Clemson got the result it needed Saturday, but the Tigers made sure it came with plenty of drama.
Tyler Brown’s game-clinching run turned into something much bigger when he kept going and scored instead of sliding down to drain the clock in Clemson’s 28-20 win over UNC. With the Tigers up by eight and the Tar Heels out of timeouts, Brown’s 34-yard touchdown gave UNC one last shot to keep the game alive.
It never got that far. Elliot Washington Jr. intercepted Billy Edwards Jr. around midfield a few minutes later to close it out.
For Dabo Swinney, it was a win built on resilience and laced with frustration.
“We just gotta keep doing the work,” Swinney said.
Clemson (2-1) had to claw back from a 17-3 second-quarter hole against a UNC team that looked a lot sharper than the record might suggest. The Tigers’ response was real: freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds brought energy, the defense got stops when it needed them, and the run game finally found some traction. After the 2.5-hour lightning delay and the wild final eight minutes, it was the kind of finish that can feel like a release.
Still, it was hard to watch this team and think it’s anywhere close to finished.
Brown’s decision to score instead of going down was the perfect snapshot of the day. Swinney said after the game that he had told the team to stay in bounds and had instructed starting running back Gideon Davidson to get down if he picked up a first down, but he didn’t give Brown that same message.
“I didn’t tell Tyler that,” Swinney said. “I just was trying to get the first down.”
The coach admitted he had mixed feelings in the moment.
“There was a part of me thinking, ‘Go down,’” Swinney said. “And the other part was like, ‘Heck no, let’s go, let’s score.’”
Brown chose the second option, and Clemson suddenly had a little more danger attached to a game that had looked nearly secure.
That was the story of Clemson’s afternoon: enough good to win, enough loose ends to make everyone nervous. The defense gave up 214 rushing yards to UNC, which averaged 5.5 yards per carry and popped 11 runs of 10 or more yards. Reynolds also threw an interception when he underthrew Bryant Wesco Jr. on what looked like a touchdown, allowing a UNC defender to make the play at the 2.
Clemson’s offense finished with 401 total yards and three touchdowns, a clear step up from the two touchdowns the Tigers managed against LSU and Georgia Southern. But the numbers didn’t erase the rough edges. Clemson went 0 for 2 on two-point tries, missing one that would have tied the game at 17-17 in the third quarter and another that would have extended a 23-20 lead in the fourth quarter.
The first half, in particular, had Swinney grinding his teeth. Clemson fans booed at times after stalled screen passes, and the coach said he was “losing my mind” when offensive coordinator Chad Morris and his staff tried to install a complicated play late in the half near the goal line. The sequence slowed Reynolds down, Swinney was trying to get his quarterback to spike the ball, and Clemson ended up burning its final timeout with 25 seconds left before settling for a field goal.
“That was on us,” Swinney said of his coaches. “Just a really poor job there.”
Even so, Swinney said the Tigers “grew up” on Saturday. That matters, especially with the season still young and a difficult stretch looming. Clemson’s odds of reaching a bowl game were at 58.8% on ESPN’s Football Power Index before the win over UNC, and that number should rise after a victory like this.
But the next few weeks will tell a lot more about where this team really stands. Clemson goes to Cal on Friday, then comes home to face No. 5 Miami in Death Valley.
For now, the Tigers have a conference win, a little confidence, and plenty to clean up.
“There’s still a lot of mistakes,” Reynolds said.
He also pointed to the upside.
“We know how we played today,” Reynolds said. “But knowing that we can be even better, it’s a blessing. It’s great.”
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