On Dec. 5, 2015, Myles Dorn sat in a sports bar near Bank of America Stadium and watched North Carolina, one of two teams he was heavily considering in his college recruitment, come up just short against Clemson, the other team in his top two, in the ACC Football Championship game.
The Tar Heels' 45-37 loss didn’t sway the safety’s decision — he’d actually committed to UNC the day before at Vance High School — but it did reinforce a preference he’d developed: playing for the underdog.
“Being a part of building something great is better than just joining it,” the senior safety said this week, “and that's what I wanted to be a part of.”
Four years later, as they prepare to host Clemson, the reigning national champion and No. 1 team in the country, Dorn and his UNC teammates are, again, the underdog.
The Tigers are 4-0, with a 24-10 win over Texas A&M and three double-digit smackdowns. The Tar Heels, meanwhile, sit at 2-2 after a 34-31 home loss to Appalachian State. The point spread for Saturday afternoon’s game at Kenan Stadium says as much: Clemson is currently favored by 26.5 points.
In conversations with UNC players Tuesday, a theme of opportunity emerged. Linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel said North Carolina must strike a balance: play loose, with nothing to lose, without deviating too much from standard procedure.
At the same time, he’s seen “a little bit of a different feel” around the locker room this week. North Carolina hasn’t hosted the AP No. 1 team since 1999, when Florida State came to Chapel Hill. As for a reigning national champion? You’d have to go back to Tennessee in 1951.
“Even if you do go through four or five years of college football, how many times do you really get to play the No. 1 team in the country?” Gemmel said. “Most teams don't get to. We're going at it full force this week, trying to shock the nation.”
