When the ACC schedules came out earlier this year, it was pretty clear what the conference was setting up this weekend. The Tar Heels had already scheduled their four non-conference games to start the season—something that Mack Brown had wanted to establish before he was unceremoniously fired from Hawaii last year—so it would take at least four weeks for them to play a conference game. Clemson, meanwhile, spreads their non-conference games out including the last one of the season against South Carolina and they like to play a tune-up game before that, so they were gifted games against mid-tier teams that a national power should win relatively easily.
Thus with a week off, the ACC had this weekend set as a real marquee weekend. Clemson/UNC and Miami/FSU had a chance to be the biggest conference weekend slate in a long time as a national power faced off against the legendary coach, and if FSU rebounded you’d have a fierce rivalry with national implications.
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Well, one of those scenarios worked out.
While FSU does have a loss to Virginia under their belt, they aren’t out of the running for the conference title which in a way adds even more urgency to the game against an undefeated Miami. The other matchup? Those mid-tier ACC opponents both defeated Clemson, and in fact the Tigers’ only win was an unimpressive one over Troy. If you’re reading this post, you know just how horrid things have looked for Carolina when they’ve faced “real” competition. That said, at least their one game against an FCS opponent was more impressive than Clemson’s.
As it is, what the conference was hoping would be at worse a matchup between two 3-1 teams instead is a battle of two teams looking to salvage what they can of the 2025 season.
Clemson comes to Chapel Hill for the first time since Mack Brown’s 2.0 season, another early season matchup that saw the legend of Sam Howell grow and the Tar Heels barely lose thanks to a failed two-point conversion. Fans admired the decision if not the play, and while the Tar Heels would continue an up and down season it sparked hope for the first time since Mitchell Trubisky was under center. Since that loss the Tar Heels have seen Clemson twice—both games not especially close though their most recent meeting in Clemson two seasons ago was at least competitive.
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Now Clemson has to be licking its lips at a Tar Heel defense that is the very definition of bend-don’t-break, and then when it breaks it breaks. In both games against P4 opponents the middle eight section of the game doomed Carolina. While Clemson is just 1-3, the fact remains the talent on both sides of the ball is the best Carolina has faced all season, and with as much as they’ve struggled against middling Big XII opponents—most expect that struggle to be even worst against a team with NFL talent.
The question is going to be what will motivate the Tigers to play to their potential? With two conference losses there is a worry about just how much the team will care about getting bashed at this point. If they hadn’t been able to get up enough to beat Syracuse and Clemson, how on earth are they going to rise to the challenge of an easily overmatched Carolina team? The answer may be the guy on the sidelines—there’s little question the draw for Carolina this year was Bill Belichick, and the players may love the idea of getting in a win against a guy they grew up watching on TV winning Super Bowls.
For Carolina there are questions abound on offense as the staff seems to really want to stick it out with Gio Lopez. Despite leaving the game early against UCF with what appeared to be a significant injury, there has really been no other news coming out of Kenan Stadium as to how long he’ll be out—or if he’ll be out at all. This very well could be gamesmanship from the coaching staff, but if Lopez doesn’t go all signs seem to point to Max Johnson getting the nod. Whether this means down the road they’d trust one of the freshmen is another question, and one that can be addressed during their next off week. They have strength at running back but Clemson also knows this and has the power to shut down any of the Tar Heel Backs. They are going to have to make throws to have a shot.
The Festivities get started early because of the noon kickoff on ESPN. This is Carolina’s last real chance to make noise this season, the question is whether or not they even have the ability to.
