For the first time in a long time, Clemson’s offense was complementary and in control.
The Tigers came out like gangbusters in their win over Miami, looking like a group that might help Clemson to the type of relaxing Saturday it’s rarely enjoyed this season. Even their most lopsided win – an opening 41-10 win over Georgia Tech – came on a Monday.
Clemson effectively mixed things up to score touchdowns on its first two possessions and three of its first four. The Tigers had 131 yards before the first quarter was over, 100 yards rushing before the end of the first half, and D.J. Uiagalelei didn’t look like a quarterback who’d been struggling of late.
Uiagalelei completed nine of his first 11 passes and 14 of his first 17, utilizing the middle of the field more and the perimeter less in the passing game. He had a 7-yard touchdown strike to Davis Allen and an 8-yard touchdown run within the game’s first 11 minutes.
And when he found another tight end, Luke Price, on a well-designed throwback pass for a 3-yard score early in the second quarter, Clemson was rolling up 21-0 with the second-most points it’s scored in a first half against a Power Five opponent all season.
“Offensively, really as good as it can be in that first half,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “Just crisp and great execution.”
Then things grinded to a halt. And much of it had to do with another bout of inconsistency that Clemson has dealt with on that side of the ball for much of the season.
“They kind of played with their core deal and what they’ve been showing on film,” offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said, referencing Miami’s defense. “Just the turnovers and then a few other drives, we missed a couple of plays that we should’ve made. That’s really what stopped us.”
Statistically, it was one of the Tigers’ more balanced efforts of the season. Clemson finished with 207 yards rushing, just 34 less than it had passing. It’s just the second time this season the Tigers have achieved the 200-200 split.
Uiagalelei finished with 227 yards passing and led the Tigers with a career-high 89 rushing yards, but he completed just eight of his last 17 attempts. Clemson got a couple of first downs on its opening possession of the second half before that drive bogged down.
The Tigers netted just 2 yards on three plays to begin the fourth quarter. And there were just 78 yards of offense on their three possessions in between, though the Tigers never got a chance to see how those would’ve ended without a turnover bug for which they seemingly can’t find a remedy.
“It’s frustrating because I thought Street and our staff, they really did a great job,” Swinney said. “On both sides of the ball, our players were in a position to be successful, but you’ve got to make the plays.”
All of those possessions ended in giveaways, running Clemson’s turnover total to 12 over its last four games. Uiagalelei was intercepted and lost another fumble, giving him seven turnovers during that span, and Allen had an ill-timed fumble inside Miami’s 10-yard line late in the third quarter to end what was the Tigers’ most threatening drive of the second half to that point.
“In the past, we’ve been doing really good coming out from halftime and getting some points on the board, but we really struggled in the third quarter,” Streeter said. “I told the guys that the only way you can overcome (the turnovers) is to hold yourself accountable and then keep playing. Keep playing. Don’t overthink it. But just too many turnovers. And that stopped some of our momentum, especially going into the second half.”
Miami turned its shortest field of the night following Uiagalelei’s fourth-quarter fumble into a touchdown that suddenly made it a two-score game with 13:45 left. With the fact that Clemson was averaging less than 5 yards per play for most of the second half compounded by another turnover barrage, Swinney called the offense together on the sideline at one point to deliver a pointed message.
“It was just sloppy,” Swinney said. “We were just stopping ourselves, and I really challenged them: Let’s let’s go put a drive together. And they did.”
Clemson held onto the ball long enough to respond with its longest scoring drive of the night to take control again. The Tigers took nearly 5 minutes off the clock with an 86-yard touchdown drive and followed that up with a 37-yard scoring drive for good measure after forcing a turnover of their own.
It left the Tigers once again wondering what could’ve been had they been able to put it all together for four quarters.
“We have that ability to be explosive. We have the ability to be balanced,” Swinney said. “But it takes consistent execution.
“A dominant win, but we left a lot out there.”
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