Its odds of beating Clemson are low, but UNC football is ‘trying to shock the nation’
North Carolina’s players know this opportunity does not come often.
The Tar Heels last played a No. 1 team in 2015, when they lost 45-37 to Clemson in the ACC Championship game.
They have another shot at No. 1 Clemson (4-0) on Saturday at Kenan Stadium. Vegas sees this game being a blowout with Clemson a 27.5-point favorite as of Friday morning.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been that big of an underdog,” UNC coach Mack Brown said in a press conference Monday.
Clemson has won 19 consecutive games and two of the past four national championships. It has one of the best offenses and defenses in the country.
UNC (2-2) has lost two straight — to Wake Forest by six and Appalachian State by three — and is a program still trying to rebound from a 2-9 season in 2018.
But that won’t stop UNC’s players from believing.
UNC freshman quarterback Sam Howell, who was recruited by Clemson, said he’s excited about the opportunity to play the Tigers..
“As a kid you always dream of playing in games like this,” he said Tuesday. “With challenge comes opportunity.”
UNC sophomore linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel said the same.
“Most teams don’t get to play the No. 1 team in the country, so we’re going at it full force this week,” Gemmel said Tuesday. “We’re trying to shock the nation.”
‘Clemson of the Coastal’
After Dabo Swinney took the head coaching job at Clemson in December 2008, he and his staff visited Brown at Texas for three or four days, Brown recalled. At that time, Texas was one of the best programs in the nation.
Swinney told reporters Tuesday that he didn’t know Brown that well at the time, but the coach “spent hours with me and I soaked it all up.”
The two have continued to be friends. Brown said when he worked at ESPN, he texted Swinney each week to ask him Clemson’s keys to the game before going on air.
Swinney was also the first person to text Brown when his name came up for the UNC head coaching job in November.
“Are you really going to do this?” Brown said Swinney asked him.
Brown responded that he would if the NCAA agreed to take Clemson off the schedule. That didn’t happen, and now the two coaches will face each other for the first time.
“From our standpoint, we want to be the Clemson of the Coastal (Division),” Brown said Monday. “They are the best team in the country. They are the best team in the ACC. They are dominating the ACC and all of us are trying to catch them.”
Starting quicker
A win against Clemson would certainly help its cause. But it will be far from easy. The Tar Heels have started games slow, and have been outscored in the second quarter 41-13.
That has forced them to have to make comebacks in the fourth quarter, when they have outscored opponents 45-9.
But against the Tigers, that likely won’t happen. The Tar Heels will have to play a consistent game throughout if they want to have a chance to win.
“We want to take care of business in the first half and put ourselves in a position where maybe we can dictate for four quarters,” UNC offensive coordinator Phil Longo said in a press conference on Monday. “Or at least be in control of our own destiny for four quarters and not have to be the cardiac kids in the fourth quarter every single week.”
Defense has also been an issue recently.
Against Appalachian State last week, UNC’s defense struggled to get off the field on third downs. The Mountaineers converted 7 of 15 third downs, including quarterback Zac Thomas’ 12-yard scramble on third-and-five late in the fourth quarter to ice the game.
Clemson converts 43.2 percent of its third downs, ranked 46th in the country.
Fixing their own issues and mistakes, has been the Tar Heels’ primary focus. They know being the best is a process.
“We tell them we want to win the game,” Brown said Wednesday. “They have better players than we do. They’re deeper than we are. They’re used to winning.
“We know it’s an uphill battle. But also this is who you want to be.”
Clemson at UNC
When: 3:30 p.m., Saturday
Where: Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill
Watch: ABC
Listen: WTKK-106.1 Raleigh; WCHL-97.9, WCHL-1360 Chapel Hill; WBT-99.3, WBT-1110 Charlotte
