CLEMSON – The dust has settled from Clemson’s 28-20 loss to the Miami Hurricanes, and it’s time to go into the morgue on this one. While the Tigers managed to make it a thriller, the numbers are incriminating of how Clemson played.

This all cranks to a 10 when you consider Miami came into this game with a backup quarterback starting. Let’s rip the band-aid off and look at the numbers.

Clemson: 4-14 on 3rd down

When you go on the road, you must sustain drives. The Tigers failed to do that. The most concerning thing about the lack of success on third down was how many times they were backed up.

Looking back at the Syracuse game, Clemson looked like they’d turned the corner on third down and improvisation between quarterback Cade Klubnik and wide receiver Tyler Brown was paramount. Turns out that wasn’t sustainable as the Tigers looked lost in those spot against the Hurricanes.

Klubnik: 18-34 passing

Miami made it very clear what the gameplan was against Clemson. Stick to bear fronts and force Klubnik and the Tigers to create through the air and it worked.

Klubnik’s 52.9% completion was the lowest of his career and the only silver lining was the fact he averaged 17.4 yards per completion. The short passing game was never there in Hard Rock Stadium, which might be a result of offensive absences but that’s still no excuse. Feast or famine was the storyline and it definitely played into the third down struggles.

Clemson: 0.9 yard per carry

It doesn’t matter what defense the opponent comes out in. Averaging less than a yard per carry is alien to the Clemson program. On the road, this becomes a massive concern because it puts so much pressure on the rest of the offense.

Execution from both the running backs and offensive line were below par and it played heavily into the Tigers’ demise. If you can’t win up front, you can’t win at all. Simple as that.