UNC vs. Clemson: Winners, Losers, and Honorable Mentions

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Lightning has hated UNC for years.

It’s going to be tough to escape thinking “what if” there wasn’t a lightning strike within eight miles of Death Valley during the fourth quarter of the UNC loss to Clemson on Saturday. This isn’t to say the delay was the reason why Carolina lost, but it absolutely changed the complexion of the game on both sides of the ball. Still, it happened, and the first real signs of hope for Carolina blew up in that lightning strike.

Let’s talk about the winners, losers, and honorable mentions for the week three loss to Clemson:

Winners

Benjamin Hall – Hall’s potential had been evident for multiple seasons as he transferred over from Michigan, but on Saturday he had an all-world performance. Grinding for 130 yards on 18 attempts and punishing Clemson time after time, he was easily the best offensive weapon for the Tar Heels on Saturday as his work wore down the Clemson defense during the day. Things just seemed to click with him for the first time this season, and we will see if he’s able to improve on that against a Notre Dame defense that is only allowing 1.9 yards per rush on average.

Jordan Shipp – When Billy Edwards only passes for 135 yards and Shipp is responsible for 68 of them, that’s a pretty impressive day. He decided to wear Tylee Craft’s 13 for the game, and his performance absolutely honored the late Tar Heel receiver. The inconsistent quarterback play has severely cut off his playmaking ability this season, so he’s made the most of the chances he got. We’ll see if he can be a difference maker in a couple weeks.

Xavier Lewis – Someone has had to step up for the Tar Heels since Melkart Abou Jaoude has been hurt, and the Rolesville product has done just that. He wasn’t the leading tackler on the day but he racked up two more sacks against Tait Reynolds, who was making his first ever start. He ended the weekend tied for the top of sack leaders across FBS. It’s pretty clear he’s going to be someone Carolina will have to work hard to keep after this season is done.

Losers

Bobby Petrino – So let’s get this right — there were about two hours in the locker room with a coaching staff knowing that they had two plays to get seven yards and a touchdown. The Carolina rushing attack had Clemson back on their heels after it seemed they had figured things out that half, but anyone knows that a rest of that long is going to help a defense, and they’ll be primed to stop a simple rush. So Coach Petrino calls… two rushes. Then, on an important fourth and short that basically decided the game, Coach Petrino asked his quarterback — who can’t seem to throw more twenty yards — try to heave it downfield. He went for a quick score and left Clemosn with plenty of time to respond when they had had no problem marching down the field. It was just a series of head-scratching calls from the offensive coordinator who has absolutely improved the play calling, but it’s really hard not to pin the loss on him with how he handled the game after the delay.

Billy Edwards, Jr – We all had an idea of his limitations before the season started, but man they were on display on Saturday. It’s hard to fault the run-heavy calls considering the time of day and just how it wears on a defense when it’s successful, but one of the things that made fans think he would be an upgrade at quarterback is that his experience would result in good decisions. Yet, on that pivotal fourth-and-one playe, he sold himself to the throw down to Jelani Thurman instead of just running for the easy first down. The interception to end the game was an easy pickoff, one that Clemson’s defense was able to read without issue thanks to the Heels being down eight. We see this and it truly makes you wonder: how rough has Miles O’Neill been in practice to where he isn’t getting a sniff?

Bill Belichick – This was his one chance to really set the narrative for the season. A win against another team that demolished his club last year would show the fans and the country that with what had been removed, he was still able to succeed. It’s been a tumultuous week for Bill with the resignation of his son as well as the continued scrutiny from local media over the direction of the program. He took that chance and wasted it by letting one of the worst Clemson teams in recent memory come back on him. He probably also lost a chance for a real showcase event with Notre Dame coming into town. We’ll see if they can scheme something up for one of the favorites to win the national title.

Honorable Mentions

Demon June continued his great play close to the goal line and cashed in a touchdown, but he was a big reason why Clemson was able to get some momentum back when he fumbled ten yards away from the Clemson end zone, which led to the Tigers’ field goal. Had that drive continued it might have been completed the job of ending any hope for Clemson…Jelani Thurman had his first pedestrian game of the season with only three catches for 18 yards. It would have been much higher had he been able to come up with the fourth down pass by Edwards, but we’ve already talked about how that pass shouldn’t have come to him in the first place…Aeron Burrell is doing the best he can, but his lack of kicking range is hurting Carolina, forcing them to have to go for it further out than they should and leaving points on the field. That extra three points in the first quarter would have been nice.

We all get one more week off, and then it’s football every weekend until December. The good news for Carolina is that while they get a week off, their opponent coming to Chapel Hill has to face Purdue. Yes, it’s basically like playing an FCS team but it’s still having to go through the work of playing a game and it’s more tape the coaches can study. We should learn this week when the game will be played, and we’ll see if the Tar Heels can put this stinging loss behind them.

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