CLEMSON FOOTBALL

DeAndre Hopkins was a bright spot for the Tigers as he caught 7 passes for 46 yards in his first start.

"Embarrassing" loss to Tar Heels drops Tigers to 0-2 in ACC


by - Senior Writer -

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A disconsolate Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tiger players ran off of the Kenan Stadium turf late Saturday afternoon knowing that winning games is a hard proposition when you beat yourself.

The Tigers made enough mistakes to fill an entire playbook, and the result was a 21-16 loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels that dropped Clemson to 2-3 overall, and more importantly, 0-2 in the ACC. That 0-2 conference hole means that any hopes of an ACC Championship Game appearance for a second season are just wishful thinking after a loss that Swinney characterized as embarrassing in his postgame press conference.

“First off, I’m extremely embarrassed,” Swinney said. “This team deserves better, Clemson deserves better and the fans deserve better. This is just not a very well-coached football team right now and it’s my fault. I’m extremely disappointed in what I saw today. I saw a team that wasn’t very smart, I saw a team that wasn’t very disciplined. I saw a team get a lot of critical penalties, right from the beginning of the game on the first play.”

Clemson fell behind 14-3 at intermission, battled back to within 14-10, but a 14-play drive in the fourth quarter and the defense’s failure to get a stop when trailing by five points with just over five minutes remaining, garnering three penalties in the process, led to the defeat.

“I’m embarrassed. I’m extremely disappointed in myself,” Swinney said. “I’m better than this. I know I’m better than this, and it’s my job to get it fixed. It’s nobody anybody else’s job. This football team didn’t quit, and the football team tried as hard as they could. It’s obvious they’re just not very well-coached.”

Clemson’s first possession was set back by a personal foul penalty on tackle Chris Hairston, and following the Tiger punt the Heels marched methodically down the field. Carolina used 12 plays to go 48 yards, mixing in quick slants with misdirection runs, and scored on a four-yard run by Johnny White for the 7-0 lead.

The teams traded possessions through the end of the first quarter and midway through the second quarter before Clemson finally dented the scoreboard. The Tigers took over at midfield following a North Carolina punt, and settled for a 48-yard field goal from Chandler Catanzaro to make it 7-3 with 6:19 remaining in the first half.

The Tigers appeared to have the Tar Heels stopped at least twice on a drive just before the half, but a pass interference call on third down and a wheel route that covered 51 yards set up North Carolina deep in Clemson territory. The Heels converted a fourth down play inside of Clemson’s 10-yard line, and Carolina scored on a nine-yard pass from T.J. Yates to Jherani Boyd. The score gave the Heels a 14-3 lead heading into the break.

The half completed two firsts for the North Carolina team in 2010 – the first time they had led at the end of the first quarter and the first lead at halftime.

The Tiger defense stiffened in the third quarter, and following North Carolina’s second drive of the half, Nuke Hopkins returned the Tar Heel punt 31 yards to the North Carolina 21-yard line. Three plays later, Jamie Harper took a draw play 10 yards up the middle for the first Clemson touchdown of the day, trimming the Heel lead to 14-10 with 5:34 left to play in the third quarter.

Chandler Catanzaro missed a field goal early in the fourth quarter, and the Heels turned in the drive of the day, converting two fourth-down plays on a drive that consumed 14 plays, 76 yards and took almost eight minutes off of the game clock.

Included on that drive were two calls against Clemson, both on third down, that kept the drive alive. The first one was on the third play of the drive, a play that saw Marcus Gilchrist intercept a Yates’ pass and return to the UNC 17-yard line.

A late flag – Xavier Brewer was called for pass interference on a ball that was 10 yards behind the receiver – negated the turnover. Three plays later, Byron Maxwell drew a flag on an incomplete pass on third down. Clemson forced a 4th-and-nine situation at their own 35-yard line, and Bowers appeared to sack Yates to end the threat, but he was called for offsides and the drive was once again kept alive.

The Heels took advantage of the mistakes and White scored his second touchdown of the day on a 26-yard touchdown romp that gave UNC a 21-10 lead with 6:53 to play.

The Tigers answered that score with a big play of their own, however, overcoming two drops by wide receivers on the ensuing possession when Parker hit Jaron Brown, who took the ball away from the safety, and raced 74 yards for the touchdown.

Clemson went for the two-point conversion and failed following a series of plays that saw Clemson called for two penalties and North Carolina one.

There were still five minutes and 25 seconds remaining on the game clock, and Clemson kicked off to UNC, needing one more stop out of their defense in order to give the offense one more chance. That chance never really materialized as the Heels managed four more first downs, with Johnny White doing most of the damage. The Tigers got the ball back with just 13 seconds remaining, and two Parker incomplete passes later the questions began.

Swinney said the coaching staff will go back to work on Monday, and that quitting isn’t in his vocabulary.

“The only thing I know is that I’m not a quitter,” he said. “I’ve never been a quitter. I’ll show up tomorrow. I’ll come back to work and I’ll do a better job. And I know the team will show up Monday because we don’t have any quitters on this team. But I have to help them. I’ve got to help them stop giving up big plays. I’ve got to help them be smarter when it’s third-and-nine. I’ve got to help them stop giving up pass interference calls.

“I’ve got to help them be smarter. But one thing I’ve learned all my life is that if you keep getting up, sooner or later you’re going to bust through. That’s what we have to do, we have to keep getting up off the mat. The team will come in and we’ve got to go back to work on Monday, and we’ve got to find a way to win a football game. That’s the only objective.”


ate: Oct 09, 2010  Site: Chapel Hill, NC       Stadium: Kenan Stadium

Attendance: 60000

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score

----------------- -- -- -- -- -----

Clemson............. 0 3 7 6 - 16

North Carolina...... 7 7 0 7 - 21

Scoring Summary:

1st 06:45 NC - White, J 4 yd run (Barth, C kick)

12 plays, 48 yards, TOP 6:11, CU 0 - NC 7

2nd 06:19 CU - Chandler Catanzaro 48 yd field goal

8 plays, 19 yards, TOP 2:14, CU 3 - NC 7

00:54 NC - Boyd, J 9 yd pass from Yates, T (Barth, C kick)

10 plays, 80 yards, TOP 3:29, CU 3 - NC 14

3rd 05:34 CU - Jamie Harper 10 yd run (Chandler Catanzaro kick)

3 plays, 21 yards, TOP 0:54, CU 10 - NC 14

4th 06:53 NC - White, J 26 yd run (Barth, C kick)

14 plays, 76 yards, TOP 7:57, CU 10 - NC 21

05:31 CU - Jaron Brown 74 yd pass from Kyle Parker (Kyle Parker pass failed)

5 plays, 86 yards, TOP 1:13, CU 16 - NC 21

Kickoff time: 3:36 PM End of Game: 6:57 PM Total elapsed time: 3:21

Officials: Referee: Ron Cherry; Umpire: Tom Laverty; Linesman: Perry Hudspeth;

Line judge: Rick Page; Back judge: Virgil Valdez; Field judge: Chris Brown;

Side judge: Mike Safrit; Scorer: Steve Kirschner;

Temperature: 81 Deg Wind: ESE @ 8 Weather: Mostly Sunny

Team Statistics

Team Statistics (Final)

The Automated ScoreBook

Clemson vs North Carolina (Oct 09, 2010 at Chapel Hill, NC)

CU NC

FIRST DOWNS................... 16 16

Rushing..................... 6 7

Passing..................... 9 6

Penalty..................... 1 3

NET YARDS RUSHING............. 91 91

Rushing Attempts............ 27 32

Average Per Rush............ 3.4 2.8

Rushing Touchdowns.......... 1 2

Yards Gained Rushing........ 95 125

Yards Lost Rushing.......... 4 34

NET YARDS PASSING............. 214 164

Completions-Attempts-Int.... 21-39-0 18-34-0

Average Per Attempt......... 5.5 4.8

Average Per Completion...... 10.2 9.1

Passing Touchdowns.......... 1 1

TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 305 255

Total offense plays......... 66 66

Average Gain Per Play....... 4.6 3.9

Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 2-0 0-0

Penalties: Number-Yards....... 9-81 6-49

PUNTS-YARDS................... 5-201 7-231

Average Yards Per Punt...... 40.2 33.0

Net Yards Per Punt.......... 30.8 28.3

Inside 20................... 2 1

50+ Yards................... 1 0

Touchbacks.................. 2 0

Fair catch.................. 1 1

KICKOFFS-YARDS................ 4-262 4-269

Average Yards Per Kickoff... 65.5 67.2

Net Yards Per Kickoff....... 40.2 51.0

Touchbacks.................. 0 1

Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD. 4-33-0 1-7-0

Average Per Return.......... 8.2 7.0

Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 3-45-0 4-101-0

Average Per Return.......... 15.0 25.2

Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD.. 0-0-0 0-0-0

Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD. 0-0-0 0-0-0

Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0

Possession Time............... 26:35 33:25

1st Quarter................. 7:46 7:14

2nd Quarter................. 8:01 6:59

3rd Quarter................. 9:03 5:57

4th Quarter................. 1:45 13:15

Third-Down Conversions........ 7 of 16 3 of 14

Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 1 4 of 4

Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 1-1 3-3

Touchdowns.................. 1-1 3-3

Field goals................. 0-1 0-3

Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 2-16 0-0

PAT Kicks..................... 1-1 3-3

Field Goals................... 1-2 0-0

Individual Statistics

Clemson

Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg

-------------------------------------------------

Andre Ellington 12 55 0 55 0 14 4.6

Jamie Harper 11 30 3 27 1 10 2.5

Kyle Parker 4 10 1 9 0 5 2.2

Totals... 27 95 4 91 1 14 3.4

Passing Cmp-Att-Int Yds TD Long Sack

-------------------------------------------------

Kyle Parker 21-38-0 214 1 74 0

Jamie Harper 0-1-0 0 0 0 0

Totals... 21-39-0 214 1 74 0

Receiving No. Yds TD Long

----------------------------------------

Dwayne Allen 7 55 0 10

DeAndre Hopkins 7 46 0 13

Jaron Brown 4 107 1 74

Bryce McNeal 1 7 0 7

Jamie Harper 1 1 0 1

Andre Ellington 1 -2 0 0

Totals... 21 214 1 74

Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20 TB

---------------------------------------------------

Dawson Zimmerman 5 201 40.2 51 2 2

Totals... 5 201 40.2 51 2 2

Punts Kickoffs Intercept

All Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg

--------------------------------------------------

DeAndre Hopkins 1 31 31 0 0 0 0 0 0

Jamie Harper 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0

Marcus Gilchrist 3 2 3 3 44 19 0 0 0

Totals... 4 33 31 3 45 19 0 0 0

Field goal attempts

----------------------------------------

Chandler Catanzaro 2nd 06:19 48 yds - Good

Chandler Catanzaro 4th 14:50 42 yds - Missed

Kickoffs No. Yds TB OB Avg

---------------------------------------

BENTON 4 262 0 0 65.5

North Carolina

Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg

-------------------------------------------------

White, J 22 105 16 89 2 26 4.0

Draughn, S 5 10 2 8 0 4 1.6

Yates, T 5 10 16 -6 0 8 -1.2

Totals... 32 125 34 91 2 26 2.8

Passing Cmp-Att-Int Yds TD Long Sack

-------------------------------------------------

Yates, T 18-34-0 164 1 51 2

Totals... 18-34-0 164 1 51 2

Receiving No. Yds TD Long

----------------------------------------

White, J 6 90 0 51

Highsmith, E 3 28 0 19

Boyd, J 2 14 1 9

Byrd, C 2 10 0 8

Taylor, R 2 9 0 8

Pianalto, Z 1 6 0 6

Jones, D 1 4 0 4

Elzy, A 1 3 0 3

Totals... 18 164 1 51

Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20 TB

---------------------------------------------------

Feagles, C 7 231 33.0 40 1 0

Totals... 7 231 33.0 40 1 0

Punts Kickoffs Intercept

All Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg

--------------------------------------------------

Elzy, A 0 0 0 1 10 10 0 0 0

Searcy, D 1 7 7 3 91 45 0 0 0

Totals... 1 7 7 4 101 45 0 0 0

Field goal attempts

----------------------------------------

Kickoffs No. Yds TB OB Avg

---------------------------------------

Barth, C 4 269 1 0 67.2

FUMBLES: Clemson-Marcus Gilchrist 1-0; Dwayne Allen 1-0. North Carolina-None.

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Post your comments!
Subject (Replies: 30) Author
spacer "Embarassing" loss to Tar Heels drops Tigers to 0-2 in ACC
Crump®
spacer Hey Hood you picked Carolina, so why you say embarrassing?***
deleted
spacer Cause Dabo said that***
KNIGHTIGER
spacer Yeah Dabo is embarrassing.***
deleted
spacer this talk from dabo is getting old...
tgrfan42069
spacer I agree
TotallyTigers
spacer Agreed
dago44
spacer Re: this talk from dabo is getting old...
Melclem
spacer Re: this talk from dabo is getting old...
diehard4
spacer Yeah, I think we understand it needs to be "fixed"***
Cdixon11
spacer Re: "Embarassing" loss to Tar Heels drops Tigers to 0-2 in ACC
Melclem
spacer Re: "Embarassing" loss to Tar Heels drops Tigers to 0-2 in ACC
fuzzyduck
spacer Glad he realized he is doing terribly in his job. Now, if
MacinTiger
spacer TDP would hire Napier...***
mrgrant
spacer Or Jeff Scott***
Cdixon11
spacer Great recruiter.... bad coach.... Bowden 2.0***
AFWtigerDline
spacer Re: Great recruiter.... bad coach.... Bowden 2.0***
Klimaxx01
spacer who recruits and coaches the players??
AFWtigerDline
spacer I heard that same lame excuse for years under Bowden.***
Razzmatazz
spacer What?!?!?!?!?!
Cdixon11
spacer Re: "Embarassing" loss to Tar Heels drops Tigers to 0-2 in ACC
FordPower
spacer Dabo, its time for you and your staff to fall on the sword!!
deleted
spacer Hey Dabo! How about "I saw....
RU4GOD2
spacer Well that's not a very god like thing to say....***
TigerTown
spacer Re: Well that's not a very god like thing to say....***
icebucket®
spacer Nope, a lack of discipline does. Who's fault is that?***
ClemsonPoker489®
spacer I think the following editorial sums up the poor coaching.
Razzmatazz
spacer Re: I think the following editorial sums up the poor coaching.
pawacoot
spacer So I gues you agree with the criticisms of the poor coaching***
Razzmatazz
spacer Once again, the insurance salesman knows exactly what to
bertrous
spacer Re: "Embarassing" loss to Tar Heels drops Tigers to 0-2 in ACC
scooter6762