nolan Hauser has gotten off to. Jack Smith has been pretty solid himself.
This is where Johnson impacted the game as his 30-yard kick return after the delay seemed to ignite a spark for the offense.
The coverage has been much improved to this point as well. UNC only attempted to return two punts, gaining a total of 18 yards.
Clemson even came after a punt in that second half.
Up Next
The Tigers will now head out west for a Friday night road game at Cal. Kickoff is set for 10:30 p.m. EST.