No. 1 Clemson stops two-point conversion, beats North Carolina
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Clemson stuffed North Carolina’s 2-point conversion attempt with 1:17 left and the No. 1 Tigers held off the Tar Heels 21-20 on Saturday.
Trevor Lawrence connected with Tee Higgins on a 38-yard touchdown pass with 9:54 left to give Clemson the lead.
The Tigers (5-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) had trouble all day in trying to extend their school-record winning streak to 20 games. They didn’t go ahead for good until Lawrence’s scoring strike, then came up with the stop after the Tar Heels went for the lead instead of a tie after Javonte Williams’ short scoring run.
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The Tar Heels (2-3, 1-1) went for 2 and the lead, but the Tigers strung out Sam Howell’s option run to the right and dragged him down short of the end zone to effectively clinch the win — though it was far tougher than expected as a 27-point road favorite.
“We did enough to win, but listen, I thought they outplayed us,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said in a postgame TV interview. “I thought they outcoached us, simple as that. We were really fortunate to win the game. At the end of the day you need one more point to win and we came away with the victory, so I’m proud of our guys.”
The Tar Heels gave themselves a shot late, but fell to 0-10 against No. 1-ranked teams in The Associated Press college football poll.
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