Desperate for their first ACC win of the season, the Clemson Tigers (1-3, 0-2 ACC) hit the road to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels (2-2, 0-0 ACC) this Saturday. It’s a matchup between the league’s longtime standard-bearer and a Tar Heel program trying to climb the conference’s ranks.
During the week, Clemson players and coaches described what North Carolina brings on both sides of the ball. UNC carries strong levels of NFL influence (seven former NFL coaches are on staff), and a strong pedigree.
Senior center Ryan Linthicum had high praise for the Heels’ defense on Tuesday, including insight into their scheme. “UNC is very talented,” Linthicum said. “They are kind of NFL style defense. They run a lot of okie. They’ve got some big dudes. They’re very well coached. It’s going to be a great test for us and I’m excited to go out there and play with my o-linemen.”
An ‘okie’ front consists of three defensive lineman, who line up over the left tackle, center, and right tackle, respectively. When offensive line coach Matt Luke was asked about North Carolina’s front on Wednesday afternoon, he made comparisons to the next level.
“They’ve got big guys,” Luke said. “With Coach Belichick in the NFL, that’s kind of his model: those big defensive linemen. They’ve got big defensive ends and big interior guys. That’ll be a challenge for sure…..They do play a lot of oki, which is a zero nose and two four-Is and big, heavy guys inside. Obviously, there’s a challenge for the center when there is a zero-nose and a challenge when they got bigger defensive tackle-type bodies on your tackles.”
Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik gave credit to the Tar Heels’ front as well, though he is confident that the Clemson offense can gameplan their way around it.
“They’ll definitely get into some double-okie stuff, some even stuff, some under stuff,” Klubnik explained. “But we’ve got a great plan for it. I think that our coaches do a great job getting the offensive line ready for it and the tight ends ready for it.”
On the perimeter, Clemson wide receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. praised the talent at defensive back for UNC, but wanted to keep the focus on what the Tigers’ offense does.
“They’ve got some really good players on their back end,” Wesco said. “We’re going to have to go out there and be confident in us, play Clemson football and just execute well.”
On the other side of the ball, North Carolina sports a pair of starting-caliber quarterbacks in sophomore transfer Gio Lopez and senior Max Johnson. Lopez started a lopsided 34-9 defeat at the hands of UCF two weeks ago, before being replaced by Johnson due to injury.
Will Heldt told the media Wednesday that he’s confident in the defense’s ability to slow down whoever is under center for the Tar Heels.
“They’ve got some dynamic playmakers [on offense],” Heldt said. “One of [their QBs] is a little bit more of a runner than the other…that’s something to be cognizant of, especially from a defensive line standpoint. But we’re ready to go, and not too worried about that. [We’re] more so worried about what we have to do on our side.”
