No. 4 Miami left Clemson with more than a 41-13 win. The Hurricanes walked out of Death Valley with another road statement, and they did it while piecing together a game that kept getting messier on the injury front.
That didn’t slow them down. Miami improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in ACC play, with three of those victories coming away from home.
The Canes leaned on Darian Mensah, who threw for 227 yards and accounted for two total touchdowns, while Cooper Barkate finished with 98 receiving yards and a score. Mark Fletcher Jr. added two rushing touchdowns in a game that turned into a fourth-quarter beatdown.
What stood out most was how Miami kept absorbing hits and still stayed in control. The Hurricanes were hit hard by injuries early, and Mario Cristobal made clear afterward that the list was long.
"We had a lot of guys go down," Cristobal said after the game. "It's an awful year for that for us, unfortunately.
Keep our guys in your prayers. Hopefully they'll heal up and be in a good spot.
But the resiliency of our team continued to show up, not only in the form of that, but in the guys that had to step up and just kept going.
"And so it's a great trademark to have as a team as you enter the middle of the season, and certainly we'll look at the tape and learn a lot from it, but I'm extremely proud of the way that these guys just continue to battle and fight when so many guys went down. There were several true freshmen in the game at several points."
Miami also didn’t get Lightfoot back on the field after he had a strong first half, and Cristobal said the status won’t be clear right away.
On Lightfoot: "We won't know until Tuesday, Wednesday, something like that. We'll go back and evaluate and see where he's at."
Even with the depth chart getting stretched, Miami kept winning the trenches. Fletcher finished with 76 yards on 16 carries, but both of his touchdowns came after the Hurricanes kept hammering away on the ground. Cristobal said the offensive line has been trending in the right direction for weeks, and Clemson finally got worn down by it.
"Well, I just think as time has gone on when you assess O-line play we view it for what it is, and we measure progress, the metrics that we have for that are very tangible and concrete," Cristobal said. "Our O-line has been getting better and better and better, and there came a point in time where let's put the game on your backs and let's see what happens.
"And they did against a team that's been playing, I think they didn't allow a touchdown for 20 drives prior to our game. And the O-line just kept pounding away, pounding away, pounding away, and then did it there again at the end. So really proud of those guys."
The bigger picture around Miami keeps looking stronger, too. The Hurricanes are 5-0 with three road wins, and that kind of start has happened only three other times before. The source tied those previous starts to good outcomes, and Miami is carrying that same kind of momentum into its bye week.
That week off now gives the Hurricanes a chance to get healthier, sort through the injuries that piled up over the last few games, and keep building on a stretch that has already made them look like a true championship contender.
In Other News...
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For Clemson fans, the bigger concern is what Elliotts struggles might mean in the long view of the programs coaching tree and any eventual Dabo Swinney succession talk. Elliott was once viewed as one of the most prominent names tied to Clemsons future, but the inconsistent results at Virginia have only complicated that conversation and added another layer to a fear Tigers fans already know well. [Read more 🡒]
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The bigger concern for Clemson was how difficult it was to generate much of anything offensively against a Miami team now sitting at 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the ACC. The Hurricanes left little doubt about the gap on this night, while Clemson was left to sort through what went wrong after a lopsided loss at home. In a league where every result can reshape the standings quickly, this one served as a blunt reminder of where the Tigers stand and how much cleaner theyll need to play from here. [Read more 🡒]
Dabo Swinneys Postgame Message Raised A Bigger Clemson Concern
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Afterward, Dabo Swinney sounded as if he was trying to balance accountability with perspective, talking about freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds development while also pointing to the need for continued growth, focus and better production in the running game. Swinney said he has seen improvement in toughness and physicality since the opener, but the bigger concern now is whether those gains are enough to keep Clemson from getting stuck in the same place when the schedule gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]