The North Carolina Tar Heels dominated Charlotte (21-3) and Richmond (41-6) on the football field in Weeks 2 and 3, turning in exceptional defensive performances during each victory.
On Saturday afternoon in its ACC opener from Kenan Stadium, UNC’s defense took a massive step backwards during its lopsided, 38-10 defeat against Clemson.
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North Carolina (2-3, 0-1 ACC) allowed 30+ points for the second consecutive game, as UCF scored 34 during Week 4’s matchup from Orlando. The Tar Heels gave up 488 yards on the day, but their greatest struggles came during a lackluster first quarter, when Clemson (2-3, 1-2 ACC) gained 253 yards and scored 28 points.
During UNC’s postgame press conference, safety Jaiden Patterson detailed his team’s defensive struggles, pointing to simple execution.
Patterson was a defensive leader in Carolina Blue on Saturday, recording a team-best six solo tackles and two pass breakups, plus a tackle for loss.
“We just got outworked,” Patterson said. “On the small plays, there were a couple plays where we just didn’t execute and do our jobs. (It was) miscommunication. That’s what led to a lot of yards. We still got us seven more games, all ACC play. I’m pretty confident in our team to go and work during this bye week – and keep playing.”
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On an afternoon where positives seemingly evaded North Carolina throughout, second-half defense gave the struggling program something to build off.
After allowing the Tigers to stomp all over them for 367 first-half yards, the Tar Heels held their ACC opponents to 121 second-half yards.
Granted, Clemson had most of its backups in by this point, but Patterson also touched on what that second-half improvement means.
“I would say it shows we got heart,” Patterson said. Even when we was down third quarter, they still had (some of) their starters in. We just kept ballin’.”
UNC and its defense will take a much-needed reset into Week 7, its second bye in three weeks. On Friday, October 17, North Carolina will get its next test in the 4-1 California Bolden Bears.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Jaiden Patterson says UNC football got outworked in loss to Clemson
