CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina’s wine-and-cheese crowd began filing out of Kenan Stadium on Saturday with about two minutes left in the first half of Clemson’s 38-10 win. Those folks learned all they needed to know.

Clemson’s not dead, North Carolina’s a mess and college football might not be completely broken by the transfer portal, after all. Happy October — let’s beat the Research Triangle traffic.

Meanwhile, Dabo Swinney was smiling as the Tigers (2-3, 1-2 ACC) left with their first win this season over a Power Four opponent.

“I never thought I’d be happy to leave anywhere 2-3,” Swinney said, “but I’m happy today.”

His team — what with its three transfers (a notable total for Clemson) — dominated a UNC squad loaded with 40 players via the portal. And the timing was perfect. If any team needed a get-right game, it was the Tigers after starting 1-3 for the first time since 2010. Talk about slow starts.

Things can’t be slow around here for the Tar Heels (2-3, 0-1 ACC), however. Not with a 73-year-old coach in Bill Belichick who’s still feeling his way around the college game and giving off vibes (intentionally or otherwise) that he’ll bolt if the NFL calls again. Or perhaps flat-out retire like most his age. Either way, the clock is ticking.

Time is also of the essence when it comes to those UNC mercenaries who can leave should they get the urge. They’ll leave if things don’t improve from how they were Saturday.

“We’ve only been together for two months,” UNC wide receiver Jordan Shipp, who caught five passes for 41 yards, said. “Not everything is going to go perfect.”

That’s a fact. Few — very few — things went right for the Tar Heels on Saturday. They fell behind on the game’s very first play when Antonio Williams hit fellow wide receiver T.J. Moore with a 75-yard touchdown pass. UNC was broken for the day after that, if it wasn’t already.

Meanwhile, Clemson was more like a team with a No. 4 preseason ranking than the one that sleepwalked against Troy or was bullied by Syracuse. It doesn’t mean that the Tigers are playoff-bound or even lining up for another ACC title.

That’s not to say they aren’t, either.

Bad to worse

For one day, the Tigers were buttoned down in nearly every facet of the game, the result of having a week off to heal mentally or physically. Or both.

Perhaps also spiritually. Dabo leaned onto guidance from the Good Book to rally the troops after losing to the Orange. Prayer, apparently, really does work.

Not that Clemson needed any divine intervention on Saturday.

The Tar Heels aren’t good, let alone great. They’re seemingly not too interested in playing football, either.

Shocker.

UNC was a wreck when Belichick (and his 24-year-old publicist/handler/muse Jordon Hudson) came here last December; it’s now a disaster in October, even with 70 new players (including freshmen) operating under the guise of being the NFL’s 33rd team. 

The Tar Heels can forget maintaining that self-assumed position in 2026 if, say, Mike Tomlin or Sean Payton decide to give college football a go. That is, unless Tom Brady shows up disguised as Chad Powers in Carolina Blue. Obviously, that’s a joke — we all know he’d never downplay that face.

Nevertheless, this experiment is doomed. And that’s what it is: An experiment going bad.

Experiments have presumptive outcomes, though no definitive conclusions until after trial and error. The thing about this exercise is the errors are the outcome after only six weeks of real football.

Major disconnect

Expecting anything else was foolish. The idea that a septuagenarian would connect with Generation Z was wishful thinking, particularly in this age of player empowerment. He’s like the creepy older guy sitting at the end of a college bar — the kids might let him buy a round of beers, otherwise they merely roll their eyes at him.

At least they recognize that Hudson’s enhancing her own brand by drafting off her boyfriend’s legacy. They get that and likely don’t hate her game. Then again, she’s one of them. But the players just can’t connect with Belichick when they get past the shine of his Super Bowl rings.

Who thought this would work, anyhow?

It’s most likely — and most troubling — signals that UNC’s decision-makers were reaching for anything to achieve football relevance. We now know how far a school that fancies itself as a bastion of higher learning will go in order to be a player in football.

We also learned how quickly a fanbase can lose interest.

Most on Saturday came out of curiosity, wanting to see a multi-time Super Bowl-winning coach face off against a multi-time college champ for the first time since 1993. The interest for that matchup dried up well before halftime, and folks bolted in droves.

It had shifted from a being a curiosity into just a joke. Now they’re left to wonder how long it will last.