FILE – In this November 28, 2015, file photo, North Carolina’s Andre Smith (56) tackles North Carolina State’s Nyheim Hines (7) during the first half an NCAA college football game in Raleigh, N.C. The defensive turnaround for eighth-ranked North Carolina is one of the biggest reasons the Tar Heels have gotten to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game. “If we would have played the way we did in the last three quarters, we would have been in that game and possibly won that game”. Now we’ve played in a lot of games, we’ve seen what we’ve been able to do in a lot of games.
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“So I think this team is very deserving”.
“So I think that’ll help us, and his intensity level helps raise everybody else’s level, too, and that’s something that we need to have at a higher level on a more consistent basis”. “Going into that first game, we knew that we had the potential to be good, but we didn’t know where we were”.
Luck (and caliber of opponents) has certainly played a part in Clemson overcoming those miscues. The Tigers have not closed as a favorite of less than 8 points since October 3 vs. Notre Dame, and have been favored in every game this seaon.
“I’m not putting really any pressure on myself, ” he said. “That’s a good metaphor for how we wanted to come out and make a statement to them”. “Because there were points in the game where I said, ‘Gene, they’ve got to do this, this and this to beat us, all right”.
Quarterback Marquise Williams threw for 174 yards, completing 19 of 30 passes.
Watson has run for 756 yards and nine touchdowns and passed for 3,223 yards with 27 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The Tigers have fumbled 12 times – although running back Wayne Gallman has lost the ball just twice on 215 carries.
But the Wolfpack, playing on Senior Day, got no closer than 12 points after the opening quarter until a meaningless TD in the final 2 minutes. “That is not who we are”.
But the Tar Heels already have conquered some tall mountains. He said the Tigers would continue to run drills and make sure the players improve fundamentally.
“It just kind of gives you a measuring stick of where you’re at”, he said. It will let us know where we are, where we stand as team.
They might not be so lucky this week.
In short, under Chizik, who was head coach of 2010 national champion Auburn, they’ve come a long way since the first play vs. Clemson when receiver Germone Hopper was wide open for an easy 74-yard touchdown to open the floodgates.
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After three games in a row with 100 percent ball security, UNC turned the ball over against both Virginia Tech and NC State. UNC allowed a season-high 34 points during a 45-34 victory at N.C. State on Saturday. However, I think the return of Paige should galvanize the Tar Heels in terms of spirit and performance, ultimately leading them to victory. “Our guys have found a way”.
