Clemson Dominates in Chapel Hill

Clemson looks to have finally woken up this weekend. The Tigers got the dominant 38-10 win in Chapel Hill over North Carolina. Clemson came out firing on offense and could not be stopped in the first half.

Clemson Wins in Chapel Hill 38-10

Offensive Coordinator Garrett Riley dug into his bag and pulled out a reverse pass by Antonio Williams to TJ Moore for a 75-yard touchdown on the first play. The offense didn’t let up from that moment on. The Tigers had 367 yards of offense and 35 points after the first 30 minutes.

The defense held up throughout the game as well, only giving up one touchdown late in the game. Finally, Clemson looked like the team we expected to see all season. It started with a great performance by Cade Klubnik.

Cade Klubnik Has a Day

Whatever Klubnik did over the bye week to reset himself worked. The senior quarterback came out ready to remind people why he was considered arguably one of the best quarterbacks in college football coming into this season. He threw just two incomplete passes all day as he went for 254 yards and four touchdowns through the air. He connected with 10 different receivers on his 22 completions. However, all of his touchdown passes went to just two guys.

Adam Randall didn’t have many carries but still made sure his presence was felt. He had 70 yards receiving along with two touchdown receptions. Tight End Christian Bentancur had just two receptions, but both were touchdown scores.

Klubnik looked much more confident and relaxed in this game compared to the first four. His two misses were still a result of bad throws on top of poor decision-making. Overall, though, this Klubnik is the one we’ve been waiting to see. If he continues playing like he did against North Carolina, it’ll go a long way in turning the Tigers‘ season around.

Defense Showed up

The Clemson defense has not met the expectations put on it leading into the season. If there was any game for them to start getting themselves back to form, it was going to be this one. Tom Allen’s unit took full advantage of the moment.

The Clemson defense held the Tar Heels to just 78 total yards in the first half. The Heels were able to start with a good first drive of the game that ended with a field goal. Those would be the only points UNC would score until the fourth quarter.

The Tigers’ defense shut down the run, allowing just 57 total rushing yards. Once the Tigers built a comfortable lead, the defense was able to get after the Tar Heels’ quarterback, Max Johnson. He handled the pressure well initially, but as it continued, Johnson got a bit flustered. He completed just 17 of his 30 pass attempts for 118 yards by the end of the first quarter.

This performance by the Clemson defense is what it needed to get some confidence back. Especially after the tough outing against Syracuse a couple of weeks ago.

Can Clemson Build on the Momentum?

This is the type of game Clemson needs to build some momentum off of. The Tigers still made many mistakes that teams better than North Carolina will be able to capitalize on. The energy looked much improved, and guys who needed a confidence boost got it in this game.

Clemson has to take this performance and build on it next week against Boston College. It’s another game that the Tigers need to win to keep the momentum rolling as they go into a tough four-game slate following next week.