"Embarrassing" loss to Tar Heels drops Tigers to 0-2 in ACC |
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A disconsolate Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tiger players ran off of the Kenan Stadium turf late Saturday afternoon knowing that winning games is a hard proposition when you beat yourself.
The Tigers made enough mistakes to fill an entire playbook, and the result was a 21-16 loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels that dropped Clemson to 2-3 overall, and more importantly, 0-2 in the ACC. That 0-2 conference hole means that any hopes of an ACC Championship Game appearance for a second season are just wishful thinking after a loss that Swinney characterized as embarrassing in his postgame press conference. “First off, I’m extremely embarrassed,” Swinney said. “This team deserves better, Clemson deserves better and the fans deserve better. This is just not a very well-coached football team right now and it’s my fault. I’m extremely disappointed in what I saw today. I saw a team that wasn’t very smart, I saw a team that wasn’t very disciplined. I saw a team get a lot of critical penalties, right from the beginning of the game on the first play.” Clemson fell behind 14-3 at intermission, battled back to within 14-10, but a 14-play drive in the fourth quarter and the defense’s failure to get a stop when trailing by five points with just over five minutes remaining, garnering three penalties in the process, led to the defeat. “I’m embarrassed. I’m extremely disappointed in myself,” Swinney said. “I’m better than this. I know I’m better than this, and it’s my job to get it fixed. It’s nobody anybody else’s job. This football team didn’t quit, and the football team tried as hard as they could. It’s obvious they’re just not very well-coached.” Clemson’s first possession was set back by a personal foul penalty on tackle Chris Hairston, and following the Tiger punt the Heels marched methodically down the field. Carolina used 12 plays to go 48 yards, mixing in quick slants with misdirection runs, and scored on a four-yard run by Johnny White for the 7-0 lead. The teams traded possessions through the end of the first quarter and midway through the second quarter before Clemson finally dented the scoreboard. The Tigers took over at midfield following a North Carolina punt, and settled for a 48-yard field goal from Chandler Catanzaro to make it 7-3 with 6:19 remaining in the first half. The Tigers appeared to have the Tar Heels stopped at least twice on a drive just before the half, but a pass interference call on third down and a wheel route that covered 51 yards set up North Carolina deep in Clemson territory. The Heels converted a fourth down play inside of Clemson’s 10-yard line, and Carolina scored on a nine-yard pass from T.J. Yates to Jherani Boyd. The score gave the Heels a 14-3 lead heading into the break. The half completed two firsts for the North Carolina team in 2010 – the first time they had led at the end of the first quarter and the first lead at halftime. The Tiger defense stiffened in the third quarter, and following North Carolina’s second drive of the half, Nuke Hopkins returned the Tar Heel punt 31 yards to the North Carolina 21-yard line. Three plays later, Jamie Harper took a draw play 10 yards up the middle for the first Clemson touchdown of the day, trimming the Heel lead to 14-10 with 5:34 left to play in the third quarter. Chandler Catanzaro missed a field goal early in the fourth quarter, and the Heels turned in the drive of the day, converting two fourth-down plays on a drive that consumed 14 plays, 76 yards and took almost eight minutes off of the game clock. Included on that drive were two calls against Clemson, both on third down, that kept the drive alive. The first one was on the third play of the drive, a play that saw Marcus Gilchrist intercept a Yates’ pass and return to the UNC 17-yard line. A late flag – Xavier Brewer was called for pass interference on a ball that was 10 yards behind the receiver – negated the turnover. Three plays later, Byron Maxwell drew a flag on an incomplete pass on third down. Clemson forced a 4th-and-nine situation at their own 35-yard line, and Bowers appeared to sack Yates to end the threat, but he was called for offsides and the drive was once again kept alive. The Heels took advantage of the mistakes and White scored his second touchdown of the day on a 26-yard touchdown romp that gave UNC a 21-10 lead with 6:53 to play. The Tigers answered that score with a big play of their own, however, overcoming two drops by wide receivers on the ensuing possession when Parker hit Jaron Brown, who took the ball away from the safety, and raced 74 yards for the touchdown. Clemson went for the two-point conversion and failed following a series of plays that saw Clemson called for two penalties and North Carolina one. There were still five minutes and 25 seconds remaining on the game clock, and Clemson kicked off to UNC, needing one more stop out of their defense in order to give the offense one more chance. That chance never really materialized as the Heels managed four more first downs, with Johnny White doing most of the damage. The Tigers got the ball back with just 13 seconds remaining, and two Parker incomplete passes later the questions began. Swinney said the coaching staff will go back to work on Monday, and that quitting isn’t in his vocabulary. “The only thing I know is that I’m not a quitter,” he said. “I’ve never been a quitter. I’ll show up tomorrow. I’ll come back to work and I’ll do a better job. And I know the team will show up Monday because we don’t have any quitters on this team. But I have to help them. I’ve got to help them stop giving up big plays. I’ve got to help them be smarter when it’s third-and-nine. I’ve got to help them stop giving up pass interference calls. “I’ve got to help them be smarter. But one thing I’ve learned all my life is that if you keep getting up, sooner or later you’re going to bust through. That’s what we have to do, we have to keep getting up off the mat. The team will come in and we’ve got to go back to work on Monday, and we’ve got to find a way to win a football game. That’s the only objective.”
ate: Oct 09, 2010 Site: Chapel Hill, NC Stadium: Kenan Stadium
Upgrade Your Account
Unlock premium boards and exclusive features (e.g. ad-free) by upgrading your account today.
Upgrade Now
