Jordan Shipp wanted the University of North Carolina’s young players to know: It’s the same game.
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“It still feels the same distance, still the same ball,” Shipp said. “You have the same gloves that you wear in practice. It’s football. It’s just: go play good football.”
Shipp said no matter if they were preparing to play Alabama, a group of five school, an ACC school, or of course, Clemson, who the Tar Heels face at noon Saturday in Clemson, the team wasn’t going to treat it any differently.
Shipp said he doesn’t even remember how the build-up to last season’s matchup felt, as UNC fell 38-10 to extend its losing streak to seven games against the Tigers.
Of course, the preparation not being at all different doesn’t apply to everything — UNC is expecting a hostile environment at Memorial Stadium. The Tar Heels have pumped in crowd noise and played loud music at practice to prepare for the on-field communication with the volume that will exude from the stands in what’s known as Death Valley. This is Clemson, after all.
But as the Tar Heels enter game week against an opponent that has thoroughly dominated them for almost an entire decade, things also feel a little different. UNC is 2-0 entering a matchup with a Clemson team that has struggled, going 1-1 — including a 51-10 whipping at now No. 7 LSU — and failing to score more than 22 points in a game so far this season. That’s a total it reached against a Sun Belt Conference opponent in Georgia Southern. The Tigers also just made a quarterback change: Clemson coach Dabo Swinney told reporters on Sunday that freshman Tait Reynolds will start against the Tar Heels.
A week before a marquee home matchup against Notre Dame, UNC has looked competent and Clemson had its issues exposed with the blowout loss to LSU in week one and a less-than-convincing win over Georgia Southern in week two. That potentially presents an opportunity for the Tar Heels, even if North Carolina coach Bill Belichick wasn’t saying so on Monday.
“I mean, the information is what it is,” Belichick said. “We can’t do anything about it. We have what we have, and we’ll do the best we can to try to figure out what we think they’ll do against us and how we need to play against them. So we can’t change the information.”
The new quarterback is perhaps the game’s biggest variable, and based on how Clemson’s games have trended, Belichick noted there’s plenty of information available on Reynolds. The freshman has played 83 snaps to former starter Christopher Vizzina’s 45, per PFF. Vizzina left with an injury after just 12 snaps against Georgia Southern, though Swinney told reporters on Sunday that he could play through the injury against the Tar Heels.
Reynolds completed 16 of 27 passes for 178 yards against Georgia Southern. Belichick said the preparation doesn’t change much because he and Vizzina are “similar.”
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“They both can run the ball,” Belichick said, “and they have quarterback runs incorporated into their offense.”
To bother a young player, the Tar Heels just have to “play good,” Belichick said. But he noted his perspective on Clemson is a result of spending “many spring days” scouting their players as a coach in the NFL. He has known Swinney for a while, and respects how he runs his program.
A lot can change year-over-year. Tar Heels offensive lineman Andrew Threatt, for example, played the Tigers when he was at Charleston Southern — but he played on the defensive line in that game. Clemson is changed, but Belichick joked it’ll still “outnumber us in the stands.”
“We look forward to playing in these kinds of atmospheres,” interior defensive lineman Isaiah Johnson said. “That’s the reason you come to college.”
UNC outside linebackers coach Ty Nichols said Melkart Abou Jaoude and Jaylen Harvey, when sharing the field together, have the potential to be “two different problems” for offenses. Harvey has speed, Abou Jaoude has power. That’s tough for offenses to prepare for.
“Jalen loves making fun of Melkart for his get-off, and Melcart helps Jalen with his power rush,” Nicholds said. “So it’s a great dynamic within the room, and a lot of fun to be around.”
Harvey enjoyed a breakout on Saturday, but the two at their best isn’t something UNC has seen the fruits of yet. Though Abou Jaoude didn’t leave the sideline during the Tar Heels’ 35-3 win over ETSU on Saturday, Nichols said “he’s doing great” as he recovers from an apparent hand/arm injury.
“He’s involved in everything we’re doing,” Nichols said about Abou Jaoude. “No issues there. Yeah, we’re doing good.”
Abou Jaoude didn’t dress and wore a protective cast/brace on Saturday. The absence was two weeks removed from Abou Jaoude exiting for a little over one defensive drive with what the ESPN broadcast of the Tar Heels’ 15-10 win over TCU in Dublin called a hand injury. Belichick labeled the pass-rusher as “day to day” after the win over ETSU.
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