5 things we learned from Clemson’s win over Miami
Miami tight end Brevin Jordan said following Saturday’s game against No. 1 Clemson that the gap between the Hurricanes and Tigers is minimal.
“I don’t think we’re that far from them,” Jordan said. “I think a lot of tonight’s game was a lot of mental stuff on our part. We left a lot of plays on that field tonight. I don’t think they’re that far ahead of us.”
With all due respect to Jordan, the play on the field painted a different story.
If No. 7 Miami is truly one of the top teams in the ACC, the gap between the Tigers and everyone else is as large as its ever been. Here are five things we learned Saturday’s game, before Clemson travels to face Georgia Tech (noon, ABC, Oct. 17):
It’s still Clemson and then everyone else in the ACC
There has been talk this year that several teams in the league are ready to challenge Clemson as the ACC had four teams ranked in the top 8 entering this weekend’s games. That talk was premature as Clemson blasted Miami 42-17, piling up 550 yards of offense, compared to 210 for Miami.
Yes, Clemson has eight new starters on defense, and yes, there are four new starters up front. But Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, Brent Venables and Tony Elliott are back. And with those pieces in place, good luck knocking off the Tigers.
Clemson has a pair of Heisman candidates
Speaking of Lawrence and Etienne, the two made strong cases for the Heisman trophy on Saturday. The top 10 showdown was built up as a matchup between a pair of Heisman candidates in Clemson’s Lawrence and Miami’s D’Eriq King. Two players exited the game with plenty of Heisman buzz, but both of them play for Clemson.
Lawrence accounted for more than 300 total yards and four scores, while Etienne had 149 yards on the ground, 73 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns.
“It just makes your jaw drop sometimes as a quarterback,” Lawrence said of Etienne’s performance. “You hand it off and there’s been a couple of times these past two games where you think he’s tackled at the line of scrimmage or will get a yard or two and he pops out and he’s gone.”
King, on the other hand, completed only 43 percent of his passes and turned the ball over twice.
The tight end is a huge weapon in this offense
All three of Lawrence’s touchdown passes went to tight ends, with Braden Galloway catching two and Davis Allen grabbing one. There was a lot of talk about Miami’s tight ends entering the game, but it was Clemson’s who were difference makers.
Galloway and Allen are big and can run, and with linebackers having to focus so much attention to Etienne, it opens up room for Galloway and Allen to get behind them.
“When we’re at our best is when our tight ends are productive in the passing game,” Tigers offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. “It just so happened that this defensive structure was going to create some situations where you could get some one-on-one matchups.”
Brent Venables is the best in the business
This isn’t necessarily something that we learned, but we did receive further confirmation. Miami went up and down the field at will against UAB, Louisville and Florida State in its first three games. Then the Hurricanes were served a slice of humble pie from Brent Venables. Rhett Lashlee’s Miami offense was completely outmatched against Venables’ defense. King only got loose one time over four quarters, Cam’Ron Harris had no room to run and Miami’s tight ends and receivers got almost no separation. It felt like Clemson was playing with 15 defenders with the way the Tigers had answers for everything Miami tried to do offensively.
There is still work to do in the kicking game
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said going into the game that if special teams ended up being the deciding factor, he felt good about Clemson’s chances. Luckily for the Tigers, B.T. Potter having three field goals blocked didn’t matter in the 25-point win, but it’s something Clemson needs to get cleaned up.
Swinney’s press conference ended at close to 1 a.m. Sunday morning, but he said he was going to go back and watch the film to see what happened on the three kicks before he went to bed.
