Clemson upsets Miami in overtime
Go figure, Miami faces four ranked teams to start the season (Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma), manages to win three of those games, but then suffers its second loss of the season to an unranked Clemson team at home.
A pesky Tigers team knocked off the No. 10 Hurricanes 40-37 in overtime on Saturday, thanks in large part to Kyle Parker’s big passing day. The freshman quarterback completed 25 of his 37 pass attempts for 326 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. His 26-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Ford in overtime gave Clemson the victory.
Heisman candidate Jacory Harris made a slew of mistakes in this game and just couldn’t recover. He threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns, but his three interceptions doomed Miami as the Canes turned the ball over a total of four times.
With Miami’s loss, Georgia Tech now becomes the outright leader in the Coastal Division by a wide margin. The defeat also opens the door for the Yellow Jackets to leapfrog the Hurricanes in the BCS standings, which is obviously critical.
The “O” word will start to be thrown around Miami now. Their win over Florida State at the start of the season doesn’t look as impressive now as it did then given how the ‘Noles have stumbled. Of course, their win over Georgia Tech holds strong, especially considering how the Jackets continue to climb the rankings.
Still, with two losses in the ACC, the Hurricanes look rather average right now, don’t they?
Anthony,
I agree the Tigers’ record with 3 losses isn’t pretty, but look at two of the losses (TCU and GaTech). Clemson has struggled in redzone this year, but in both those losses had an opportunity to win at the end. With an exception of the Maryland loss, I’d say the Tigers were a pretty darn good 3-loss team, and not suprised they took the “U” to OT.
TigerInGA,
Good points across the broad and I thank you for making them without spewing venom. (Other readers have trouble with that whenever they disagree with us.)
I think Clemson is a dangerous team that doesn’t get enough credit for its defense (although the score from the Miami game would disagree with that notion). And you’re right – the red zone troubles have held them back this year.
Outside of their loss to Maryland, Clemson has battled and as you said, hung with two very good teams in GA Tech and TCU.