Clemson defense bludgeons, suffocates Miami offense

Linebacker James Skalski celebrates a tackle for loss against the Miami offense (ACC photo).

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Oct 11 11:01:04 GMT-04:00 2020

Miami’s offense entered Saturday night’s contest averaging an ACC-best 499 yards per game, but the breath of fresh air under new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee was suffocated by a relentless Clemson defense.

In other words, it was a bludgeoning.

The Miami offense that looked the part in wins over Louisville and Florida State produced 210 yards, nine first downs and a late touchdown against a bevy of younger players. Seventy-one of Miami’s yards came on the drive for that touchdown, and 56 of those yards came on one run in the second quarter.

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables suffocated the Hurricanes by attacking the line of scrimmage and overwhelming the offensive line and taking away the running game. Miami’s three running backs combined to total just 11 rushing yards on ten carries.

Miami’s offense converted 4-of-15 third down opportunities. The Hurricanes went three-and-out on seven of their first eight drives of the game.

Venables said it was fun watching his young defense grow up a little bit.

“I thought our guys played with great discipline and passion. I thought they were very physical and did a great job of communicating and locked in,” Venables said. “Our preparation - the way they practiced and watched film and invested extra time on their own really showed tonight and paid huge dividends. They are a very complicated offense in what they do. They can do so much with the run and the throwing game. To me, the most obvious thing other than playing with great grit and toughness and discipline and just having fun was just watching them grow up tonight.”

He then said he felt like his group took a step in the right direction.

“We felt like we still had a lot of growing together to do, and tonight was a small step in doing just that against a good, quality opponent that is dangerous and explosive,” Venables said. “Again, really proud of our coaches and players. We have got a lot of young guys that are out there playing and even the bad is a good thing because you need as little bit of water so you can grow and improve. There are things we have to get better at and we have to get exposed before you can take the kind of steps you need to take.”

The Tigers forced three Miami turnovers.

“I think that is a byproduct of how you practice and taking that game-rep mindset in practice and playing with aggression and on your toes and with great technique and playing aggressive overall,” Venables said. “My favorite turnover is probably the fourth-down stop. That was a critical play and a physical play. The turnovers were huge. That is probably the number one stat in winning and losing is the turnover margin.”

Miami quarterback D’Eriq King managed just 121 passing yards on a 12-of-28 clip with two interceptions.

“It starts with guys being on the same page and creating pressure,” Venables said. “Our guys did a good job of collapsing the pocket and making it tough to step up in the pocket and making him change his launch point as much as we could. Our guys complemented each other really well up front and in the back end tonight.”