North Carolina couldn’t win its first ACC football championship in 42 years on Saturday night, and the Tar Heels lost their third consecutive game in the process as well.
Carolina’s 39-10 loss saw the Tar Heels score a touchdown on their first drive but that was it. Just one field goal while Clemson outscored them 39-3 the rest of the way for a final of 39-10.
UNC dropped to 9-4 overall and out of the national rankings for the first time in nearly two months. The Tar Heels will next face Oregon in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on December 28.
Instead of full offensive and defensive stat breakdowns, we are doing something different from this game. Here are the grades of each player that got into the game on both sides of the ball. Their snap numbers are in parentheses followed by their grades. We will also add some perspective.
OFFENSE
Jacolby Criswell (4) – 74.8.
Josh Downs (74) – 71.0
Gavin Blackwell (10) – 70.1
Spencer Rolland (82) – 65.5
Kamari Morales (42) – 64.0
Elijah Green (74) – 63.6
J.J. Jones (34) – 61.9
Drake Maye (78) – 60.2
Antoine Green (72) – 60.0
Jonathan Adorno (4) – 59.9
D.J. Jones (6) – 59.7
Omarion Hampton (2) – 59.2.
Corey Gaynor (82) – 58.9
Ed Montilus (82) – 58.7
Bryson Nesbit (33) – 57.1
John Copenhaver (23) – 57.0
William Barnes (82) – 55.0
Asim Richards (78) – 54.1
Kobe Paysour (40) – 52.6
THI's Take
With just 20 players getting a snap on offense in a game the Tar Heels lost by7 29 points, it’s clear the depth the staff talked about in August just wasn’t there toward the end of the season. And that’s with the running backs the only position to suffer consequential attrition, as reflected in this game. The blowout loss was an opportunity for certain kids to get some needed snaps, since the Heels have only had two games that were truly lopsided before this one (FAMU, Virginia Tech).
As for the grades, four highly experienced offensive linemen in the 50s says a lot. Maye had his third so-so (at best) grading as well.
DEFENSE
Kedrick Bingley-Jones (9) – 73.1
Jahvaree Ritzie (36) – 72.9
Kaimon Rucker (48) – 72.5
Myles Murphy (45) – 67.4
Gio Biggers (40) – 65.6
Will Hardy (56) – 65.4
Don Chapman (28) – 64.7
Marcus Allen (59) – 64.2
Tony Grimes (4) – 62.8
Travis Shaw (16) – 62.4
Power Echols (47) – 61.9
Chris Collins (14) – 61.2
Jacolbe Cowan (36) – 61.1
Malaki Hamrick (2) – 60.4
Jahlil Taylor (2) – 60.3
Kevin Hester (30) – 60.1
Lejond Covazos (52) – 58.2
Cedric Gray (59) – 55.5
DeAndre Boykins (59) – 45.5
RaRa Dillworth (7) – 38.4
THI's Take
The defense has had a great deal of attrition, so only 21 players getting a snap in a four-touchdown loss isn’t a concern. The unit was pretty good at times and not at all in other stretches. The real positives are the snaps Will Hardy and Marcus Allen got, plus Myles Murphy playing 45 snaps and getting a decent grade is encouraging he has overcome the ankle that seriously hindered him earlier in the season.
