North Carolina's hapless first-half display vs. Clemson leads fans streaming to the exits before halftime

Alex Halloway via Getty Images

Fans didn’t wait until halftime to get out of Kenan Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Bill Belichick’s North Carolina football team gave them no reason to wait.

The Tar Heels trailed 35-3 to Clemson at halftime after a disastrous first half. The Tigers had 367 yards of offense on just 36 plays and scored four touchdowns in the first quarter.

Clemson even scored on its first offensive play. Cade Klubnik threw a backwards pass to wide receiver Antonio Williams who then hit T.J. Moore for a 75-yard TD.

North Carolina mustered a field goal on its first offensive drive and things got way worse from there as Klubnik threw four touchdown passes over the next 20 minutes. Klubnik was 21-of-23 passing for 251 yards as North Carolina was hapless to defend Clemson’s passing attack.

That aerial display from a Clemson offense that had struggled through its first four games of the season led thousands of fans to decide they didn’t need to see any more.

When the second half began, just a tiny fraction of seats were still occupied. 

North Carolina entered the game 2-2 with blowout losses to TCU and UCF, the two power conference opponents it had faced over the first four games of the season. Clemson was the Tar Heels’ first ACC test of the season and it’s clear that North Carolina and Belichick have a ton of work to do to simply be competitive in the conference.