He mentioned a couple things that caught me off guard. The first one being this was the first game they were out gained all year. Even in the FSU game they held them to 17 points of offense in regulation, 311 yards and 22 yards rushing on 20 carries. Which is crazy with all the multiple looks they give in the run game mixed with a dual threat qb.
Later in the presser he discussed their running game and how we dared them to pass. We stayed in a bear front most of the night with one safety deep. I thought the media misspoke when they asked about holding them to 31 yards on 34 carries ( 0.9 ypc). But that was in fact true. Lastly he mentioned our 200 + yards rushing while they were selling out to stop it. I would’ve never expected that with a first time starting Fr qb.
Which leads me to my point. This isn’t your same Clemson from years past but don’t get it twisted , that’s a playoff caliber defense we pushed around even though they were playing downhill. With a very good good secondary. Their Ol although not great but more than good enough got mauled by our DL , with most of our starters playing majority of the snaps. Clemson had outplayed most of their opponents this year but they continue to have the same issues, mostly losing the turnover battle and having a flaming idiot at qb. That trend continued Saturday. I will say the biggest area they’ve fallen off is skill guys out wide. They don’t have their typical dudes stretching the field. I think the air is coming out of the ballon there.
This game showed what I’ve been saying since the summer “ this Miami team is different , from leadership , mimd set on down to work ethic. They’ve had multiple times to fold camp , quit and they refuse to do it. They continue to be resilient.
Now the next test will be how do they handle success and a big win. Can we start a trend of consistency, which is an important step with building a program. After UVA’s win this weekend the coaches shouldn’t have to try too hard to get players attention.
