The last time the Tar Heels played on the famous orange Tiger Paw in Clemson’s Memorial Stadium, it was the first collegiate start for Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson. Watson is now in his seventh season in the NFL.
The year was 2014, and Carolina walked out with a 50-35 loss at the hands of Watson, head coach Dabo Swinney and the Tigers. It was just one part of an outrageous home record Swinney has built at Clemson: 96-9 since 2009.
UNC head coach Mack Brown is no stranger to hostile road environments, and said he’s relishing the opportunity to play in one of the nation’s toughest venues. He also said he’s expecting his team to rise to meet the challenge.
“I always love going on the road and playing in great places,” said Brown. “You hate to go on the road and play where there’s nobody there. Road games with big crowds are the most challenging things you can have. You look at the 96-9 [record], not many people have won there.
“What a great challenge for us. Nobody will think we’re gonna win. Everybody will think Clemson’s gonna win. That doesn’t happen around here much anyway; everybody thinks we’re gonna win all the time. We’re very rarely an underdog, so that’s fun too.”
Indeed, the Tigers currently stand as touchdown favorites over Carolina on Saturday. It’s UNC’s first time as a regular-season underdog since September of 2022. That was UNC’s famous (or infamous, depending on who you talk to) 63-61 win at App State, which stands as one of the finest performances of quarterback Drake Maye’s career.
Saturday’s game will be Maye’s first visit to Death Valley. Or more accurately, his first visit as a college player. Maye was recruited by Swinney and Clemson coming out of high school and took a trip there for a game. But now, the calls to commit the Tigers will turn to jeers, in what will be the most hostile environment Maye will have played in to this point his career.
But Maye, who has lost just once on the road as a starter, said he’s ready to go.
“They’re a great football school, great football town, great college town,” he said. “They’re gonna bring some noise. It’s a great opportunity for us to go into a road environment. I love playing on the road. That’s one of my favorite things: going to a place where it’s rowdy. I’m looking forward to it.”
Carolina’s stars on the defensive side of the ball likely won’t be playing against a third-string quarterback this weekend, so hopes are high they can put together a better performance. Cade Klubnik suits up at quarterback for Clemson, and if that name sounds familiar, it’s because Klubnik’s star turn came against UNC in last season’s ACC Championship Game.
Klubnik will have 81,500 of his closest friends cheering him on this time. That cacophony will be presented to Tar Heels like defensive lineman Myles Murphy and linebacker Cedric Gray, but both expressed excitement for the opportunity.
“It’s Death Valley, you know what I’m saying?,” said Murphy, who Brown named UNC’s Defensive Player of the Game against Duke. “It’s hard to play there, obviously. But we’re just gonna go down there and try to put on a show.”
“I feed off energy,” Gray said, “so playing in those types of atmospheres only brings the best out of me.”
Tomorrow’s game is the second of what Brown has called the most emotional home stretch he’s ever coached. A visit to NC State looms next weekend. Brown’s disdain for the final three games of UNC’s schedule is well-publicized, and he said the challenge for Carolina is this: making a quick seven-day turnaround from the elation of last weekend’s Senior Night against Duke to a chance for revenge tomorrow afternoon.
“They say you can only play with full emotion four times in a year,” Brown said. “We’ve gotta do it three weeks in a row. It is what it is. We’ve just gotta get up and go.”
Get up, go, and look to earn UNC’s first win in Death Valley since 2001.
Featured image via Associated Press/Jacob Kupferman
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