The defending national champion Clemson Tigers play their second Atlantic Coast Conference road game of 2019 this weekend. Having already won on the road at Syracuse, the Tigers will now face the North Carolina Tar Heels, who are coming off of a home loss to Appalachian State. Logic says that North Carolina gets blown out in this one but can they at least cover?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Tigers are so far ahead of the competition in the ACC, it\u2019s not even funny. They won by 35 at Syracuse a few weeks ago with their defense smothering the Orange in a 41-6 romp. That came after winning their ACC opener by 38 points over Georgia Tech. Clemson is several orders of magnitude better than every team in the ACC, including the Tar Heels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other point to make here is that after a 2-0 start, people wondered if North Carolina was for real. The last two weeks have clearly shown that the Tar Heels are not that good. The teams UNC defeated, South Carolina and Miami, have looked horrible in the subsequent weeks following North Carolina\u2019s wins over both teams. South Carolina was crushed by Missouri this past weekend while Miami barely got past Central Michigan by five points, 17-12, at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
North Carolina has turned out to be a mirage. They merely beat some bad teams. Clemson is better than North Carolina at all 22 positions on the field, offense and defense. This game won\u2019t be close. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Clemson Tigers are the favorite to win the ACC title this year and make yet another appearance in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. They are really good, and no one should question those basic points. However, one of the more surprising aspects of this Clemson season is how ordinary quarterback Trevor Lawrence has looked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is true that Lawrence has not needed to play well. His defense has been tremendous, limiting Texas A&M to 10 points and Syracuse to only six points. However, Lawrence still hasn\u2019t done that well. He has committed multiple turnovers and hasn\u2019t been consistent as a passer. There were a lot of times last year when Lawrence made the game look very easy, but those moments have not emerged in large quantities this season. If Lawrence is off, North Carolina might be able to keep this game within 17 to 20 points. The Tar Heels will treat this game like a Super Bowl and will play with ultimate effort. It might be enough to cover the spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can North Carolina score more than 10 or 14 points against the Clemson defense? That is what will be needed to push the game over the total, but given the way the Clemson defense is playing, that is not likely. Had the Tigers had some kind of a lookahead game coming, a letdown might be a possibility. However, they\u2019re hosting a Florida State team next week that\u2019s been absolutely terrible this season. They\u2019ll bring their \u2018A\u2019 game here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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