The freshman quarterback question got answered, and not the way the building expected. Tait Reynolds, thrown into his first career start with Christopher Vizzina healthy enough to play but benched anyway, went 20-of-29 for 215 yards and a touchdown. He threw one interception, but he also delivered the throws that mattered when Clemson needed them, and he did it in front of a crowd that had every reason to turn on him early.
It was Gideon Davidson who actually won it. The Clemson back ran for 105 yards and punched in the go-ahead score with five minutes left, the kind of workhorse fourth quarter that buries a defense that had gotten heavy praise for its first two weeks.
None of it happened on schedule. Clemson trailed 17-15 with 8:11 to go when lightning in the area sent both teams to the locker room for roughly two and a half hours, turning a noon kickoff into a nearly six-hour ordeal. UNC had the better of it when the delay hit; Clemson had the better of it when the teams came back out, outscoring the Tar Heels the rest of the way to close it out 28-20.