Clemson Football: Players to watch for North Carolina
A couple of weeks ago it felt to some fans like the entire Dabo Swinney era was teetering on the edge. Now, after back-to-back big wins against Notre Dame and Georgia Tech, another ranked opponent comes into Death Valley giving the Tigers a real chance to finish a rough 2023 season with some solid momentum.
North Carolina has a high-powered, balanced offense and has proven their ability to compete against tough teams all year long. They're coming off an overtime victory against rival Duke last week and you know Mack Brown would love to finish off his team's resurgent conference play with a win against the last decade's best team in the ACC.
North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye
Here are the three biggest threats to sending the Tigers home with their fifth loss of the season:
1. Drake Maye, Quarterback
Stats: 3,145 yards passing on 65.8% completion with 21 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He also has 276 yards rushing with 8 touchdowns.
This one was obvious. The future first-round draft pick has been battling it out with Caleb Williams all year long for the title of the first QB taken in the NFL Draft next season. He's that good. The Tigers have been banged up in the secondary and have a young core playing a lot of snaps. That worked last week against Haynes King and the Yellow Jackets but this week will be their biggest test since Jordan Travis and Florida State.
2. Tez Walker, Wide Receiver
35 catches for 600 yards averaging 17.1 yards per catch with 6 touchdowns.
Walker has only played in six games this year due to a controversial ruling from the NCAA early in the season that he was ineligible following his transfer from Kent St. That hasn't stopped him from quickly becoming the Tar Heels' leading receiver in yards and touchdowns despite that limited time on the field. Standing at 6'2 and 200 lbs, he's a big-bodied threat who won't be bullied off the ball or his route. Knowing how much Maye likes looking his way may require some double teams to be thrown at Tez. He's not the Tarheels only weapon but if Clemson can limit his production it'll go a long way towards having a successful day on defense.
3. Omarion Hampton, Running Back
Stats: 206 carries for 1,236 yards on 6.0 yards a carry with 13 touchdowns. He also has 24 catches for 204 yards and a touchdown.
We're going all offense today because none of these players can be left out. While the passing attack may get the most publicity, Hampton has been the engine that's kept this offense rolling. The sophomore has rushed for over 100 yards in his last five games and he wasn't exactly eeking out those stats either as he went for over 140 in four of those five. Don't forget his monster game against Appalachian State earlier in the year where he exploded for 234. He's a beast and completes the three-headed monster that is this Tarheel offense. He's starting to become more of a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield as well so if the Tigers do a good job on Walker deep then watch for the check down to Hampton to become a potential issue. The Clemson front seven will have all they can handle at 3:30 on Saturday.
