One of the biggest ACC games of the season takes place Saturday night as No. 4 Miami heads to Death Valley to take on Clemson.
Miami enters 4-0 and 2-0 in the ACC, while Clemson sits at 3-1 and 2-0 in conference play. The Tigers have won three straight since getting embarrassed 51-10 by LSU in the opener, including a 24-10 road win over Cal last week.
But Clemson hasn’t faced anything quite like this Miami team since that LSU disaster.
The Hurricanes are averaging 51.8 points and 588.8 yards per game, ranking first nationally in total offense. Even scarier, Miami’s defense is allowing only 9.0 points and 224.5 yards per game.
How Miami Wins
It starts with Darian Mensah.
Mensah has been ridiculously efficient this season. He completed 23 of 27 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns in Miami’s 52-3 win over Central Michigan, pushing his season completion percentage to an absurd 88.7%.
Miami needs to let Mensah attack Clemson early and take the crowd out of the game. Malachi Toney gives him an elite weapon on the outside, while the Hurricanes have enough balance on the ground to prevent Clemson from simply sitting back against the pass.
Defensively, the formula is simple: make Clemson throw the football.
The Tigers are averaging only 156.3 passing yards per game, while Miami enters with the nation’s No. 1 rushing defense at just 39.5 yards allowed per game. If Miami shuts down Clemson’s rushing attack early, this matchup could become extremely uncomfortable for the Tigers.
How Clemson Wins
Clemson needs Death Valley to become a factor immediately.
The Tigers cannot afford to get into a shootout with Miami. They need long possessions, a strong rushing performance from Gideon Davidson and at least a couple of turnovers from their defense.
Davidson is coming off 159 rushing yards and two touchdowns against Cal, and Clemson will likely need another big performance from him to keep Mensah standing on the sideline.
If Clemson falls behind by multiple scores and is forced to throw its way back into the game, Miami has a massive advantage.
Prediction
I think Clemson makes this interesting early.
It’s a Saturday night game in Death Valley, Clemson has won three straight and the Tigers’ defense has shown significant improvement since that LSU embarrassment.
But Miami is simply playing at a different level right now.
Mensah eventually starts finding holes in the Clemson defense, Miami takes away the Tigers’ running game and the Hurricanes begin pulling away in the second half.
Clemson has improved, but Miami looks like a legitimate College Football Playoff and national championship contender.
Prediction: Miami 31, Clemson 17
