Clemson starts fast, routs UNC 38-10
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- Cade Klubnick threw four touchdown passes as Clemson broke a two-game losing skid by dominating UNC 28-10 on Saturday.
It was another tough day at the office for North Carolina coach Bill Belichick, who watched his team fall behind 28-3 in the first quarter.
Not even Ludacris could help the Tar Heels on this day.
"Didn't get off to a good start today, too many yards in the passing game," Belichick said. "Too many points to overcome."
Antonio Williams threw a 75-yard trick-play touchdown pass to T.J. Moore on the first offensive snap to start Clemson's dominating show.
The coaching matchup of Clemson's Dabo Swinney and North Carolina's Belichick became a romp by the Tigers (2-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who quickly overwhelmed the Tar Heels (2-3, 0-1) and then cruised through the second half.
"Everybody's kind of been in a little bit of funk," Swinney said. "And today they kind of played themselves out of it."
Clemson scored 28 points while averaging 15.8 yards per play in the opening quarter. Cade Klubnik threw four TD passes by halftime - two each to Adam Randall and Christian Bentancur - before giving way in the third to reserve Christopher Vizzina.
Klubnik completed 22 of 24 passes for 254 yards in his abbreviated afternoon.
"Cade was awesome," Swinney said.
Max Johnson threw for 213 yards in starting for the injured Gio Lopez for UNC, while Benjamin Hall ran for a fourth-quarter touchdown with the outcome long decided.
The Tigers had largely driven most of the home fans to the Kenan Stadium exits by halftime with a 35-3 lead, another telling visual of how UNC's bet on hiring the 73-year-old Belichick as a first-time college coach has gone so far.
Clemson was the preseason ACC favorite and opened the year ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25, only to go 1-3 for the worst start in Swinney's long tenure. But they were never threatened to start October.
This marked only the second pairing of coaches with multiple national championships against one with multiple Super Bowl titles, though it had lost its luster with each team's September start.
Only the Tigers managed to show a different trajectory.
"I thought we had a good week, I think we were ready to go," Belichick said. "Unfortunately, we gave up some big plays early in the game that really tilted the game, and were just never able to recover."
UNC is paying Belichick -- who won six Super Bowl titles leading the NFL's New England Patriots -- at least $10 million guaranteed for three seasons as part of an upgraded football investment. His debut was a 48-14 flop against TCU, with Kenan largely empty in the third quarter. There was also a 34-9 loss at UCF. Add Saturday, and UNC now has a touchdown on 4 of 29 drives (13.8%) against power-conference opponents, not counting drives stopped by halftime or game's end.
The Tar Heels get another open week before visiting California on Oct. 17.
"We're going to keep working," Belichick said. "We're going to keep grinding."
The Associated Press contributed.
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