Game 5 Preview: Clemson Hosts Top 5 Miami in Huge Primetime Game
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Clemson Hopes to Sing “Redemption Song” on Saturday Night
Welcome back STS readers! Things are certainly looking a little more rosy for the Clemson Tigers after getting a good road win at California last week. Now the Tigers are 3-1 and more importantly 2-0 in ACC play. However, the new beast of the league is coming to town and very few folks think the Tigers have a shot at knocking off the Miami Hurricanes. It has taken a long time, but the Miami program is finally beginning to do the things folks thought it would be doing when it first entered the ACC back in the early 2000s. The NIL/Transfer Portal era has been just what the doctor ordered for the U and they have taken full advantage of it.
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Looking back at last week:
The GOOD: The defense was lights out and did not allow an offensive touchdown to Cal. The one field goal they did give up came off a gadget play Cal had to resort to using to move the ball. Clemson’s secondary in particular continues to impress, but the front seven had a much better outing than against UNC thanks in part to Tom Allen using a ton of pressure packages to overwhelm the Cal OL. Clemson special teams delivered a huge TD from a Wesco punt return and continues to consistently be a strong suit of the 2026 squad. The offense leaned on the running game to go well over 200 yards rushing, highlighted by a new career high night from emerging star Gideon Davidson.
The BAD: Clemson’s passing attack was largely stymied by Cal’s defense, especially outside WR Bryant Wesco and T.J. Moore who both had quiet nights.
The UGLY: Tait Reynolds had a very rough night at the office with two very bad turnovers with one leading directly to a Golden Bears touchdown. He’s just a freshmen and that was his first road start, but obviously Clemson cannot afford Reynolds to be that far below par against an elite opponent. The silver lining is he certainly has shown better play and it is there to be had. It is similar to the Kyle Parker experience of 2009 where there were brilliant moments mixed with mind boggling mistakes. Parker came up huge that season at Miami when it mattered most, and Clemson fans have to hope Reynolds can do the same.
Clemson Defense vs. Miami Offense: I have to start on this side of the ball because Clemson’s defense must find a way to at least slow down the Hurricanes attack that has been running roughshod over folks this season. Can the Tigers limit the Canes to some field goal attempts and, most importantly, find a way to turn them over? The good news is the Clemson defense has produced turnovers pretty consistently this season and has by far the best secondary unit the Canes will have seen this season. You really cannot afford to play a lot of zone on this Miami squad because Darien Mensah is just too much of a surgeon and part of his ridiculous 24-24 start at Wake was picking apart their zones with ease. The danger in playing man is potentially getting cooked by Malachi Toney the way Stanford did in week 0. Oh yeah, this is assuming you don’t get bullied by Mark Fletcher and the running game. I imagine this is how a lot of opponents felt trying to match up with the 2018 Clemson offense.
The LSU game was clearly a nightmare on both sides of the ball. Miami is much more pro-style in approach than LSU, but they will certainly see if the stretch zone runs that UNC used to great effect or some of the inside runs LSU hit the Tigers with early can be dealt with. Clemson has zero chance in this game if Miami can find a consistent running game because Mensah will feast on the play actions that will create. However, I don’t feel this year’s Miami team can run it the way their 2025 team could during their playoff run just yet. The bad news is I remember when a very mediocre Texas running game shredded Clemson for nearly 300 yards rushing. Clemson must be ready from the jump to deal with it because the Canes are just too good to hope for a comeback like the Tigers got against the Tarheels.
As good as Toney is, and he’s elite, at least he is such a one man army that if he can somehow be accounted for it might put the Canes in a bind. It will force their other targets to deliver well beyond what they have had to before now. Clemson doesn’t have some huge drop off between CB1 Ashton Hampton and CB2 Elliot Washington. I’m also a big fan of emerging nickel Donavan Starr who is coming along just in time to help in a game like this. Corian Gipson is still questionable, so Starr could be in for a lot more action to go with Tink Kelley at that Tiger position. Starr jumped off the film from the Cal game with speed and physicality, and that is exactly what you better have if you hope to bother Toney at all. Realistically you have to live with Toney beating you as long as he’s having to make highly competitive plays to do it. It can’t be because he’s running 5 yards wide open or given 5 yards of space on a catch to work with.
Can Clemson affect Darien Mensah? He probably feels like he plays with a no contact jersey on in the games right now, and somebody has to get loose and change his perspective. He might still deliver (ala Matt Ryan in 2005 after David Dunham nearly split him in half), but you certainly can’t let him think he’s untouchable back there. Clemson has gotten so much better at making quarterbacks hold the ball this year and that gives you some hope that they can bring some hesitation, and hopefully pressure behind it, to Mensah on Saturday night.
I’d feel a lot better about this side of the matchup if Clemson had fully alleviated my concerns about the run defense, but that has not yet occurred. We will see if Devarrick Woods can return after missing last week with an injury. Darien Mayo moved inside and drew praise from the coaches, and his big 6’7” frame can certainly pay dividends in disrupting the quick passing game. Mensah is not 6’4” so in theory you should be able to get a few more deflections on his throws.
There is no doubt Tom Allen and his staff have made great strides with this defense since game 1. This week will be a huge examination of how much growth is still left to be had. Dabo said it best that our dudes have to play like dudes, and that means all the high end guys like Will Heldt, Sammy Brown, etc, need to have good nights together.
Clemson Offense vs. Miami Defense: The defense has made great improvements since week 1, and the same can be said for the offensive line and running game for the offense. However, the passing game still has a lot of growth to make and will have to deliver more in this game than the last three if the Tigers hope to win. Miami is good on defense too, though some of their lofty stats on this side of the ball I attribute more from who they have played. Now, Wake can run the football and has against other teams but couldn’t against Miami. I still think Clemson has stronger personnel on the front than the Deacs when they are executing. Obviously Wake began the year with a large gap on Clemson in the execution department. I’ve been very critical of the decisions on OL personnel and the coaching, but I must also credit the growth that has clearly been seen. Brayden Jacobs has rebounded nicely from a bad first game to be really good as of late. Collin Sadler is at last delivering some consistent play and staying healthy. Some of the depth pieces have been able to deliver as well. That couldn’t happen soon enough for Tiger fans, but this week will be a true test of just how much that growth was tempered by opponent quality.
Miami is going to do whatever they can to make Clemson have to throw to win and put the game on Tait Reynolds. I think anyone watching Clemson right now would agree that is the best approach. It is going to be very important to be able not get behind the chains even if it is just grinding out a 2 yard run. The Tigers OL is not as good in 1 on 1 pass protection as run game at the moment and LSU exposed a lot of issues with picking up blitzes and stunts. Maybe the one silver lining of that disaster was having a lot of film to work and coach on against a lot of exotic pressures. In theory the line should be a lot readier now than they were then. The most important thing is not allowing Miami to get guys running free into the backfield. Should Clemson hold up well enough on the line, then the team has the pieces to hurt Miami because they are not as good in the secondary as LSU or California. Clemson’s WRs should be able to win more if Tait can be sound in his reads and deliveries.
I’m not sure if others noticed, but I did see Olsen Patt-Henry absolutely pancake a guy on a run play last week. The run went the other way and so it didn’t help in that case, but it was an indicator of the tight ends getting better and more physical as well as the OL. All of these things are why Clemson nearly cracked 200 yards rushing versus UNC and did surpass it against California. Clemson has to at least run for 120-150 yards in this game to win it IMHO. Getting one dimensional versus the Canes will mean that hefty spread is going to get covered.
Above all else, Clemson must protect the football and end every possession with a kick of some sort. There might be a fourth down situation where going for it is the play, but otherwise the field position and limiting Miami’s offensive possessions are going to be a major factor. No matter how good your defense might be, that Miami offense is just too good to allow extra chances.
Special Teams: Clemson has been largely awesome in this phase and that will have to be the case again this week. I always say upsets feature a big special teams play against the favorite the vast majority of the time. The only difference now is that Clemson is in the unfamiliar role of being a heavy underdog versus a big favorite. Nolan Hauser missed his first FG of the year last week, and it was a good thing it was in a game it didn’t end up being the difference. Getting that out of the way will hopefully help him not start thinking too much about a perfect kick record like a pitcher may overthink a developing no hitter. Clemson finally looks dangerous on special teams, and you have to like that if this can be a four quarter game.
Overall: I was there for all of those FSU home games that featured spreads similar to this weekend’s nearly 19 point spread for Miami. Clemson took heavily favored FSU teams to the wire in 1995, 1997, 1999 before finally breaking through with that massive win in 2003. Clemson had huge crowds and massive energy for all of those games. I was also there in 2005’s Miami game when Death Valley was louder than I’ve ever experienced before or since. The best thing for a program considered in decline and no longer relevant after that LSU debacle is to take advantage of a moment like this. Even a close loss would go a long way to showing that Clemson could regain some footing even if it isn’t quite there yet. But there should be no moral victories for Clemson football! Death Valley can bring this team to another level and perhaps that level will be what it takes.