North Carolina’s 28-20 loss to Clemson on Saturday didn’t just drop the Tar Heels to 2-1 and spoil their conference opener. It also clarified a few things about who is moving up - and who is sliding - after Week 3.
The clearest riser in the backfield was Michigan transfer Davion Gause Hall. North Carolina leaned on him hard, and he answered with 18 carries for 130 yards. He also added the Tar Heels’ lone receiving score on a 15-yard touchdown, giving him a day that stood out even in a game where the offense largely stalled after the opening quarter.
Hall’s best work came on the ground, where he broke off multiple runs of 10 yards or more. That mattered because Billy Edwards Jr. and the passing game never found a rhythm after the early burst. Through the first few weeks, North Carolina has rotated three running backs, but Hall has clearly emerged as the RB1.
On the defensive side, defensive tackle Lewis kept building his case as one of the biggest stock-up names on the roster. The six-foot, 260-pound lineman posted four solo tackles and two sacks against Clemson. That pushed his season totals to 12 solo tackles and six sacks.
Lewis wasn’t viewed as a major recruit, but he’s forcing a different conversation now. He has simply been productive every week and has established himself as one of the best interior defensive linemen in the country.
Senior linebacker McDonald also made his presence felt. One of North Carolina’s most notable offseason additions, he brought the veteran production the Tar Heels were counting on from his Syracuse days. Against Clemson, he led the team with 10 total tackles.
For a while, the defense held up as best it could. But once Clemson’s pressure started to pile up in the second half, the Tar Heels couldn’t keep the dam from breaking.
Edwards Jr. belongs on the falling side of the ledger after another uneven outing. This has become a familiar pattern: he comes out sharp, then fades as the game wears on. North Carolina scored touchdowns on its first two drives, and then the offense mostly shut down.
By the end of the day, Edwards Jr. had completed 13 of 30 passes for 135 yards, one touchdown and one interception. That was the exact concern heading into a matchup against a stronger opponent, and it showed up in real time.
The ripple effect hit the pass catchers too. It’s tough for receivers to matter when the quarterback is completing just 43.3 percent of his throws and doesn’t get past 150 passing yards.
Humphrey is one of the clearest examples. The Lehigh transfer has now caught one pass in each of the first three games, and on Saturday his only target went for 17 yards. So far, he’s been a major disappointment for North Carolina in 2026.
McGill also saw his stock dip, though the situation around him matters. Hall was rolling on the ground, and Demon June has taken on a change-of-pace and goal-line role, which has squeezed McGill’s chances.
McGill opened the first two games as the RB2, but June has since passed him on the depth chart. That doesn’t make McGill a bad player, but his workload has been shrinking since Week 0. Against Clemson, he logged three carries for 13 yards.
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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.
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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 🡒]