Former ESPN analyst David Pollack was on hand at Memorial Stadium last Saturday night to witness the Clemson-Miami game with his son – Tigers tight end commit Nicholas Pollack.
The dad Pollack, who now hosts his own show called See Ball Get Ball, enjoyed the environment and experience.
“We were at the Clemson game,” Pollack said on his show. “Me and Nicholas went to the Clemson-Miami game, so he was doing all the things, and got to sit in traffic. Got to sit in the stands. It was a different experience, but it was really, really cool to spend time with my little guy.”
“It was a crazy atmosphere. It was outstanding. Clemson fans were great,” Pollack added. “They kept them in the game. I thought they represented themselves well.”
Pollack gave his biggest takeaways from the Tigers’ 41-13 loss to the fourth-ranked Hurricanes.
The former Georgia All-American linebacker noted that while Miami ultimately pulled away to look like one of the best teams in the country, Clemson was competitive, hung around and stayed within striking distance for much of the contest before it got out of hand late.
Pollack also highlighted the individual matchup between Clemson cornerback Ashton Hampton and Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney, praising Hampton for keeping Toney in check and helping make Miami look less like an unstoppable “cheat code” and more human.
Hampton, who continues to show his first-round NFL Draft potential, held Toney to just one catch and 8 yards. The other two times Toney was targeted when Hampton was covering, both passes were broken up.
“You’re watching them — Clemson made them work to keep it close, but Miami definitely takes over. Looks like one of the best teams in the country. But had to work,” Pollack said.
“I thought Ashton [Hampton] vs. Malachi [Toney] was unbelievable. … Not very many times in a game do you gravitate towards corner-wide receiver matchup. … I could not help but watch No. 2 [Hampton] for Clemson chasing Malachi Toney all over the field — and played well. I thought he played really well. I thought he was handsy, which is what you’re supposed to do. … I thought it made Miami look less like a cheat code. It made Miami look more human, and that being said, Miami still scored 41 points. That kinda shows you that Miami is the real deal and really, really good.”
Reflecting on Clemson being a massive home underdog under Dabo Swinney, and the outcome of the game, Pollack says it feels like the conference “torch” has officially been passed to Miami after the Tigers’ long run of ACC dominance.
“That was the biggest underdog that Dabo has ever been [at home],” Pollack noted. “He was a 17-point dog to Miami at home. … I left going, man, it’s been a Clemson-led ACC for a long time. They’ve been the pioneer team. They’ve been the team that we always talked about. They’ve been the most successful by far. … Clemson and Dabo, you leave and you go, OK, the torch has been passed. Miami had one great year a year ago — it’s now turned into two.”
On the positive side for Clemson, Pollack came away highly impressed with what he saw from true freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds, who completed 29-of-44 passes for a career-high 295 yards in his third career start.
“Tait Reynolds made five or six throws that I literally was like, ‘Hold on. I haven’t seen that one time,’” Pollack said. “He’s had very few moments – because listen, do you understand how hard this is? The dude didn’t play his senior year. He was hurt. He walks into Clemson. Now he’s playing as a freshman. All you can think about as a freshman is, ‘Oh my gosh, the play. What I’m supposed to do.’ You can’t think about details, man. To think about the play clock is hard for a freshman. … He made at least four or five throws that I was like, ‘Holy cow! The ball has got some zip on it.’ And he’s better outside the pocket making plays, improving.
“He’s so big and strong. You obviously — there’s a lot to be desired. There’s a lot that he has to continue to work on. But there’s a couple throws where he’s rolling to his left and he’s putting touch on it, or he’s putting touch on it out wide, where I’m like, OK, these are things that you’re going to be able to work with in the future.”
For most of the night, Clemson at least looked like it belonged on the same field as Miami — that was not the case for the Tigers in their season-opening blowout loss to LSU – and Pollack believes the game vs. Miami was “way more competitive” than the 28-point margin of defeat suggests.
“Here’s the bottom line for Clemson — I think they got their quarterback. Their defense has steadily played better and better. They turned the ball over twice in the second half, and that’s why the game got out of hand,” Pollack said. “They had a chance in the first half. That break that doesn’t go their way. The center doesn’t snap the football. It’s a walk-in touchdown near the goal line if they had just snapped the football. They could have made this a better game.
“It could have been a really scary game for Miami, but that’s a credit to Miami and how good they are. Their front seven is tough to run on. They’ve [Miami] got to get healthy in the back end, though, if they’re going to do anything. … It was way more competitive than the score indicated, that’s for sure.”
