Clemson football is back in Death Valley this weekend, and this time it actually means something in the ACC standings. The North Carolina Tar Heels are coming to town Saturday at noon for Clemson’s conference opener, and there are a couple of pretty obvious things to watch.
Can Clemson run the football? And can Clemson stop giving up big plays because somebody forgot what they were supposed to be doing? Those seem like reasonable questions after the first two games.
The Tigers are 1-1, while North Carolina comes into Death Valley at 2-0. Clemson did get back in the win column last weekend with a 24-9 win over Georgia Southern, but Nolan Hauser was the biggest weapon in that game, making five field goals. Five. That’s a hell of a day for a kicker, but Clemson probably doesn’t want its kicker to be the most important part of the offense every Saturday.
At some point, the Tigers have to run the football. They need to be able to line up, hand the ball to somebody and move the damn thing. That’s going to be particularly important against North Carolina, which has been very good against the run through the first two games. If Clemson can establish the running game, it makes everything else easier and gives the offense a chance to control the game.
The defense has some work to do, too. Clemson has shown flashes of being really good, but there have also been missed assignments, busted coverages and guys who simply haven’t been where they were supposed to be. You can get away with some of that against certain teams. You can’t make a habit of it once ACC play starts.
If North Carolina drives 75 yards and scores because it executes better than Clemson, that’s football. If it scores because somebody blows a coverage and leaves a receiver running around by himself, that’s a completely different problem. Clemson has to clean that stuff up.
That’s really what Saturday is about. It’s the first ACC game, it’s at home and it’s the first chance to see what this Clemson team looks like when the games start counting in the conference standings.
Run the football. Play assignment-sound defense. Don’t give away easy plays.
It really shouldn’t be that complicated. Of course, if football were actually that simple, they wouldn’t need about 20 coaches standing on the sideline with headsets.
The Tigers and Tar Heels will meet Saturday at noon inside Death Valley.
Here is everything we think we know about Clemson’s ACC opener against North Carolina.
University of North Carolina Tar Heels
School Location: Chapel Hill, SC
Game Location: Clemson Memorial Stadium
Time: Saturday 9/19; Noon EST
2026 Record – 2-0; (0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference)
Wins Against: TCU (15-10); ETSU (35-3)
Losses against: none
Head Coach
Bill Belichick (2nd Season at UNC; Career: 6-8 at UNC)
Bill Belichick is in his second season at North Carolina, which still feels a little weird to type. After spending nearly 50 years coaching in the NFL and winning six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, Belichick made the jump to college football and took over the Tar Heels in 2025. Now he’s trying his hand at building a college program, complete with recruiting, the transfer portal and, presumably, significantly more conversations about 18-to-22-year-olds than he ever expected to have. Belichick brought his legendary attention to detail and defensive philosophy to Chapel Hill, and now gets his first shot at Clemson in Death Valley.
Offense
Offensive Coordinator: Bobby Petrino (1st Season at UNC)
Bobby Petrino is in his first season running the offense at North Carolina, bringing nearly four decades of coaching experience and a résumé that includes head coaching stops at Louisville, Arkansas, Western Kentucky and Missouri State. Petrino has built a reputation for developing quarterbacks and designing explosive offenses, including coaching Lamar Jackson during his Heisman Trophy season at Louisville.
Petrino’s offenses have traditionally been aggressive and balanced, but he has emphasized getting the running game established at UNC. That could make Saturday particularly interesting for Clemson, which will need to clean up its run defense and eliminate the coverage busts that have led to big plays early this season.
Here is a look at the projected offensive starters for North Carolina from the published depth chart, as well as their opening weeks statistics:
| Quarterback | Billy Edwards, Jr. (Wisconsin/Maryland) | 5th Year | 9 | 9 rushes, -7 yds net | 31-of-48, 476 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT |
| Running Back | Benjamin Hall (Michigan) | Senior | 7 | 15 carries, 85 yards, 5.7 avg, 0 TD | 3 rec., 27 yards, 1 TD |
| Wide Receiver | Jordan Shipp | Junior | 1 | 7 rec., 96 yards, 13.7 avg, 0 TD | |
| Wide Receiver | Trech Kekahuna (Wisconsin) | Senior | 2 | 4 rec., 54 yards, 13.5 avg, 0 TD | |
| Wide Receiver | Mason Humprey | Senior | 4 | 2 rec., 21 yards, 10.5 avg, 0 TD | |
| Tight End | Jelani Thurman (Ohio State) | Senior | 45 | 8 rec., 165 yards, 20.6 avg, 1 TD | |
| Left Tackle | Jordan Hall (UAB) | Senior | 66 | ||
| Left Guard | Andrew Threatt | Senior | 75 | ||
| Center | Christo Kelly (Holy Cross) | 5th Year | 56 | ||
| Right Guard | Aidan Banfield | Junior | 68 | ||
| Right Tackle | Jacqawn McRoy (Arkansas) | Junior | 71 |
Defense
Defensive Coordinator: Brian Belichick – (Interim; Replacing Brother as Defensive Playcaller)
Brian Belichick takes over as North Carolina’s interim defensive playcaller after his brother Steve resigned from the position. Brian has spent the past several seasons on the Tar Heels’ defensive staff and now takes on the added responsibility of calling the defense.
The younger Belichick has plenty of experience to draw from, having worked alongside his father, Bill, and brother Steve during his coaching career. Now he’ll get his first real test as the man making the defensive calls when North Carolina travels to Death Valley Saturday.
North Carolina’s defense has been impressive through the first two games, allowing just 6.5 points and 268 total yards per game. The Tar Heels have been particularly good against the run, giving up only 91.5 rushing yards per game and 2.5 yards per carry. They’ve also recorded seven sacks and three takeaways. The one number that jumps out is the 67.2% completion rate they’ve allowed, although opponents are averaging just 176.5 passing yards per game. For Clemson, the challenge is pretty obvious: establish the run against a defense that has been very good at stopping it, while taking advantage of whatever opportunities exist in the passing game.
Here is a look at the projected starters for the Tar Heels on defense along with stats from the first couple of weeks.
| Defensive End | Leroy Jackson | Junior | 91 | 13 TKL, 0 TFL, 0 SK |
| Nose Tackle | Isaiah Johnson (Arizona) | 5th Year | 0 | 8 TKL, 0.5 TFL |
| Defensive Tackle | Xavier Lewis | Sophomore | 90 | 12 TKL, 6.5 TFL, 4 SK |
| Defensive End | Melkart Abou Jaoude*** | 5th Year | 18 | 4 TKL, 1 TFL, 1 SK, 1 FF |
| Defensive End/Outside Linebacker | Jaylen Harvey (Penn State) | Junior | 11 | 8 TKL, 2 TFL, 2 SK, 1 FF |
| Middle Linebacker | Derek McDonald (Syracuse) | 5th Year | 15 | 14 TKL |
| Weakside Linebacker | Peyton Seelmann (Richmond) | Junior | 10 | 12 TKL, 1 FF |
| Cornerback | Jaiden Patterson | Junior | 18 | 3 TKL, 1 PBU |
| Strong Safety | Greg Smith (Florida) | Junior | 1 | 9 TKL, 1 INT, 1 PBU |
| Free Safety | Peyton Waters | Junior | 7 | 6 TKL |
| Nickelback | Kaleb Cost | Senior | 2 | 4 TKL |
| Cornerback | Tre Miller | Senior | 6 | 1 TKL |
***listed as questionable
Special Teams
Here is a list of the specialists for North Carolina along with statistics from the first two weeks:
| Kicker | Aeron Burrell (LSU) | Junior | 92 | 2/4 FG, 50.0%, Long 42; 6/6 PAT |
| Punter | Aeron Burrell (LSU) | Junior | 92 | 5 punts, 229 yds, 45.8 avg, Long 52, 3 inside 20 |
| Punt Returner | JoJo Troupe | RS Freshman | 2 | 1 return, 8 yards, 8.0 avg |
| Kick Returner | JoJo Troupe | RS Freshman | 2 | 1 KR, 24 yds, 24.0 avg |
Final Thought
Well, here we go.
ACC football is here, and Clemson opens conference play against an undefeated North Carolina team in Death Valley. Bill Belichick is bringing his 2-0 Tar Heels into Clemson, and the Tigers are going to find out pretty quickly if they have actually fixed some of the things that have stuck out to even the untrained eye through the first two weeks.
We’ve seen occasional good things from Clemson. We’ve also seen some things that need to get fixed in order to have a decent season. The running game needs to get going, the defense needs to stop giving up big plays and somebody needs to make sure everyone knows what the hell they’re doing when the ball is snapped. That’s probably a pretty good place to start.
North Carolina isn’t coming to Clemson to help the Tigers work out the kinks, either. The Tar Heels have played good defense, they’re undefeated and they’re going to make Clemson earn everything it gets.
That’s what makes this one interesting.
It’s the first ACC game. It’s in Death Valley. It’s against an undefeated team. And after two weeks, I think most of us are still trying to figure out exactly what this Clemson team is going to be.
So let’s find out.
Let’s see if Clemson can run the football. Let’s see if the defense can play a clean game. Let’s see if the offense can put together some drives and, for once, give Nolan Hauser a little time off.
Because as good as Nolan Hauser has been, I’m pretty sure nobody wants to see him kick five field goals every Saturday.
Clemson football is back in Death Valley, the ACC schedule is here and there is a pretty good football game waiting on the other side of noon.
Let’s go.
Spot the ball!
Go Tigers!
