In the second of two notebooks previewing Miami’s upcoming game on Saturday night versus Clemson, I’ll break down how I expect the Hurricanes’ defense to match up against the Tigers’ offense.
Through its first four games, the Tigers have largely struggled offensively. Play-caller Chad Morris’ unit ranks 120th in points per game (21.0), 127th in yards (314.0), 128th in passing yards (155.8) and 75th in rushing yards (158.3).
Sophomore running back Gideon Davidson has been a bright spot on this lackluster offense, rushing for 346 yards and three touchdowns on 59 carries. In a Week 4 win over California, Davidson posted 159 yards and a pair of scores. He’s a physical, between-the-tackles runner who could challenge a UM squad that does lead the country in run defense but has whiffed on 39 tackles this season.
“Tremendous contact balance. He can accelerate. He runs behind his pads, runs through tackles, rarely gets tackled by the first guy, explosive,” Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal said to reporters about Davidson. “This past week, they ran sprint draw on third-and-long, and he just finds a crease, gets a good wall block right there by a couple linemen, takes off and nobody catches him … [Davidson] presents a tremendous threat on any given touch to take it to the house. He did it against North Carolina. He did it against Cal this past week, just a really impressive player.”
While Clemson’s passing offense has failed to find much success, it’s not because of a lack of talent at the wide receiver position. Both T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco Jr. have NFL potential, with Wesco being named to the Preseason All-ACC First Team. They will look to take advantage of a depleted Miami secondary, especially if starter Xavier Lucas is unable to suit up.
True freshman Tait Reynolds will be starting at quarterback for the Tigers. Reynolds is mobile and has a solid arm, but he’s been subpar at best to begin his college career, throwing for 521 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, adding 83 yards on 41 carries.
“We got to hit the quarterback,” defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman said. “We got to get after him. We got to try to collapse the pocket. We got to be really detailed in our rush lanes. We got to be really detailed in our blitz plan, depending whether or not that’s what we’re doing this week – coming after him or not … he does a really good job of moving out of the pocket, keeping things alive.”
The Hurricanes should have the upper hand against Reynolds if they can force him to stay within the pocket and operate solely as a passer. So far this season, they’ve had success against athletic quarterbacks: Wake Forest’s Gio Lopez was held to -8 yards in Week 3, while Central Michigan’s Angel Flores ran for just eight yards in Week 4.
