Coming out of the bye week Clemson has a great test to see what they have improved on since we last saw them play. The Tigers have looked good but not great in the first half of the season and that may not cut it for the second half. It starts with a good Miami football team that has lost its way a bit in the last couple of weeks. These two teams who had big expectations heading into this season now have two conference losses each. Both teams are in similar boats though, their biggest opponents seem to be themselves.
About Miami
Currently, Miami holds a 4-2 record overall. Their two losses came in ACC play to Georgia Tech and North Carolina in back-to-back weeks. Out of conference, their best win came against SEC school Texas A&M who was ranked 23rd in the nation at that time. Of the two losses the Hurricanes have suffered, the first against Georgia Tech was the worst. In a close game where Miami held the lead with less than 40 seconds to go, they decided to run the ball instead of taking a knee. This play would result in a fumble Georgia Tech recovered leading to a score as time expired a few plays later. Head coach Mario Cristobal caught much heat for this as this was the second time he made that decision as a head coach. The first was during his tenure at Oregon.
Self-Inflicted Wounds
When teams at the college level have so much talent, one way they tend to lose games is by making repeated costly mistakes. Both Clemson and Miami are very good programs with so much talent but this season both have beaten themselves in critical games. For Clemson, it has been the turnovers. Every week of the season we bring up how much the turnovers have hurt the Tigers. Without them though, the narrative around the Clemson program would be very different.
As mentioned in the mid-season review, in their first six games Clemson has 10 turnovers, at least one in every game played so far. They have given up 43 total points this season off of turnovers as well. In the losses against Duke and Florida State, these turnovers are what kept them from winning the game. In both, they outgained the opponents in total yards. When it mattered most though, the ball went to the opposite team. If the Tiger’s offense holds on to the ball in some of those critical moments, they walk out with wins.
For Miami, it is both penalties and turnovers. So far this season Miami has already been penalized 43 times. They average seven penalties a game giving up 70 penalty yards on average as well. The Hurricanes are ranked 109th in the FBS in fewest penalties per game. When facing lesser talented teams this is something that did not affect them much. Against stiffer competition though it catches up. It also does not help that they also give the ball away as much as they do. Miami has 12 turnovers on the season. Their turnover ratio is -3. Just last week against North Carolina they gave the ball up four times and got zero takeaways back. Giving other offenses so many more opportunities to score has hurt them as they have entered conference play.
Discipline Wins
In the last couple of weeks, the undisciplined play does not just show in the penalty and turnover numbers for Miami. This team is vulnerable to giving up big plays because of players putting themselves out of position. Many of the big plays North Carolina got last week came from players not being where they were supposed to be. With how often it has been happening there is a chance it will happen again this week.
If Clemson’s offense can spot the mistakes, they could make some big plays. Defensively the front for Clemson has to keep the momentum going. Getting to Tyler Van Dyke will eventually cause him to make a mistake. He is a tough quarterback to stop but he does get flustered under large amounts of pressure. The Clemson defense has done very well getting to opposing teams’ quarterbacks. They will look to keep it up this week.
The Tigers have a big chance to keep up the momentum they picked up just before the bye. Clemson has to stop beating themselves the way they did much of the first half of this season though. The more disciplined team that does not beat themselves will win the game.
