North Carolina had Clemson on the ropes early, but a string of missed opportunities allowed the Tigers to hang around, settle in and ultimately hand the Tar Heels a frustrating 28-20 loss.
For a few minutes, North Carolina looked like it might finally exorcise some demons at Clemson.
The Tar Heels could hardly have scripted a better start, scoring touchdowns on each of their first two offensive possessions and immediately putting the Tigers under pressure. On the road, against a Clemson team breaking in freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds as its new starter, Carolina had exactly the kind of opportunity it needed.
And then UNC let Clemson breathe.
That ultimately became the story of the Tar Heels’ 28-20 loss: missed opportunity after missed opportunity.
After those two opening touchdown drives, Carolina’s remaining possessions ended with a missed field goal, made field goal, punt, punt, fumble, punt, punt, made field goal, turnover on downs, and interception.
That is a long list of chances to either extend the lead, regain control or finish the game. UNC simply could not capitalize often enough.
There are plenty of places to point when trying to explain what went wrong.
The weather delay may have disrupted the rhythm North Carolina established so quickly. Billy Edwards had a difficult day throwing the football. The play-calling will certainly be dissected. Late-game execution was not good enough when the Tar Heels needed to respond.
All of those factors played a role.
But the most frustrating part is that Carolina should never have needed late-game heroics in the first place.
UNC had an opportunity to put Clemson in a significant first-half hole while Reynolds was still trying to find his footing in his first start. Instead, the Tar Heels failed to create enough separation. Every empty possession (or three-instead-of-seven-possession) gave Clemson another chance to regroup, and every missed opportunity allowed Reynolds to become a little more comfortable.
Eventually, the Tigers took advantage.
That is what makes this loss particularly painful. Carolina did not spend the afternoon chasing Clemson from behind. The Tar Heels were the team that landed the first punches. They controlled the early portion of the game and created an opportunity to dictate everything that followed.
They just never finished the job.
The loss also means North Carolina’s long wait for another victory at Clemson continues. The Tar Heels entered Saturday looking for their first win there since 2001 and put themselves in position to make it happen.
Instead, they leave wondering how a game that began so promisingly slipped away.
There will be plenty to evaluate from Edwards’ performance, the offensive decisions and the fourth-quarter execution. But the biggest takeaway is simpler than all of that.
North Carolina had Clemson on the ropes.
The Tar Heels just never delivered the knockout punch.
