Caitlin Clark used her Saturday morning spot on ESPN’s College Gameday to make a call on Miami’s matchup with Clemson, and she didn’t stop there.
The WNBA star, whose season ended Thursday night, appeared on the show from the campus of Iowa University, where she attended school. She joined Pat McAfee, Nick Saban and Desmond Howard on the panel and backed the Hurricanes to beat the Tigers.
Clark also put her stamp on Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney as a Heisman Trophy candidate.
Toney has been one of the biggest playmakers in college football so far, piling up 34 catches for 564 yards and six touchdowns as Miami opened 4-0 heading into the Clemson game.
Miami, though, isn’t short on star power. Quarterback Darian Mensah has been every bit as productive in his first season with the Hurricanes after transferring from Duke. He has completed 94 of 106 passes for 1,211 yards with 14 touchdowns and no interceptions, while completing nearly 89 percent of his throws.
That kind of production is a big reason people are talking about Miami as a possible repeat visitor to the College Football Playoff championship game. Last year, the Hurricanes came up just short against the Indiana Hoosiers. But first comes Clemson, a game plenty of people are treating as a trap.
Even with the Tigers down this season, they still loom as a problem for Miami. The memory of Clemson’s 56-0 rout of the Hurricanes from a few years ago still hangs around, though a repeat seems far-fetched with Mario Cristobal’s program rolling the way it is.
Miami is still chasing its first ACC championship since joining the league in 2004. With Toney and Mensah both putting up Heisman-level numbers, this might be the year the Hurricanes finally grab it. But the bigger picture is clear: they’re thinking championship.
For Clark, it was her first public appearance since the Fever were knocked out by the Aces for a second straight season. Before giving her picks, she spent time greeting fans and tossing autographed shoes into the crowd.
In Other News...
Miami Looked Like A Title Contender But One Concern Is Growing
Miamis win over Clemson did a lot more than add another quality result to the rsum. The Hurricanes backed it up with a defense that held Clemson to 13 points and just one touchdown, while the offense found enough explosive plays to keep control of the game. Cooper Barkate delivered the kind of breakout performance that can change the feel of a season, highlighted by a 61-yard touchdown catch, and Darian Mensah added scoring through both the air and on the ground.
The problem for Miami was everything that happened around the win. The Hurricanes were dealing with multiple injuries by the end of the game, including to key offensive linemen and cornerbacks, and while some players were able to return after leaving, the list of in-game issues kept growing. For a team that just looked every bit like a title contender, the concern now is less about whether Miami can beat top competition and more about how long it can keep doing it with so many bodies being asked to hold up. [Read more 🡒]
Miamis Biggest Worry After Clemson Has Nothing To Do With The Score
Miami left Clemson with a convincing 40-13 win in a primetime matchup, and the performance had the feel of a complete road statement even with several key players banged up along the way. The Hurricanes absorbed injuries on both lines and in the secondary, yet the defense still smothered Clemsons rushing attack and finished with six sacks while the ground game produced 192 yards and three touchdowns.
The bigger concern now is less about the scoreboard and more about how Miami comes out of it physically as the calendar turns to Florida State. A rivalry game of that size demands depth and health, and the Hurricanes have already seen how quickly their margin can shrink when the injuries start to pile up. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Just Gave The ACC No Real Case Against No. 1
Miamis win over Clemson did more than add another eye-catching result to the ledger. It gave the Hurricanes a weekend built on both style and substance, the kind of showing that tends to linger in the ACC pecking order. With Miami stacking up as the leagues benchmark in scoring and defense, the argument around the top spot is starting to look less like a debate and more like an acknowledgment of what has already happened on the field.
Around the conference, a few teams flashed enough to keep the race interesting, from Pitt and Duke to SMU and Louisville, while others like Florida State, Virginia Tech and Clemson continue sorting out where they really fit. But Miamis combination of a statement win and season-long consistency leaves the ACC with a familiar problem: if the No. 1 team keeps handling its biggest tests, there may not be much left to argue about. The next stretch will show whether anyone can make that case anyway. [Read more 🡒]