CLEMSON — For a second consecutive season, Darian Mensah and Cooper Barkate have come into Death Valley and tortured a Clemson defense.
Last year, Mensah and Barkate lit up the Tigers as members of Duke. This season, they did it as Hurricanes, with Miami knocking off the Tigers 41-13 on Saturday night.
Mensah was an efficient 18-of-27 for 227, with two total touchdowns. One passing and one rushing. Of course, Barkate was on the end of the touchdown through the air, as he took a screen pass on the ‘Canes first official play from scrimmage and raced more than 60 yards for a score. Barkate finished with five catches for 98 yards and the score.
So Close, Yet So Far
The Tigers were able to hang around with the fourth-ranked Hurricanes for much of the night, as the defense kept Clemson within striking distance for much of the first three quarters. Down 17-6 late in the third quarter and facing a 4th and 2 inside the Miami 20, Dabo Swinney chose to go for it rather than kick a field goal. Gideon Davidson was stopped short on the gimmick play and the Hurricanes made the Tigers pay by going on a 14-play, 83-yard touchdown drive that basically put the game away. Kick that field goal and pull within eight points, who knows what happens after that.
Either way, this Clemson team at least looked like it belonged on the same field as one of the better teams in the country. A stark contrast to what we saw in Baton Rouge to start the season. No one wants to hear it after a loss, but this team is showing growth.
Reynolds Takes Another Step
Chad Morris put a lot on his freshman signal caller in this one. Who thought Tait Reynolds would have more passing attempts and throw for more yards than Mensah?
Reynolds had the best game of his young career, and on the biggest stage on which he has started a game. The freshman showed a lot of moxie, and hung tough in the pocket, depsite feeling a lot of pressure. Miami sacked him six times.
Reynolds finished 29-of-44 for 295 yards. All those are career-highs. The future might be bright with that kid taking the snaps. No one is going to like the result on the scoreboard, but Reynolds shows a lot of promise.
Reynolds did make a terrible decision on his final pass, a fourth-down attempt with two minutes to go, and Miami easily picked it off and returned it for a touchdown.
Defense Was Good Enough
This defense gave the offense opportunities. Plenty of them. This Miami offense is just too good to hold down all night, and that’s what felt like needed to happen if Clemson was going to have a chance. While there has been some growth offensively, there is still a long way to go before this team is ready to knock off the big dogs.
You just can’t be as one-dimensional as Clemson was tonight in these big games. The Tigers finished with just 34 rushing yards.
At a certain point, when you are playing an offense with as much talent as Miami’s, they will make you pay for wasting opportunities. That is what happened tonight.
At halftime, Clemson had the time of possession advantage. By the end of the game, the ‘Canes had held onto the ball for about seven minutes more than the Tigers. That is a big swing, and by midway through the fourth, the defense was getting gassed.
Costly Penalties
Just too many crucial penalties. Twice the Tigers were called for false starts inside the Miami 5-yard line. Six times the defense was called for penalties. In total, Clemson was flagged 10 times for more than 90 yards. You just can’t make that many of those types of mistakes in this type of game.
Take Bye Week, Prep for Stretch Run
With the team having next weekend off, take this week, learn from this one and prepare for the back half of the season. The two biggest challenges are out of the way, and the rest of the slate is manageable.