No Hesitation, The Heels Were Going For The Win

CHAPEL HILL – In Mack Brown’s mind there was no doubt, he was going to go for it. And he had just cause, too.

His team had spent the first 58 minutes and 44 seconds battling the No. 1 team in the nation to what was essentially a standstill and found itself in a position precious few people thought was possible. North Carolina had just scored a touchdown on a one-yard plunge by Javonte Williams to cut Clemson’s margin to 21-20 with 1:16 left on the clock and the nation watching.

Brown, without any hesitation, told his team to go for two. The Tar Heels were going for the win.

But it didn’t happen.

UNC quarterback Sam Howell ran an option play to the right that Clemson sniffed out bottling him up and preserving the margin and victory for the defending national champions.

“I felt like with the clock getting down to 1:16, our best chance to win was to go for two because we had been out there a lot on defense and were worn down and they had more depth than we had. I just felt like it was our chance,” Brown said.

It was a gusty call. Kicking the extra point would have tied the game giving Clemson just 76 seconds to get into field goal range to try and win it in regulation. Also, Tigers’ kicker B.T. Potter had missed a field goal earlier in the game.

But there was no doubt to Brown, and it was indeed his call.

“There was one guy making that decision and it was me…,” he said. “I asked (offensive coordinator) Phil (Longo), ‘do you have a play that you think is going to work to score to win the game, to beat the No. 1 team in the country,’ and he said yes, and we ran it and it didn’t work.”

The players had no problem with the decision.

“We were really confident,” center Brian Anderson said. “When coach said we were going for two, that’s something coach that we were all excited about. We knew, especially with all the momentum we had with the fans and the students having the stadium rocking, that’s something that put a lot of confidence in us. And to know we have players that are confident in us to run a play like that is something you have to love as a player.”

But Clemson had a pretty good idea of what was coming.

Tigers’ coach Dabo Swinney said UNC calling timeout to set up its play allowed defensive coordinator Brent Venables to get the right personnel on the field.

“Brent said we would probably get the speed option, they'll put the ball in the quarterback's hands and see if they could find a crease on us,” Swinney said. “What a play.”

It was a terrific play by Clemson and a risky one by UNC, though Brown is comfortable with his choice, though he added some humor to the tenor of the postgame press conference.

“We’re having a different conversation had we made it,” he said. “You’re all talking about me being a genius instead of an idiot.”