No. 4 Miami walked into Memorial Stadium and left with the ACC’s top spot all to itself after a 41-13 win over Clemson on Saturday.
The Hurricanes looked like the more complete team from the opening snap to the final whistle. Mario Cristobal kept leaning into it on fourth down, Darian Mensah delivered the kind of throws that flip a game, and Miami’s defense kept squeezing Clemson’s offense whenever the Tigers tried to build momentum.
Clemson, meanwhile, fell to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the ACC. The loss dropped the Tigers to 7-7 in their last 14 games against Power 4 teams since last year and 9-11 in their last 20 games against Associated Press Top 25 teams dating back to 2021.
The Tigers had one real chance to make it interesting early in the second half. They opened the third quarter trailing 17-6 and drove to Miami’s 18-yard line, facing third and 2.
Instead of cashing in, Clemson went to two straight gimmick plays and came away empty on downs. Miami answered immediately, marching 13 yards and then 83 more for another touchdown, converting two third downs and a fourth down on the drive.
On Clemson’s very next snap, Tait Reynolds fumbled. Miami turned that into a field goal and a 27-6 cushion, and the Hurricanes never let the game drift back toward danger. Reynolds later led a fourth-quarter touchdown drive to make it 27-13, but Miami responded by grinding clock, scoring again with 6:14 left to push the lead to 34-13, and then sealing it with a pick six off Reynolds.
The reigning national champion Hurricanes improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the ACC. Clemson, now 0-2 against ranked opponents after its 51-10 loss at No. 11 LSU in the opener, also saw its three-game winning streak end.
Miami set the tone immediately. On its second offensive snap, Mensah hit Cooper Barkate on a tunnel screen, and Barkate took it 61 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown. Barkate, a Duke transfer, was never touched on the play.
The Hurricanes added a 50-yard field goal in the first quarter to go up 10-0, and Clemson spent much of the first half chasing. The Tigers had five drives reach beyond Miami’s 50-yard line by halftime, but none of them ended in the end zone.
Reynolds kept Clemson alive with his arm and his legs, and he finished the first half with 191 passing yards, more than Mensah’s 141. Clemson’s defense also steadied after Miami had scored on three straight possessions, and it helped the Tigers get to halftime with some fight left. One Miami drive even featured a bizarre sequence in which a Mensah fumble was ruled a forward pass, wiping out what had been a long fumble return touchdown for Clemson.
Still, Miami found a way to stretch the lead. Mensah was credited with a 34-yard rushing touchdown after scrambling, losing the ball at Clemson’s 2-yard line and recovering it himself in the end zone.
Clemson trimmed the margin with field goals from Nolan Hauser of 48 and 29 yards, and the second one came after the Tigers reached Miami’s 3-yard line in the final 30 seconds of the half before a false start and a sack forced them to settle for three. That made it 17-6 at the break.
Miami took control for good in the third quarter. Up 17-6, the Hurricanes stuffed Chris Denson on a wildcat quarterback run for no gain on third and 2, then stopped Gideon Davidson for one yard on a direct snap on fourth and 2 at their own 18. Mark Fletcher Jr. finished the 13-play response with a touchdown run, pushing the lead to 24-6 with 1:51 left in the third and putting the game out of Clemson’s reach.
Clemson is off next week before hosting FCS Charleston Southern on Oct. 17. A win there would put the Tigers at 4-2 at the halfway point of the season, with a manageable stretch ahead.
But Saturday was another hard look at where Clemson stands right now. The Tigers are not operating like the program that once lived in the ACC title race every year. Miami, on the other hand, keeps climbing.
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