CLEMSON — Since giving up 51 points and 644 yards to LSU in Week 1, Clemson’s defensive has quietly rebounded from the disaster in Baton Rouge, La.

In the last three games, the Tigers have allowed an average of 12.3 points (and only 10.0 points when excluding a scoop-and-score by Cal’s defense) and 282.0 yards per game.

Clemson’s defensive surge has been powered in part by its revamped secondary, which includes junior Thorpe Award candidate Ashton Hampton and three impact transfers in cornerback Elliot Washington II and safeties Corey Myrick and Jerome Carter III.

Last week, the unit held Cal’s then-13th-ranked pass offense to 145 passing yards, including a career-low 119 yards for quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele.

Hampton is the only player in the country to record multiple games with three or more passes defended this season, and Washington has three interceptions over his last two games, including game-clinchers in the fourth quarter of both contests.

And though the Tigers (3-1, 2-0 ACC) have improved. How much have they really improved?

They should be able to answer that question on Saturday when No. 4 Miami and its high-flying offense comes to Death Valley for a primetime match.

“They are pretty impressive,” Clemson defensive coordinator Tom Allen said. “They got a really good quarterback playing at a really high level.”

The Hurricanes (4-0, 2-0) are averaging 53.5 points and 588.8 yards per game, which both rank in the top 4 nationally.

Miami quarterback Darian Mensah, who the Tigers are very familiar with, ranks sixth nationally, averaging 302.8 yards per game through the air. He is completing 88.7 percent of his passes and has 14 touchdowns and no interceptions.

Mensah’s 14 TDs lead the nation, and he is the only quarterback with at least 12 TDs that has not thrown an interception. Last year, the Duke transfer threw for 361 yards and 4 TDs with no interceptions against Clemson, while completing 27 of 41 passes in leading the Blue Devils to their first win at Death Valley since 1980.

If that is not enough, the ‘Canes arguably have the best wide receiver in America in sophomore Malachi Toney. The Miami receiver ranks third nationally with 141.0 receiving yards per game.

He already has 34 catches for 564 yards and six TDs this season.

“Together, it’s a tough challenge for our defense without question,” Allen said, “But that’s what you want. You want to be able to be in a position where you’re playing against the best teams in the country. It forces you to be able to kind of see what’s on the inside of who we are. To be able to address those challenges and make the adjustments and get our kids to play at a very, very high level consistently. So, it’s going to be a tremendous challenge for us.”