CLEMSON, S.C. - UNC’s 28-20 loss at Clemson came with a few bright spots hiding inside the grades, even if the overall picture still pointed to a rough finish for the Tar Heels.
Junior safety Greg Smith turned in the top individual mark on either side, earning a 90.0 after playing all 70 defensive snaps. His day included an interception of freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds and involvement in a Clemson fumble recovery, two plays that stood out on a defense that still gave up two touchdowns in the final five minutes.
Benjamin Hall also made his presence felt in the numbers. The senior running back posted a 77.3 offensive grade on 38 snaps, the best among UNC’s offensive starters, after piling up a career-high 130 rushing yards in his first 100-yard game.
Center Christo Kelly was next on the offensive line with a 74.3 while handling all 70 snaps. UNC’s front helped the Tar Heels run for 214 yards, even as the passing game sputtered.
There were more encouraging defensive grades beyond Smith. Kaleb Cost scored a 76.8 in 44 snaps at slot cornerback, while Kenton Dopson III finished at 72.5 in 11 snaps at left cornerback. Leroy Jackson earned a 74.8 on the edge in 57 snaps, and nose tackle Xavier Lewis was at 74.3 after recording a sack earlier in the game.
But plenty of the ledger was less flattering.
Jordan Shipp led UNC’s receivers with a 68.9 grade, and middle linebacker Derek McDonald played all 72 defensive snaps while finishing at 68.3. Jaylen Harvey (65.2) and Jonathan Agumadu (64.1) filled out a linebacker group that had trouble slowing Clemson once the Tigers settled in after the nearly 2½-hour weather delay.
Up front, the tackles took the hardest hit in pass protection. Jordan Hall graded at 44.4 across 70 snaps at left tackle, and starting right tackle Andrew Threatt finished at 51.8 in the same number of snaps. That lined up with a game in which Billy Edwards Jr. was under constant pressure after a sharp opening stretch.
Edwards finished with a 46.3 offensive grade while playing all 70 snaps. He started 5-of-8 for 60 yards and a touchdown before going 8-of-22 for 75 yards and an interception the rest of the way.
“I love Billy. I love the way he competes,” Hall said of Edwards.
“We want to talk about how he didn’t connect the pass, but he used his legs today. He picked up first downs.
He helped us move the chains. There’s so much that Billy does that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, and Billy helped us be in a position to win that game.
We got to do a better job of helping him.”
The deeper numbers showed a mixed day for Edwards. He was 9 of 18 for 81 yards when kept clean and 4-of-13 for 54 yards with a touchdown under pressure. Against blitzes, he went 11-of-23 for 99 yards and a touchdown, and he was 2 of 8 for 36 yards when Clemson didn’t blitz.
His passing chart was uneven too: 1-of-3 for 23 yards on throws over 20 yards, 2-of-6 for 30 yards on throws between 10 and 19 yards, 7-of-13 for 60 yards on throws up to nine yards, and 3-of-3 for 22 yards on passes behind the line of scrimmage.
In the secondary, Coleman Bryson (47.3) and Peyton Waters (60.0) each logged at least 67 snaps at safety but didn’t come close to Smith’s impact. Cornerback Jaiden Patterson had the lowest defensive grade among UNC’s starters at 34.5 over 60 snaps.
The snap counts also showed how heavily UNC leaned on its core players. Only Hall and left guard Aidan Banfield played fewer than 60 offensive snaps among the starters, while five defensive starters topped 60 snaps, including three who reached 70 or more.
With Notre Dame next after the open week, the Tar Heels have time to sort through who earned more work Saturday and who has to be sharper the next time a game starts slipping the wrong way.
In Other News...
Belichick Turns UNCs Clemson Collapse Into A Bigger Tar Heels Concern
Bill Belichick came away from North Carolinas loss to Clemson sounding less interested in the final score than in the late-game details that slipped through the Tar Heels fingers. Afterward, he pointed to missed chances on both sides of the ball in the closing minutes, gave Clemson credit for making the decisive plays, and framed the defeat as the kind of game his team has to learn from quickly if it wants to keep moving forward.
Belichick also walked through several of the turning points that shaped the finish, including a key fourth-and-one pass attempt and the penalties that helped stall UNCs effort. Those are the kinds of moments that tend to linger after a close loss, and for a Tar Heels team trying to tighten things up, the bigger concern may be how many of them came in the same stretch of the game. [Read more 🡒]
Jordon Hudson Keeps Adding To UNC's Biggest Off-Field Distraction
Jordon Hudson was again a visible presence around North Carolina football on Sept. 19, when she attended the Tar Heels game against Clemson alongside head coach Bill Belichick. Her presence has become a familiar part of UNC game days since Belichicks first season on the sideline, and it has only added another layer of attention to a program already trying to keep the focus on football.
Belichick has publicly denied reports that Hudson has been involved in managing the football program, making clear that she has no official role with the university. Even so, her continued visibility has kept her tied to one of the more unusual off-field storylines surrounding the Tar Heels, with the conversation around UNC stretching beyond wins and losses and into who is actually part of the programs orbit. [Read more 🡒]
Michael Malone's First UNC Team Faces Doubts Fans Won't Ignore
Michael Malone has spent the spring and summer trying to put his stamp on North Carolina, reshaping the roster since taking over in April with a mix of transfer additions and recruiting work. The early outlook is respectable but not exactly settling for a fan base that expects more, with ESPN slotting the Tar Heels fifth in the ACC and projecting a wide range of outcomes that starts with 28 wins and a Sweet 16 run.
There is enough talent to make the conversation interesting, with transfers Terrence Brown and Neoklis Avdalas joining returnee Jarin Stevenson and freshman Maximo Adams as players expected to help offensively. Still, the projection leaves plenty of room for skepticism, and for UNC the bigger question is whether Malone can turn a newly built roster into something that looks like a true contender before the season starts answering it for him. [Read more 🡒]