Clemson rolls out of open date by beating North Carolina 38-10 in Swinney-Belichick coaching matchup
Original Publication Date: October 4, 2025 12:50PM
Publication Updated: October 4, 2025 2:02PM
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Antonio Williams threw a 75-yard trick-play touchdown pass to T.J. Moore on the first offensive snap to start Clemson’s dominating show in a 38-10 win at North Carolina on Saturday.
The coaching matchup of Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and North Carolina’s Bill Belichick became a romp by the Tigers (2-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who quickly overwhelmed the Tar Heels (2-3, 0-1) as both teams emerged from an open date hoping to regroup from a bumpy September.
“Everybody’s kind of been in a little bit of funk,” Swinney said. “And today they kind of played themselves out of it.”
Clemson scored 28 points while averaging 15.8 yards per play in the opening quarter. Cade Klubnik threw four TD passes by halftime — two each to Adam Randall and Christian Bentancur — before giving way in the third to reserve Christopher Vizzina.
Klubnik completed 22 of 24 passes for 254 yards in his abbreviated afternoon.
“Cade was awesome,” Swinney said.
Max Johnson threw for 213 yards in starting for the injured Gio Lopez for UNC, while Benjamin Hall ran for a fourth-quarter touchdown with the outcome long decided.
The Tigers had largely driven most of the home fans to the Kenan Stadium exits by halftime with a 35-3 lead, another telling visual of how UNC’s bet on hiring the 73-year-old Belichick as a first-time college coach has gone so far.
This marked only the second pairing of coaches with multiple national championships against one with multiple Super Bowl titles, though it had lost its luster with each team’s September start.
Only the Tigers managed to show a different trajectory.
“I thought we had a good week, I think we were ready to go,” Belichick said. “Unfortunately we gave up some big plays early in the game that really tilted the game, and were just never able to recover.”
The takeaways
Clemson: The preseason ACC favorite opened the year ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25, only to go 1-3 for the worst start in Swinney’s long tenure. But they were never threatened to start October.
UNC: The school is paying Belichick — who won six Super Bowl titles leading the NFL’s New England Patriots — at least $10 million guaranteed for three seasons as part of an upgraded football investment. His debut was a 48-14 flop against TCU, with Kenan largely empty in the third quarter. There was also a 34-9 loss at UCF. Add Saturday, and UNC now a touchdown on 4 of 29 drives (13.8%) against power-conference opponents, not counting drives stopped by halftime or game’s end.
Up next
Clemson: The Tigers visit Boston College on Oct. 11.
UNC: The Tar Heels get another open week before visiting California on Oct. 17.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
News from © The Associated Press, . All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Join the Conversation!
Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community?
You must be logged in to post a comment.
