CLEMSON, S.C. — Everett Withers paused before sitting down at the post-game press conference table.
The North Carolina interim football coach saw the orange banner hanging behind his chair and asked a team spokesman if he had to sit in front of the cloth bearing a smattering of tiger pawprints.
At his back, Withers had a constant reminder of the Clemson team that tallied the most points against the Tar Heels since he came to Chapel Hill — a 59-38 demolition by the No. 7 Tigers that sent his squad to 5-3 overall and 1-3 in the ACC.
Early on, it didn’t look as though the game would yield the most points scored against UNC since 2005. But the 35-point third quarter Clemson orchestrated transformed Saturday’s contest from upset alert to a beat-the-traffic game for Tar Heel fans.
“We knew it was a good ball game in the first half,” freshman cornerback Tim Scott said. “Since they’re home they’re going to have energy from the crowd. So when we started making mistakes, we got a little down and we need to keep our heads up. But it was too late for that.”
UNC played Clemson to a 24-17 halftime score with the help of two Jheranie Boyd touchdown catches from Bryn Renner and the defense holding the Tigers’ rushing attack to just 15 yards. Clemson (8-0, 5-0) entered the game with the ACC’s second-best rushing offense.
The Tar Heels remained true to first-half form by forcing a three-and-out on Clemson’s opening possession of the second half. But that would be the last time UNC had a semblance of its first-half self.
In the third quarter, Clemson rattled off five touchdowns to UNC’s one, which came off a 100-yard kick return by T.J. Thorpe.
The freshman had lost his job as return man after fumbling a kick against Miami last week, but he won it back after replacement Charles Brown fumbled a kickoff to Clemson that resulted in the Tigers’ second score of the third.
