CLEMSON, S.C. (PSF)—The Tar Heels are handed their third loss of the season after being defeated 20-31 by the Tigers in Death Valley.

Offense:

UNC’s poor offensive start set the tone for the rest of the game. After several big plays, including quarterback Drake Maye connecting with wide receiver Tez Walker for a 43-yard catch, running back Omarion Hampton fumbled the ball on the seven-yard line, and Clemson recovered it. This was Hampton’s first fumble of the season.

After a fumble from an unsuccessful punt fake by the Tigers, the Tar Heels got the ball on the Clemson 46. Carolina capitalized on the good field position and put points on the board first as Maye found WR J.J. Jones for a 33-yard touchdown.

Unfortunately, UNC would have another turnover on their next drive. Hampton had a huge 64-yard run that was originally ruled a touchdown. After review, the call was overturned as a Clemson defender punched the ball out of Hampton’s arm right before he crossed the goal line, resulting in a touchback.

Using this momentum, Clemson drove down the field and QB Cade Klubnik completed a three-yard pass to tight end Jake Briningstool for a touchdown.

Clemson also had another turnover late in the second quarter after RB Will Shipley fumbled the ball on the UNC 7.

Carolina did not take advantage of this turnover. Instead, UNC gave the ball back to the Tigers with a little over a minute left in the second quarter. Klubnik ran and stretched out for a three-yard touchdown, giving Clemson a seven-point lead over UNC going into the locker room.

After a failed 4th and 6 attempt by the Tar Heels, Clemson utilized the good field position and extended their lead after RB Phil Mafah punched in a three-yard touchdown.

UNC responded with a touchdown of their own by Hampton, who redeemed himself with a 55-yard run to the house.

Clemson answered again though with a 33-yard touchdown run by Shipley, stretching the lead to 14 points.

The Tigers started the fourth quarter with a 21-yard field goal. Carolina answered with Hampton running it in for a three-yard touchdown. UNC decided to go for the two-point conversion, but their attempt failed.

UNC, now down by 11, had the ball with about four and a half minutes left in the game. After several penalties and incomplete passes, UNC was 4th and 20 on their own 20-yard line. Surprisingly, Carolina decided to go for it, but another incomplete pass forced a turnover on downs. This interesting decision led to a 41-yard field goal attempt by Clemson that was narrowly missed.

The Tar Heels took back over on their own 24-yard line, but the offense was only out for four seconds. Maye was intercepted by Nate Wiggins, securing the Tigers’ win.

UNC’s offense was all sorts of out of sync in this game. Maye only completed 44% of his pass attempts, threw for 209 yards and his average yards per pass was only 5.8- all the lowest statistics from him this season. Maye was also sacked four times by the Clemson defense, the most he has been sacked this season.

Even though Hampton found the endzone twice, his two fumbles were crucial to the trajectory of this game.

Jones was one of Maye’s top targets this game. He was the only receiver to score a touchdown and made some big, key plays. It was nice to see Jones get used more in this game.

Carolina decided to play on the riskier side against Clemson, going for it on five fourth downs. Unfortunately, UNC’s offense was not playing well enough to convert on more than two of these conversions.

Defense:

UNC’s defense was not able to stop Clemson’s electric offense, despite making some key plays.

Carolina forced two fumbles against Clemson- Kaimon Rucker recovered one early in the game on a punt fake and Kevin Hester Jr. recovered the other at the end of the second half.  

Despite these turnovers, UNC’s defense could not stop Clemson’s run offense. The Tigers scored three rushing touchdowns against the Tar Heels and rushed for 247 yards total- 126 of those yards were from Shipley.

The Tar Heels did not pressure Klubnik much and did not record a sack this game. They did account for six tackles for a loss though.

Defensive back Don Chapman led the team with nine total tackles, and three other players were right behind him with eight total tackles.

Carolina’s energy was off on both sides of the ball, but the inconsistency of the UNC defense was not something new.

Takeaways and Looking Forward:

UNC collected ten penalties for 75 yards in this game. The energy in Death Valley affected Carolina as several of the flags were false starts. The Tar Heels need to learn how to tune out the noise, especially because they already do not have the best record on the road.

Many UNC fans were rooting for Miami to defeat Louisville earlier in the day to give Carolina a shot at the ACC Championships. However, Louisville’s narrow win over Miami established them as Florida State’s matchup.

UNC’s sights are now set on their final regular season game and hopefully a good bowl game.

The Tar Heels will be on the road to take on North Carolina State for rivalry weekend on Nov. 25.