Listen... I know this is cope and a little bit of resignation, but Clemson showed hope and promise with clearly flawed aspects of the game. Miami was bigger, faster, stronger, and was almost certainly going to win regardless of our execution.
The scoreboard shows a 41, but the defense really did hold up their end of the bargain through the first 35 minutes, only giving up 17 to a really good offense. In the meantime, our offense did the following:
- Opening kickoff to almost midfield --> blown up on 3rd and 3 --> punt
- 2nd and 5 at Mia 32 --> sacked then incompletion --> punt
- 3rd and 3 at Mia 30 --> Blown protection causing incompletion --> FG
- 1st and 10 at Mia 40 --> Stalled drive --> punt
- 2nd and 1 at Mia 4 --> incompletion and false start --> FG
- 3rd and 2 at Mia 18 --> run game stuffed twice --> turnover on downs
A decent offense can absolutely get to 17 at a minimum, and we got 6. The offense line, specifically right Guard/Tackle, could not block to save their lives. Tait made some really good scrambling plays throwing to an open receiver where Cade would have tried to run and we would have more punts. I don't know if it's the personnel, play calling, Dabo's conservative-ness, or what, but our red zone offense in prior years has been atrocious. We moved the ball well. Say we get "lucky" and we're winning 20-17 in the third quarter. Fans would have been in it, defense would have been juiced that their hard work is paying off, and offense would have some momentum.
I'm really excited/nervous about this VT game in 3 weeks, maybe the OL can gel a tiny bit more, Tait can increase accuracy, and we can salvage the season to go 9-3, 10-2. It sucks we've fallen off the mountaintop, but unlike the LSU game, I did see genuine promise and a little bit of football that makes me excited to watch.
