Cooper Barkate didn’t need much time to make Clemson’s night feel a lot longer.
On Miami’s opening snap from scrimmage Saturday night, Darian Mensah found Barkate on a screen, and the senior wideout turned it into a 61-yard touchdown just 1:55 into the game. That early burst helped set up Miami’s 41-13 road win over Clemson and kept the No. 4 Hurricanes unbeaten.
Barkate finished as Miami’s top receiver, hauling in five passes for 98 yards and the touchdown. He accounted for nearly half of Mensah’s 227 passing yards, and his 19.6 yards per catch fit right in with a night when Miami also leaned on the run, piling up 192 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
The score through the air was all Miami needed from Mensah.
The 61-yard play was the longest of the game for either team, and it immediately quieted a crowd that was hoping for a different kind of statement in Death Valley.
Barkate’s night went beyond the opening shot. His other four receptions helped extend drives, and Clemson had to keep tracking him downfield even after the early touchdown. In the second half, he came down with a back shoulder fade along the sideline to move the chains, and three of his five catches went for first downs.
Malachi Toney also finished with five receptions, but Barkate was the clear headliner for Miami on this stage.
The performance mattered even more because Barkate had some skeptics attached to a slow start to the season. He answered them in one of the biggest games on Miami’s schedule, the kind of night that can change how a transfer is viewed.
Barkate arrived in Coral Gables this offseason after productive runs at Harvard and Duke, where he went over 1,000 yards in each of the past two seasons. Through four games with Miami, he had already scored three times, and Saturday pushed his total to four touchdowns through five games, along with 19 catches for 241 yards.
Miami also had to work through injuries up front, with right tackle Matthew McCoy and right guard Max Buchanan both leaving at points in the first half. Even so, the Hurricanes kept the offense moving and handled the game cleanly.
Now 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the ACC, Miami heads into its bye with Barkate looking like more than a useful add-on. Five catches, 98 yards, and the opening punch in Clemson is the kind of line that tends to linger.
In Other News...
Clemson Just Made Miamis Poll Rise Even Harder To Ignore
Miamis emphatic 41-13 win over Clemson has done more than just boost the Hurricanes in the rankings. It also made their place in the national conversation a lot harder to dismiss, especially with both the Associated Press Top 25 and AFCA Coaches Poll giving them a bump after the victory. Notre Dame also climbed after its 37-26 win over North Carolina, adding another ranked team to the mix as the playoff picture starts to take shape.
For Clemson, the result adds another layer to a season already defined by the need to rebuild its standing in a crowded field. The schedule still has a say in how this all settles, with upcoming games and strength of schedule numbers looming as the next major test for both Miami and Notre Dame. But after what Miami just did in Death Valley, the attention around the Hurricanes is only getting louder. [Read more 🡒]
Clemson Gets The Reset It Needed At The Perfect Time
After the Week 6 bye, Clemson gets a chance to reset at just the right moment when Charleston Southern comes to Memorial Stadium on Saturday for a noon kickoff on the ACC Network. The break gave the Tigers a pause in the middle of the schedule, and now they return home with the kind of game that can help settle things down and get the second half moving in the right direction.
For a team looking to build momentum, this is the sort of matchup that can matter beyond the final score. Clemson does not get many clean opportunities to turn a reset into a run, but this one arrives with plenty of timing on its side, and the Tigers will hope it becomes the start of something more than just a routine return to play. [Read more 🡒]
Clemson Suddenly Has A Bigger Bye Week Problem Than Fans Expected
Clemsons bye week arrived with more than the usual list of self-scouting chores. After the loss to Miami, Dabo Swinney said the Tigers are spending the open date on recovery, personnel evaluation and cleaning up the mistakes that showed up in that setback, all while preparing for Charleston Southern. It is the kind of pause that should help in theory, but it has also become a stretch for the staff to sort through a roster that has been hit hard by injuries.
The latest concern is on defense, where Corian Gipson is out for the season and needs surgery, deepening a problem that has already thinned Clemsons options. There is also movement to track in the run game, with Jarvis Green unavailable for the next game and Jay Haynes positioned to matter more in the backfield rotation. For a team trying to steady itself after a loss, the bye was supposed to be about getting healthier, but it has increasingly become about finding who is left and how they fit. [Read more 🡒]