During a recent episode of his Always College Football show, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy weighed in on Clemson’s 41-13 loss to No. 4 Miami on Oct. 3.

McElroy says the Hurricanes spent the night proving that Clemson being a double-digit home underdog was not an insult, but “maybe even an underestimate.”

McElroy was impressed by Miami, led by star quarterback Darian Mensah, and McElroy pointed out how quickly the ‘Canes set the tone with a long touchdown on their first official offensive play following a Clemson defensive penalty on the first snap.

McElroy also highlighted Mensah’s impressive 34-yard touchdown scramble that put Miami up 17-3 early in the second quarter.

“Clemson opened this game as a double-digit home underdog for the first time in the Dabo Swinney era, and Miami spent the night proving that it was not necessarily an insult — it was maybe even an underestimate,” McElroy said.

“Look, Darian Mensah hit Cooper Barkate on a 61-yard touchdown on the screen on the second snap of the game. Added a 34-yard scramble that was fascinating, by the way. He’s scrambling. I haven’t seen Darian Mensah run quite like that in some time. He actually fumbled the ball at the goal line, recovered it himself. He finishes 18-of-27 — which, by his standards, nine incompletions almost doubles what he’d done up to this point in the season. Still goes for 227 and a touchdown through the air, one on the ground. That’s his 23rd consecutive game with a touchdown pass, dating all the way back to Duke, and that is his 15th touchdown pass of the season.”

McElroy noted how Miami’s defensive front completely overwhelmed Clemson’s offensive line and put constant, relentless pressure on Clemson true freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds.

“Now, the story in Death Valley, more than anything else, really was Miami’s defense,” McElroy said. “They sacked Tait Reynolds six times. Five of them came in the first half. Damon Wilson had three, and they held Clemson to 55 rushing yards on 31 attempts. Remember, we had said if Clemson is going to have a chance in this game, they gotta be able to run the football.

“And Reynolds is a freshman. He set career-highs in 29 completions, 295 yards, but it was the sack yards, the negative plays. He finished with negative-22 yards rushing, and every single dropback, every third-down dropback, felt like he was under duress.”

At the end of the day, McElroy feels the game validated Miami’s status as the ACC frontrunner and a legitimate national title contender, while he believes Clemson looked at a “significant disadvantage.”

“If you look, there were a couple trick plays there from Clemson there in the third quarter, back-to-back trick plays on third-and-short, fourth-and-short. Both were stopped,” McElroy said. “So when they had to reach into the pocketbook, pull out a couple gadgets on consecutive snaps in your own stadium, you know that there’s some challenges along the trenches, and you know that you’re at a significant disadvantage when it comes to the talent profile on either side.

“Miami, they answered those two trick plays with a 14-play, 83-yard drive, eight minutes off the clock to make it 24-6, and ran a nine-play, all-rushing drive. I mean, all they did was hand the ball off in the fourth to make it 34-13. You want to talk about just a demoralizing finish there in the second half, and it was the first time we’ve seen Miami really flex and impose their will in the run game, felt like. So, Miami is who we thought they were.”

With the win, Miami improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in ACC play, while Clemson fell to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the conference.

The Tigers return to the field next Saturday, Oct. 17, to host Charleston Southern at Memorial Stadium (12 p.m., ACC Network).