Throwback Thursday – Tigers Escape Chapel Hill
By Zachary Wagner
One of the most surprising teams of the 2019 college football season were the North Carolina Tar Heels under first-year Head Coach Mack Brown. Coming off a 2-9 season, North Carolina fans were hoping 2019 brought them any spark of hope with Brown taking the reins. Clemson quickly found out why the Tar Heels were one of those surprise teams in week five of the 2019 season.
The Scene:
The Tar Heels started the year a surprising 2-0, picking up wins over South Carolina and Miami with a true freshman starting quarterback under center in Sam Howell. Clemson, on the other hand, came in with a 4-0 record and the #1 team in the nation. The Tigers had won every game so far of the season by more than two touchdowns and was coming off a 52-10 win over Charlotte.
It was the first time Clemson had traveled to Chapel Hill in nine years and the first time the Tigers had matched up against North Carolina since the 2016 ACC Championship Game.
The Game:
The Tar Heels grabbed an early lead off a 40-yard touchdown pass on their first drive surprising the Tiger defense and energizing the North Carolina home crowd.
The Clemson offense was unable to get anything going during the first quarter, putting up only 64 yards and the most exciting play came on a 38-yard kickoff return from freshman Joseph Ngata.
The Tigers put up their first points of the afternoon on the first drive of the second quarter, as Travis Etienne found the endzone on a rush from 13 yards out. With the scored knotted at 7-7, North Carolina found the endzone on a 10-yard pass on the ensuing drive to take the lead back, 14-7.
Trevor Lawrence would take matters into his own hands 33 seconds before halftime, finding the endzone from three yards out to tie the game 14-14 heading to the break.
A scoreless third quarter for both teams had fans on both sidelines biting their nails to stubs as North Carolina fans seeked the biggest upset in years and Tiger fans feared their winning streak would be coming to an end.
Tee Higgins made one of the biggest plays of the season on the Tigers first drive of the fourth quarter, fighting off two defenders en route to a 38-yard touchdown to give Clemson a 21-14 lead with just over 12 minutes remaining.
The Tar Heels received the ball back with nine minutes remaining in the contest trailing the #1 team in the nation by seven.
A 16 play, 75-yard touchdown drive put North Carolina within one point of Clemson, 21-20. Mack Brown made a gutsy call and decided to go for two points and play for the win instead of overtime.
The Clemson defense swarmed to the ball as North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell rushed to the right side of the field and tackled the freshman at the one yard line to secure the win in Chapel Hill for the first time since 2002.
Despite a rocky day from Lawrence and Etienne, Clemson survived a scare from the Tar Heels and extended the nation’s best winning streak to 20 games.
