Miami hadn’t won at Clemson in nearly two decades, but Mario Cristobal’s Hurricanes ended that in emphatic fashion, rolling to a 41-13 win behind a defense that scavenged the game away.
Saturday night’s primetime win in Death Valley marks the Hurricanes’ third straight season with a 5-0 start, as the Hurricanes head into a much-needed bye week.
Here are four takeaways from Miami’s Victory:
Defense was lights out
This takeaway could have just been about edge rusher Damon Wilson, but the defensive unit as a whole was fantastic.
Starting with Wilson, Hurricanes fans now understand why he was a highly coveted transfer coming into the season.
After a slow start with one sack and two total tackles in Miami’s opening four games, Wilson was a game wrecker when the Canes needed him most.
He was swarming Clemson’s quarterback Tait Reynolds all night, with 11 pressures, 2.5 sacks and three total tackles.
Miami recorded six sacks on the night and Clemson’s offense only had 55 rushing yards on 31 attempts.
To top it off freshman defensive back JJ Dunnigan had a late pick six under the two minute warning.
The Running Backs
After being inactive for the game against Central Michigan in a precautionary manner, Mark Fletcher Jr. put on a show in front of the Hurricane faithful that made the trip up to Clemson.
The senior scored two touchdowns alongside 77 rushing yards on 16 carries.
It wasn’t just Fletcher, but freshman Javian Mallory impressed as well. He finished the night with 14 carries for 63 yards.
Mallory continues to get better each and every week, building his case for RB2 after Marty Brown’s season-ending knee injury.
The injury bug strikes again
Miami cannot catch a break when it comes to injuries.
Defensive lineman Marquise Lightfoot was injured early on in the game and did not come back out of the locker room. The extent of his injury is unclear at this time.
Notably, three other Hurricanes went down but eventually came in the game.
Matthew McCoy was visibly in a lot of pain, rolling around in the grass dealing with a shoulder injury. He put a shoulder harness on and eventually checked back in the game.
Other names include Ethan O’Connor and Max Buchanan who were also sidelined for different portions of the game.
That was for you, Dabo.
The two programs have history against each other, especially since Dabo Swinney was named head coach for Clemson in 2009.
In many ways, the programs have dovetailed one another across the past two decades.
As the Hurricanes came crashing down from their national prominence in the early 2000’s, Clemson’s 2010’s dynasty rose — emphatically beating down Miami at every opportunity en route to two national championships.
Flashback to 2015, when Clemson absolutely destroyed Miami in Death Valley 58-0. Miami’s former head coach Al Golden was fired after the game.
Looking back to the 2017 ACC Championship, Clemson destroyed Miami 38-3. After the game, a video went viral of Swinney and Clemson mocking Miami’s iconic “turnover chain.”
Prior to Saturday night’s game, Miami had not won at Memorial Stadium since 2010.
Now, under Cristobal the “U” is back on the national stage and Swinney is faced with questions about his job security.
Miami put the final stamp on the fall of Clemson, ending their drought in Memorial Stadium in dominant fashion, and the 41-13 rout only added to the pressure on the Tigers’ head coach.
Rarely does one see Cristobal animated postgame, but in his eyes and body language it was clear how much the game mattered to cementing the trajectory of his Hurricane rebuild.
The Hurricanes will use the bye week to rest, recover and prepare for their rivalry matchup against Florida State at Hard Rock Stadium on Oct. 17. Kickoff time has not been announced.
