The Miami football team hosts Clemson on Saturday after losses to Georgia Tech and North Carolina in the last two weeks and with a four-game losing streak to the Tigers. Clemson defeated Miami 40-10 in the penultimate game of the 2022 season. Miami’s losses to Clemson have been ugly.
Mario Cristobal and the Miami football staff need to have the Hurricanes focused against Clemson. Nine combined turnovers versus Georgia Tech and North Carolina contributed significantly to losing to the Yellow Jackets and Tar Heels. Clemson has outscored Miami 178-30 in their last four meetings.
In addition to the blowout win at Clemson in 2022, the Tigers defeated Miami 42-17 in South Carolina in 2020, 38-3 in the 2017 ACC Championship game in Charlotte in 2017 and 58-0 in what was the last game for Al Golden as the Miami head coach in 2015. Those games will be mentioned all week.
About half the Miami roster was on the team when the Hurricanes lost to Clemson in 2022. Tyler Van Dyke missed the Clemson game in 2022 with a shoulder injury. Jacurri Brown was 6-13 for 53 yards with no touchdowns and one interception and added 10 carries for 22 yards versus Clemson in 2022.
Jake Garcia who has since transferred to Missouri was 3-5 for 15 yards and a TD. The 98 total yards versus Clemson in 2022 is the third worst in the history of the Miami football program. With a healthy Van Dyke and Shannon Dawson as offensive coordinator, a repeat performance on offense versus Clemson is not a concern.
Miami has far too often in the recent past allowed one loss to snowball. Miami cannot allow the Georgia Tech and North Carolina losses to beat them versus Clemson. Add in the fact that Miami has not defeated Clemson at home since 1956 and there are a lot of factors trending against the Hurricanes defeating the Tigers.
Miami has to be focused solely on Saturday. The four-game losing streak to Clemson, no wins at home versus the Tigers since 1956 and the losses to Georgia Tech and North Carolina cannot factor into the outcome on Saturday. Clemson and Miami are evenly matched. That is unlike the last four meetings with Clemson was a big favorite.