UNC's Mack Brown says the Tigers have awakened, look like a playoff team

UNC coach Mack Brown says the boys are back with how Clemson is playing right now. (Photo: Brett Davis / USATODAY)

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Nov 15 07:00:06 GMT-04:00 2023

North Carolina head coach Mack Brown says the Tigers woke up and look like the Clemson of old.

The Tigers and Tar Heels face off Saturday at 3:30 pm on ESPN in a rematch of last year’s ACC Championship Game. Quarterback Cade Klubnik came off the bench and led the Tigers to a 39-10 victory over Brown’s Tar Heels.

“Clemson is one of the premier programs in the country. They've recruited well every year. They've got great players. They've got great coaches,” Brown said this week. “Dabo’s home record is 96-9 at Clemson, which I'd take here. I think that's pretty good. But they're playing so much better the last two weeks. Their whole problem was they were turning the ball over, and they put turn it over.

Brown said the Tigers are dangerous when they don’t turn the ball over.

“They're forcing turnovers now instead of turning the ball over, and they're playing with a lot more confidence,” he said. “You can tell the beating Notre Dame at home and beating Georgia Tech like they did, and it was a lot worse than the score because they were way out there, and I got to see part of that game because of our night game. But they totally dominated Georgia Tech in a game where we lost on the road. It'll be a fun environment but a tough environment.

“Dabo is one of the best coaches to ever do it. He's a Hall of Famer, just waiting until he gets out to get in. We just played him in the championship game, so we're very familiar with them. Cade came in at quarterback the first time he'd ever come off the bench and played, had an unbelievable game against us. We had a very emotional game on Saturday night with a rival. We got a very emotional game coming up at Death Valley this weekend, and then we'll have another emotional game over at Raleigh the next weekend. Our guys have to step up and be tough and be very confident to get through this stretch at the end of the year.”

He then said he loves the challenge of playing in a place like Death Valley.

“I always love going on the road and playing in great places. You hate to go on the road and play where there's nobody there,” Brown said. “That's where it's boring. But I love road games with big crowds – those are the most challenging things you can have. You look at the 96-9, not many people have won there. What a great challenge for us. Nobody will think we're going to win. Everybody will think Clemson is going to win. That doesn't happen around here much anyway. Everybody thinks we're going to win all the time. We're very rarely an underdog. That's fun too.”

Brown said the Tigers woke up.

“They're old Clemson again. They're playing like a playoff team. They're protecting the ball. They're running the ball so well,” he said. “Cade threw the ball really well the other night. They dominated a Georgia Tech team that beat us. I sat there and watched it and said, ‘Uh-oh, the boys are back. They woke up.’”