Defense bailed us out against Pitt, UVA and VT. Those are three very likely losses if not for some timely stops with the offense struggling.
Only TD allowed in the 4th quarter since Clemson was the busted coverage by Blades vs UVA.
UAB: sub-300 yards, 1 TD was on short field
LOU: forced multiple FGs, 40-20 in the 4th
FSU: dominant performance
CLEM: poor showing, no help from offense
PITT: forced 6 punts, 3-17 on 3rd down
UVA: not perfect but adjusted and won
NCST: poor showing, great 4th q
VT: kept game close, great 4th q
The optics surrounding 1-loss Miami will be good on December 19 when CFP decided. Lone loss was in early October to top-3 team on the road.
To get there Miami must shake up the OL and get healthy on offense. King, Harris, Chaney, Jordan, Mallory appear banged up so the 2 weeks off could benefit them.
Defensively it's time for Bolden and Blades to regain their form while Phillips, Roche, Silvera, Hunte, Frierson, Couch continue blossoming.
Ford just played his best game. Brooks has supplanted McCloud at WLB and Flagg looks poised to split snaps at MLB. Hall, Carter, Ivey are serviceable when they're not lost in zone coverage.
It's not always pretty but it's not all bad on defense, especially late in games. If the offense plays slightly above average we should finish 10-1 with a shot at the CFP if things break our way (Clemson blows out ND, Alabama beats Florida, A&M drops one of their final three games).
We would get in ahead of undefeated Oregon, BYU and Cincy. I predict they will be rewarded with NY6 bids along with Notre Dame, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Northwestern while 10-1 Miami sneaks into the CFP.
The CFP is desperate for diversity. Everyone's had it with Bama, Clemson, OSU and they want to generate excitement with that 4th team. Notre Dame has more cache but a blowout loss hours before the committee decides will help us out.