Heel Tough Blog: Clemson Recap
Just when you felt like the Tar Heels were starting to build a little momentum, this program reminded you of why they can’t have nice things. After racing out to a 17-3 lead midway through the second quarter, they would fall apart on both sides of the ball and allow a bad Clemson team complete the comeback and potentially save their season. Here are our takeaways from an extremely disappointing loss that continues the losing streak against Clemson.
Billy Edwards Jr. Struggles Mightily Producing Questions About Future
While Edwards played relatively well in the first two games of the season, Saturday’s game was a catastrophe that has you feeling like it’s back to square one at quarterback entering the second bye week. Edwards’ start to the game was promising as he completed five of his eight passes for 70 yards and a touchdown, distributing the ball well, including a couple of nice throws in the intermediate portion of the game. Following that touchdown, everything dramatically turned for him. The inaccuracy issues that had popped up occasionally in the first two games became commonplace for the remainder of the day, as he completed just eight of his final 22 passes for 65 yards and an interception. Footwork was his biggest issue on Saturday, but he also continued to struggle when it came to making tight window throws. With how bad he looked at times in this game and it seeming to affect how Bobby Petrino called his offense, the staff needs to at least take a look at the other options in the room to see if there is someone who can be more accurate and give them a better chance to win games like this.
Missed Tackles Prove Costly
The Tar Heels had some issues tackling against TCU, but looked to have put that behind them against East Tennessee State. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Clemson’s pace picked up as the day went along and with it came the missed tackles from the Tar Heels. The team as a whole missed 15 on the day, including five by safety Coleman Bryson alone. The hope was that the rain delay would allow for this group to lock themselves back in and tackle better, but they missed some key ones in the final eight minutes of the game. This defense has some talent, but if they can’t tackle better, it’s going to be hard for this team to win games. This needs to be one of the main focuses of the staff on the defensive side of the ball during this bye week.
Defensive Line Got Worn Down and Had Problems Late
The tackling was a major factor for the defensive issues that the Tar Heels had in the second half, but it started up front where Clemson wore down this Tar Heel defensive line. The group looked good early in the game, winning a lot of 1-on-1 matchups against a struggling offensive line. The faster tempo was what seemed to wear down this group more than anything and it led to the success in the run game that helped carry Clemson to the victory. It also didn’t help that the unit couldn’t rush the passer without standout edge rusher Melkart Abou Jaoude, who missed the game with a hand injury. While the team had three sacks of Tait Reynolds, the pressure wasn’t as consistent as it needed to be, especially down the stretch. With very little pressure to deal with, Reynolds was able to settle into a groove and pick apart a struggling secondary. This was a nice learning moment for this defensive line and proof that they need Abou Jaoude back as soon as possible.
Secondary Issues Raise Concern
One of our biggest question marks coming into the game on Saturday was just how good this secondary was after they went relatively untested in the first two games of the season. On Saturday, it proved to be a major concern that could linger moving forward with some of the quarterback talent they will face. Jaiden Patterson had the worst game of his career, allowing three of his seven targets to be caught for 55 yards and losing a lot of other reps on inaccurate throws by Reynolds early in the game. Opposite of him, Peyton Waters was picked on a lot as well, allowing all six of his targets to be caught for 33 yards. The biggest issue might be at free safety, though, where Coleman Bryson was picked on constantly on top of his poor tackling day. The one bright spot: Kaleb Cost looked really good fighting off blocks and had a good day in coverage. It’s hard to draw conclusions based on o e game, but it’s hard not to be scared by what we saw on Saturday. Regardless, the Tar Heels will have to be able to help this room out by rushing the passer the way they did in the first two games of the season.
Offensive Playing Calling Was Abysmal Down the Stretch
We have been very complementary of what we have seen from Bobby Petrino so far, but the play calling at the end of the game left a lot to be desired. Coming out of the rain delay, the team had a chance to extend the lead to two scores, but took a conservative approach, choosing to run it two times inside the tackles with Demon June and settle for a field goal. Even worse might have been the play call on 4th & 1 on the next drive where they went play action with a struggling quarterback instead of trusting a running game that produced 214 yards and a touchdown. It’s hard to get too mad at Petrino with how limited he was because of his quarterback, but this play calling brought back the feeling from last year under Freddie Kitchens. That cannot happen the rest of the season.
Running Game Explodes Behind Benjamin Hall
After showing some flashes a week ago against East Tennessee State, the Tar Heel running back room had a breakout performance on Saturday. While Demon June had another solid day for himself outside of his fumble in the second quarter, but this was all about Benjamin Hall, who put together a career outing. He led the way for the Tar Heels with 130 rushing yards, 15 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown on 19 offensive touches. The Tar Heels leaned heavily on June in the redzone and that may have been a mistake with just how good Hall was when he touched the ball. If Hall continues to play this well, he needs to handle the bulk of the carries for the Tar Heels.
Tough Loss That Will Be Even Tougher to Rebound From
This loss hurts so much because it felt like so many of the frustrating losses under Mack Brown where they had the team on the ropes but just couldn’t deal that kill shot. Clemson and Dabo Swinney have had plenty of success over the past two decades, but this year’s team is a far cry from where they once were and should’ve been someone this Tar Heel team could beat. Instead, the Tar Heels have now lost eight straight to the Tigers and it leads to questions about just how many wins remain on the schedule, especially with the next three games the team plays (vs. Notre Dame, @Pittsburgh, @Duke). Recovering from this loss will be much easier said than done.
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