Clemson crushes Miami 40-10 in Death Valley, holds Hurricanes to 57-year-low 98 total yards
So much for dreams of slaying a perennial top-10 giant in a place known as Death Valley.
A pulsating Memorial Stadium and its Clemson Tigers devoured true freshman quarterback Jacurri Brown and the struggling Hurricanes 40-10 Saturday, leaving Miami one remaining game at home next weekend to attempt to salvage the season a tiny bit by qualifying for a bowl. It’s back to a losing record for the Hurricanes (5-6, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who can’t seem to maintain a .500 winning percentage.
For the first time in two months, the Hurricanes couldn’t get it done on the road — at least not at ninth-ranked Clemson, a team battling to make the College Football Playoffs while 19-point underdog Miami had a heap of frustration trying to do anything offensively. Coming into Saturday, Miami had won its past three road games.
With the crowd of 81,340 roaring and Clemson leading 24-0 at halftime, UM had 8 total yards — 13 yards passing and -5 rushing.
The Hurricanes finished with 98 total yards, the fewest since gaining 87 against Notre Dame on Nov. 27, 1965.
Clemson had 447 yards.
UM’s Brown was sacked three times for a loss of 34 yards; Backup Jake Garcia was sacked twice for a loss of 14.
“They did a really good job up front. They’ve got a really good front seven and we didn’t get a ton of movement,” coach Mario Cristobal said. “We couldn’t get the ground game going. Our quarterback runs didn’t pop until late in the game. The way they were playing it, they were forcing the handoff, so we just didn’t get much going.”
UM’s defense, with three takeaways, kept Miami in the game. But it wasn’t enough. Clemson tailback Will Shipley scored a Tigers touchdown on a 3-yard rush with 4:40 left, and the Tigers’ defense sacked Garcia and forced a turnover on the ensuing drive. With 16 seconds left, Clemson scored again for the final dagger.
Brown completed 6-of-13 passes for 53 yards, with an interception, and overthrew a sprinting Xavier Restrepo, who got past the defense, for what might have been a touchdown on MIami’s second offensive play of the game. Garcia replaced him in the fourth quarter and was 3-of-5 for 15 yards and a touchdown.
The loss marks the first time UM is 5-6 since Nov. 17, 2007, when the Canes fell at Virginia Tech en route to a 5-7 record in Randy Shannon’s first season as head coach. Miami lost its last four games that season and failed to qualify for a bowl for the first time since 1997, when it was under NCAA sanctions and had lost 31 scholarships.
The Hurricanes have qualified for a bowl every season since 2008, but in 2011 and 2012 stayed home after the university announced self-imposed bowl bans relating to the NCAA’s Nevin Shapiro case.
Clemson collected its 40th consecutive win at home — the nation’s longest active streak. The Hurricanes have the all-time record for consecutive home wins with 58 between 1985 and 1994, but nothing could seem further from reality Saturday.
“They’ve got a really good football team,” Cristobal said. “They’ve been where we’ve been before. They’ve built it up. I get it. We’ll be there.”
It was all Clemson from the start, with the Tigers driving 75 yards in 12 plays for a 7-yard touchdown pass from DJ Uiagalelei to tight end Davis Allen at 9:26 in the opening drive.
Clemson made it 14-0 on an 8-yard rush by Uiagalelei late in the first quarter to culminate a nine-play, 57 yard drive.
It was 21-0 by 10:22 of the second quarter on a 3-yard pass from Uiagalelei to Luke Price — all alone on the left side of the end zone. Clemson made it 24-0 on a 32-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
Miami finally scored at 5:55 of the third quarter on a 44-yard field goal by Andres Borregales. But a Clemson safety about four minutes later made it 26-3.
The Canes’ takeaways: an interception and fumble recovery by DJ Ivey (that was followed by the safety) and a fumble recovery that tackle Jordan Miller returned 26 yards to set up a 1-yard touchdown pass from Garcia to tight end Kahlil Brantley at 13:45 of the final quarter. Garcia came in for Brown to start the fourth quarter, and after the touchdown the Hurricanes trailed 26-10.
“The defense kept us in the game,” Cristobal said. “The defense gave us an opportunity.”
Added tight end Will Mallory: “Guys kept fighting. That’s a credit to the culture coach is building.”
But Miami’s offensive futility just couldn’t be overcome.
Next week’s game against Pittsburgh (7-4, 4-3) will be televised by ESPN. UM has lost four consecutive games at Hard Rock Stadium and has not won there since Sept. 10, a 30-7 victory over Southern Miss.
This story was originally published November 19, 2022 at 7:01 PM.
