Is there any point in writing this? Does any position group deserve anything other than an F? I’ll try my best.
Quarterbacks: D
Max Johnson looked dialed-in on the first drive, even though the Heels had to settle for a field goal. After that it turned ugly. He was 26 for 42 for 213 yards and an average of just 5.1 yards per completion. It was a lot of dinking and dunking with unsuccessful screen passes. There was one deep ball attempt which was caught but the receiver was out of bounds. The fact that there
were no interceptions earns him a non-failing grade.
Running Backs: F
Benjamin Hall led the team in rushing with just 24 yards although he did score the only Tar Heel touchdown on the day. Demon June finished with only 16 yards, 15 of which came on one carry. The team only gained 57 total rushing yards.
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends: D
Jordan Shipp led the way again with five catches for just 41 yards, It was a decent showing from Jake Johnson who obviously has a good rapport with his brother. He came up with three receptions for 30 yards.
Offensive Line: D
Clemson only managed one sack but Max Johnson seemed to be under duress fairly quickly on most snaps. Lots of three and outs and very limited holes for the running backs..
Defensive Line: D-
CJ Mims got a sack. That was probably the only highlight.
Linebackers: D+
Andrew Simpson also had a sack and Khmori House led the way on defense with seven tackles. The front seven was decent against the run allowing 89 total rush yards.
Defensive Backs: F
The Tar Heels gave up 28 points in the 1st quarter. Multiple interceptions were overturned upon review but all too often Clemson receivers were running wide open due to busted coverage and shoddy tackling. This looked like the same display that Carolina fans have grown overly tired of seeing for the better part of the last decade.
Special Teams: D
Coverage was decent, the return game was meh, a field goal attempt was doinked and the Tar Heels were consistently punting from deep in their end zone.
Coaching: F
Several frustrating illegal formation penalties. At one point Clemson was at 2nd and 39 on their own side of midfield and still was able to somehow get into field goal range. In another instance UNC was forced to use timeout because there were 12 men on the field and the kick was no good, but the timeout allowed the Tigers to pooch punt and pin the Tar Heels inside their 10 yard line.
