CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Gideon Davidson ran for 105 yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown with five minutes remaining as Clemson rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit to beat North Carolina 28-20 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in a game that lasted nearly six hours.
Freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds completed 20 of 29 passes for 215 yards with a touchdown and one interception for Clemson (2-1, 1-0 ACC) in his first career start.
Billy Edwards
was 13 of 30 for 135 yards with one touchdown and one interception for UNC (2-1, 1-1). Benjamin Hall ran for 135 yards rushing and caught a TD pass for the Tar Heels.
Clemson trailed 17-15 with 8:11 left in the game and UNC had a second and goal at the Tigers 7 when officials sent both teams to the locker room after lightning was detected in the area.
After a 2 1/2-hour weather delay, players returned to the field.
It was all Clemson from there.
After the delay, the Tigers' defense stiffened and stuffed two Tar Heels runs near the goal line, forcing a field goal.
Dennison, who was held to 50 yards before the weather delay, then scampered 45 yards on the ensuing drive to set up his own 8-yard touchdown run to give Clemson its first lead of the game at 21-20. The 2-point conversion failed.
UNC turned the ball over on downs at midfield on its next possession.
Clemson's Tyler Brown scored on a 34-yard run — instead of sliding before the goal line and allowing the Tigers to run out the clock — to make it 28-20 with one minute left.
That gave the Tar Heels a chance to tie the game and send it into overtime.
But Clemson's Elliot Washington picked off Edwards at midfield with 32 seconds left.
North Carolina jumped out to a 17-3 lead behind a 3-yard touchdown run by Demon June and a 15-yard TD pass from Edwards to Hall in the flat.
Clemson closed the gap to 17-15 when Hauser added his third field goal and Reynolds looked off a defender and found Christian Bentancur down the right sideline for a 27-yard strike for his first career TD pass with 4:31 left in the third quarter. But the 2-point conversion attempt failed when Bryant Wesco's failed to connect with fellow wide receiver T.J, Moore failed off a trick play.
Before the toss to Bentancur, Reynolds had gone 24 drives (excluding kneel downs) to open his career without leading a touchdown.
North Carolina came into the game after a tumultous week in which defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, the son of head coach Bill Belichick, resigned from his position as the school concludes a probe into its football program.
That made him the second high-profile resignation amid the probe, the other being general manager Michael Lombardi earlier this month.
Things have been rough in Clemson, too.
Dabo Swinney’s job security has been questioned after the Tigers were thrashed 51-10 in their season opener by then-No. 11 LSU and managed only one touchdown against Georgia Southern in a 22-7 win last week.
Swinney had said after the loss to LSU that Clemson deserved to be criticized but cautioned that the season was far from over.
It was the third straight Clemson game to open the season that has been disrupted by weather.
The start of the Tigers' season opener in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, against LSU and last week's home opener against Georgia Southern were both delayed by about two hours.
North Carolina: The Tar Heels got a strong game from their offensive line, in particular center Christo Kelly and guards Aidan Banfield and Andrew Threat. Together, they routinely blew open big holes in the middle of Clemson's defense front, allowing Hall and June to get to the second level of defense.
Clemson: The Tigers came into the game 134th out of 138 FBS teams in offense and did little to improve that mark early on. With five minutes left in the first half, the Tigers had managed just 49 yards on offense on 20 plays and their longest game at the time was 9 yards.
Clemson: The Tigers head out West to face California on Friday night.
North Carolina: The Tar Heels have a bye next weekend before hosting No. 3 Notre Dame on Oct. 3.
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