Since its embarrassing season opening loss to No. 11 LSU, Clemson has won three consecutive games. The Tigers have looked particularly well in the last seven quarters where they have outscored North Carolina and Cal by a combined score of 49-16.
Even more impressive is the fact the defense has not allowed a touchdown in the those seven quarters, as Cal’s lone TD last week came on a 35-yard fumble return.
It appears Clemson (3-1, 2-0 ACC) has improved. How much? The Tigers will find out Saturday night when they host No. 4 Miami in Death Valley.
“We’ll have to play much, much better in some areas and cut out some of these mistakes that we’ve made, and we certainly can’t turn the ball over as carelessly as we have,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “But hey, our kids will be excited to go battle.”
Miami (4-0, 2-0) is coming off a 52-3 home win over Central Michigan this past Saturday. The Hurricanes opened the season with a 45-6 victory at Stanford, which they followed with a 77-7 rout of Florida A&M. They also won 33-20 at Wake Forest.
“Obviously we know we’ve got a tough challenge next week,” Swinney said. “They may be the best team in the country. They played in the national championship. They’re really good. I’ve seen enough of them. We’ve seen that quarterback. He’s a freak show. They’ve got some dudes.”
That freak show is Darian Mensah. Last year, when he quarterbacked Duke to its first victory in Death Valley since 1980, he completed 27 of 41 passes for 361 yards and 4 TDs. Of course, he did that against a different secondary than what the Tigers have now.
Mensah, and SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings, are why Clemson revamped its entire secondary in the off-season. Last week, led by Elliott Washington’s two interceptions and Ashton Hampton’s three passes broken up, the Tigers limited Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele to 16 of 29 passing for 119 yards and two interceptions.
Now they play a Miami offense that is one of the best and most efficient in the country the first month of the season.
The Hurricanes are a 16.5-point favorite. It marks the first time since 2003 that Clemson is a double-digit underdog in Death Valley.
“At the end of the day, you’re both undefeated in the league, and all you can ask for is an opportunity. So, it’ll be a huge opportunity,” Swinney said. “We’ll have to play, by far, our best game to have a chance to beat those guys. But we’ve got to have a great week and great preparation and spot the ball and see if we can do just that.”