Here Come the Hurricanes: Clemson vs. Miami Prediction

Clemson looks to take a 7-6 series lead on the Hurricanes with a win Saturday.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Nov 18 12:12:03 GMT-04:00 2022

The Tigers are bracing for a November Hurricane. Or, a bunch of Hurricanes.

No. 9 Clemson hosts the Miami Hurricanes Saturday in Death Valley on Senior Day. It’s a chance for the seniors to run down the hill individually and accept the cheers from the crowd while getting hugs from head coach Dabo Swinney. And it’s also a chance to recognize the other students who are seniors who have worked hard – the student managers and others – along with their parents.

But after the ceremonies, there will be a football game. And for the Tigers, it’s another chance to impress the nation.

NO. 9/9 CLEMSON (9-1, 7-0 ACC) vs. MIAMI (5-5, 3-3 ACC)

WHEN: SATURDAY, NOV. 19, 3:30 P.M. ET
WHERE: MEMORIAL STADIUM (81,500), CLEMSON, S.C.
TELEVISION: ESPN (Bob Wischusen, Dan Orlovsky, Kris Budden)
RADIO: Clemson Athletic Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret, Reggie Merriweather)
SATELLITE RADIO: SiriusXM 134 or 194, Internet/App 956

CLEMSON/MIAMI (FLA.) SERIES HISTORY

OVERALL: Series is tied, 6-6
HOME: Clemson trails series, 1-2
ROAD: Clemson leads series, 4-3
NEUTRAL: Series is tied, 1-1
LAST MEETING: Oct. 10, 2020 (42-17, W)
STREAK: Clemson, Won 3

*Clemson will attempt to extend the third-longest streak of consecutive 10-win seasons in FBS history on Saturday, Nov. 19, when the 9-1 Tigers host the 5-5 Miami Hurricanes on Clemson's Senior Day.. Clemson has won at least 10 games in 11 consecutive seasons. A win on Saturday would be Clemson's 10th of the 2022 season and would allow the Tigers to join record-holders Florida State (14 from 1987-2000) and Alabama (14 from 2008-21) as the only FBS programs ever to win 10 or more games in 12 consecutive seasons.

*Though Saturday's game will not be Clemson's 2022 home finale, Clemson will honor its 2022 senior class prior to the game. In recent years in which Clemson has hosted its regular season finale against South Carolina, the Tigers have opted to instead honor the group in the game preceding that charged rivalry contest. Clemson's seniors are 43-7 in the last four seasons, the third-most wins in the country in that span behind Alabama (45) and Georgia (44). The group will have the opportunity to become the 11th senior class in Clemson history to win at least three conference championships when it faces North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 3.

*A win Saturday would allow the Tigers to finish regular season conference play with a perfect ACC record for the ninth time in program history, joining the 1967 (6- 0), 1978 (6-0), 1981 (6-0), 1982 (6-0), 1983 (7-0), 2015 (8-0), 2018 (8-0) and 2019 (8-0) seasons.

WHEN MIAMI HAS THE BALL

This is a Miami offense that has struggled at times this season. What kind of struggles? Until last week at woeful Georgia Tech, the Canes hadn’t scored more 24 points against any Power 5 team in 2022. There were just 14 points after three quarters in Atlanta, but the Canes managed three touchdowns in the final stanza to get the win.

Jacurri Brown was able to give the Hurricanes the spark they needed at quarterback, but head coach Mario Cristobal has been quiet about who will start this week – Brown or the veteran Tyler Van Dyke. Van Dyke has missed two of the last three games with an apparent right shoulder injury and threw just eight passes in his only appearance Nov. 5 against the Florida State Seminoles before he and coaches decided he couldn’t play through the pain.

Brown played the entire second half of Miami’s loss to Florida State, then made his first career start Saturday against the Yellow Jackets. He went 14 of 19 passing for 136 yards and three touchdowns and ran 19 times for 87 yards to pick up the win.

One of their top targets, whoever plays quarterback, will be former Clemson receiver Frank Ladson, who caught a couple of passes last week. But the Canes are banged up, even at running back, and Clemson went back on the attack last week, turning Barrett Carter loose at the WILL (weakside linebacker spot). Miami will hit on a few things, but it’s not a great matchup for them.

ADVANTAGE: CLEMSON

WHEN CLEMSON HAS THE BALL

At this point, we know what Clemson’s offense is. It’s a running offense, built around Will Shipley and Phil Mafah and the occasional run from quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. However, Miami is decent against the run (fifth in the ACC), and toward the bottom of the pack in the conference in pass defense. Could the Tigers find some room to roam down the field?

For whatever reason, that just hasn’t been the M.O. for this offense this season and you can believe it will be more of what we’ve seen – screens and runs and the occasional pass to the seam. The good news is that this formula has worked well enough to win in all but one game, and that was at Notre Dame.

Shipley made the highlight reels with his hurdle of a Louisville defender last week, but Mafah was right there with him with an electric 39-yard touchdown run late.

However, Miami has been susceptible, at times, to wheel routes and passes down the sideline on the perimeter. Watch for Shipley – or Antonio Williams – to get free at some point and break off a big play.

ADVANTAGE: SLIGHT TO CLEMSON

SPECIAL TEAMS

Miami has returned one kickoff for a touchdown this season and the Canes lead the ACC in kickoff return yardage (they’ve returned a whopping 30 kicks, which tells you a lot about their defense). Key’Shawn Smith is the dangerous guy back there. Senior punter Lou Hedley is third in the ACC at just over 44 yards per punt, and kicker Andres Borregales is an All-ACC type of kicker (15-of-18 on field goals).

Clemson’s BT Potter is 16-of-18 on field goals, and punter Aidan Swanson has been better in recent weeks. The Tigers have gotten a big boost from Antonio Williams in the punt return game and he’s averaging 8.29 yards per return.

ADVANTAGE: EVEN

WHAT WILL HAPPEN

Miami needs one win for bowl eligibility, but this is a program in the throes of change. They’ve had injuries, players walking out of practice, parents sniping at the coaches on social media and the coach smacking back at the parents. They are having people transfer out. Sometimes all of that can bring a team together. Not this week. Clemson put together a solid effort last week against Louisville, and it will be another workmanlike effort this week, with a few big plays thrown in.

FINAL SCORE: CLEMSON 41, MIAMI 14

More TigerNet picks

Mickey Plyler - The Roar 105.5 morning show host - 38-13 Clemson
Nikki Hood - Staff writer - 31-10 Clemson
Brandon Rink - Associate editor - 38-17 Clemson
Tony Crumpton - Associate editor - 31-17 Clemson
Pigskin Prophet - 33-16 Clemson
Ryan Kantor - Contributing Writer - 38-10 Clemson
Ariana Pensy - TigerNet Intern - 35-14 Clemson

PREDICTION TRACKER

Game	Actual	David Hood	Plyler	Nikki Hood	Rink	Crumpton	Prophet	Kantor	Pensy
GT	41-10 CU	38-13 CU	33-9 CU	41-7 CU	33-10 CU	35-13 CU	34-7 CU	39-6 CU	-
Furman	35-12 CU	50-10 CU	51-10 CU	59-7 CU	45-3 CU	45-3 CU	49-6 CU	48-7 CU	-
La Tech	48-20 CU	37-14 CU	51-10 CU	59-10 CU	44-13 CU	45-13 CU	45-10 CU	45-10 CU	38-10 CU
Wake	51-45 CU 2OT	37-27 CU	38-27 CU	34-20 CU	38-24 CU	31-24 CU	37-23 CU	31-24 CU	56-28 CU
NC State	30-20 CU	30-21 CU	31-21 CU	30-17 CU	27-20 CU	28-20 CU	34-17 CU	31-24 CU	37-34 CU
BC	31-3 CU	37-13 CU	37-17 CU	31-14 CU	41-17 CU	35-13 CU	41-16 CU	42-14 CU	42-10 CU
FSU	34-28 CU	27-17 CU	31-17 CU	30-14 CU	31-21 CU	31-20 CU	35-20 CU	31-21 CU	34-13 CU
Syracuse	27-21 CU	35-21 CU	37-16 CU	38-14 CU	37-23 CU	34-17 CU	34-20 CU	31-21 CU	37-20 CU
Notre Dame	35-14 ND	34-20 CU	28-13 CU	24-10 CU	28-20 CU	27-17 CU	27-16 CU	30-17 CU	37-20 CU
Louisville	31-16 CU	23-17 CU	27-20 CU	17-10 CU	27-21 CU	28-24 CU	27-24 CU	27-24 CU	30-17 CU
Miami	40-10 CU	41-14 CU	38-13 CU	31-10 CU	38-17 CU	31-17 CU	33-16 CU	38-10 CU	35-14 CU
Points	-	14	10	14	10	12	12	14	12

* Points: 3 pts for best correct prediction of the week (tiebreaker is Clemson score), 2 pts for picking score exactly, 1 pt for picking the correct winner