CLEMSON, SC – North Carolina left points on the field again Saturday, and the Tar Heels also made numerous mistakes in falling, 30-21 at Clemson at Memorial Stadium.

The Tar Heels fumbled the ball inside the 5-yard-line twice in the first quarter, helped extend Clemson drives with a series of penalties, and simply lost the battles at the line of scrimmage in losing to the surging Tigers.

UNC dropped to 8-3 overall and 4-3 in the ACC, while the Tigers improved to 7-4 and finish their ACC slate at 4-4.

Here is how it happened:

*Maye 24 yards to Nesbit into Clemson territory, and then on 4th-and=6, he connected with Tez Walker for a beautiful 43-yarder to the Tigers’ 5. But Imarion Hampton fumbled two plays later giving Clemson the ball.

*On UNC’s third possession, after converting a third down, Maye rolled to his right escaping a heavy rush, and throwing off his back foot, hit J.J. Jones going left-to-right in the end zone for a 33-yard score. The PAT was good giving UNC a 7-0 lead with 4:31 left in the quarter.

*Note: The series started after UNC (Cedric Gray) snuffed out a fake punt by Clemson.

***Maye has four completions for 107 yards at this point.

*Ced Gray with a play and then Will Hardy plays that pass perfectly, UNC forces a punt. UNC forces second straight 3-and-out.

*Hampton fumbled for the second time in the quarter after going up the gut, cutting right and racing to the end zone, but he was stripped at the 1 and it was ruled a fumble. So all he got was a 63-yard run.

UNC gained 198 yards in the quarter but scored just 7 points.

UNC 7, Clemson 0.

*Clemson uses 6:29 off the clock on a 15-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to tie the score. This was the possession that followed Hampton's second fumble.

*Nearing the end of the half, the Tigers marched getting plays of 17 and 19 yards, plus a personal foul on UNC's Don Chapman. But Clemson's Will Shipley fumbled the ball at just about the same spot as Hampton's first fumble, and UNC recovered.

*Carolina stalled, but didn't use much time off the clock. A timeout on 2nd-and-18 from its 15 with 1:30 ended up giving Clemson the time it needed to score a touchdown with three seconds left in the half.

It appeared UNC got a stop when Gio Biggers intercepted a Cade Klubnik pass in the end zone, but Cedric Gray was called for roughing the passer on the play. Klubnik scored a few plays later for a 14-7 lead.

Halftime: Clemson 14, UNC 7.

*UNC failed on another fourth-down attempt on its first drive of the quarter, and then Clemson went 56 yards on seven plays for a touchdown. A 31-yard pass play was crucial on the drive. Clemson pushed its lead to 21-7.

*The Tar Heels were their own worst enemies in the quarter, with penalties stalling their own drives and keeping alive Clemson's, incluidng a roughing the passer by Gray that led to another Tigers TD later that drive.

*Carolina got a boost when Hampton raced 55 yards for a score, but the Heels gave it right back up on Clemson's next possession.

Clemson 28, UNC 14.

*In extending its lead to 31-14, Clemson went 88 yards on 11 plays, which included plays of 17, 14 and 36 yards. A 21-yard field goal made it 31-14 with 10:33 left.

*The Tar Heels didn't go quietly, as they marched into the end zone cutting the score to 31-20 with 7:03 left. But UNC curiously went for a 2-point conversion and failed. A PAT would have made it a 10-point game and it would have needed a TD and field goal. Not converting meant the Heels needed two TDs.

Final: Clemson 31, UNC 20