Clemson showed Miami exactly how many miles separate the 2 programs
CLEMSON, S.C. — The Miami Hurricanes went into Death Valley and didn’t survive Clemson’s onslaught.
Riding high froma 3-0 start that included a 52-10 win over rival Florida State, UM was brought back down to earth in a 42-17 whipping that set the combined score of theHurricanes’ last three defeats to Clemson at, 138-20.
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne did whatever they wanted, the Tigers consistently dominated the battle at the line of scrimmage and it was simply a display that distance remains between Clemson and Miami.
Here are 10 things we learned fromSaturday night’s loss forUM:
Clemson is just a different
animal
Thiswasn’tUAB, Louisville and Florida State that Miami was playing.
TheHurricanes found out once again — like they did in the 2017 ACC Championship Game that followed a 10-1 regular season — how different of a ball game it is when going up against the Tigers.
They made it clear from the moment they huddled around Howard’sRock and ran downMemorial Stadium’s hill, dominating from the start. The Hurricanes couldn’t find explosive plays like the did against Louisville, convert third downs like against FSU or get Clemson’s offense off the field. The Tigers ran 25 first-quarter plays to Miami’s six to set the tone.
Dominated at the line of scrimmage
This has been a staple for Clemson in its recent run of five consecutive ACC titles with College Football Playoff berths and four national championship appearances with two title-game victories. The Tigers beat you up front.
Clemson outrushedUM258-89 and had five sacks to Miami’s one. Fifty-six of those Hurricanes rushing yards came on one scramble from D’Eriq King. Clemson collected 11 tackles for loss — something Miami prides itself upontoo defensivelyandhadnineon Saturday.
Miami went back to starting John Campbell over Zion Nelson at left tackle, and Campbell was beat on at least one of the Tigers’ sacks.
Miami blocked field goals
a
record
It had only been done once before (South Alabama, 2012 vs. FAU), according toUM. Itwas the lone bright spot as Bubba Bolden, whoalso led theteamwith10tackles and forced a fumble, got two of them— bloody nose and all.
Defensive tackle Jared Harrisongot his paw on Clemson’s ill-advised 61-yard attempt at the end of the first half, and cornerback DJ Ivey picked it up to return it for a touchdown. It kept Miami in the game on the scoreboard at halftime, 21-10, despite being dominated across the board in every statistical category.
Targets of targeting
three
Already without safety Gurvan Hall for the first half Saturday due to a targeting penalty in the second half of the previousgame, UM hadAmariCarter called foroneon a Lawrence scramble and slide to put the team down two of its top three safeties until halftime.
Keontra Smithwas hit with one in the second half, on a shot to the body of Lawrence as he made a throw from the pocket. He will now miss the first half against Pittsburgh next Saturday.
Coach Manny Diaz criticized the calls and suggested a variation to the rules in which intent can be judged, like a Flagrant-1 or
Flagrant-2 in theNBA.
Freshman the fire
Balom
WithoutHall and Carter for the first half, the Hurricanes had to rely on freshman BrianBalom, out of Miramar, to play meaningful snaps against theNo. 1 team in the country. Balomwas out of position at times and was fortunate Clemson wideout Frank Ladson dropped a wide-open deep ball down the sideline when he didn’t come over in the zone.
Diaz called it “baptism by fire” for Balom, who had five tackles. Bolden added Balom has a bright future atMiami, but it was a difficult predicament for the youngster.
UM let Lawrence early
thrown
get
into
comfortable
The opening drivewas a bunch of underneath routes, passes to the flat and screens that found Lawrence’s pass catchers open with room to run.
It let Lawrence get into a rhythm to start without being challenged much, so he eased into the game before making more difficult throws later. Miami had him fooled on a near interception for defensive end Quincy Roche dropping back into coverage, but he was offside on the fourth-and-4, allowing Clemson to keep one drives going. of its early
And wherewas the run game?
Lead running back Cam’Ron Harris did not get his first rushing attempt until therewas 6:37 left in the second quarter. That didn’t help Miami in the time of possession battle that Clemson won handily.
Diaz said theHurricanes didn’t like the looks the Clemson defensive frontwas givingtheminorder to run the ball early. Unable to use the pass to set up the run, it didn’t bode well until King finally was able to get looseon his 56-yardrun that set up a field goal.
Amove to Restrepo on punt returns
AfterMarkPopehadlost a fumble in the opener and a muffed punt in the previous game against FSU, UM was looking into a change at punt returner during theweek of practice and made the move to freshman Xavier Restrepo.
It was still an adventure as he let his first one land in front of him to roll down to theMiami 15-yard line. Later, he was indecisive on whether to field another punt on a bounce inside the10-yard line, and it nearly resulted in a safety after appearing to hit off Restrepo’s shoulder pad to then get recovered in the end zone. Officials said no initial contact was made with the ball and ruled it a touchback.
King threw his first two interceptions with the Hurricanes
Trying to bring his team back in the second half, King was intercepted for the first time since transferring fromHouston.
The first one was thrown deep to DeeWiggins, whowas in single coverage but blanketedwell. Wiggins didn’t quite fight for the ball and went to the ground on a light push from Clemson’s Sheridan Jones. King’s second interception was an underthrow to Will Mallory, picked off by Derion Kendrick of the Tigers.
Nowto play in daylight
lengthy
After playing the team’s first four games at night, Miami has to get up for a noon kickoff against Pittsburgh (3-2, 2-2). The Hurricanes have to regroup and bring the same intensity they would for prime-time showdowns at No. 1 Clemson, against rival Florida State or in an ACC opener at Louisville.