Jason Priester All Clemson
Miami at Clemson: 5 Things to Watch For
Last week Dabo Swinney wanted to see his team respond to the failure experienced in South Bend and this week against Miami, the head coach is looking for how his team responds to some success experienced in the win over Louisville.
The Hurricanes come in fresh off a 35-14 win over Georgia Tech, but currently, sit at just 5-5 on the season and 3-3 in ACC play. This coming from a team that many expected to win the Coastal.
Clemson easily disposed of Louisville at home last weekend, and despite having a spot in the ACC Championship already locked up, the ninth-ranked Tigers still have plenty to play for over the final two games of the regular season, including an outside shot of getting back into the playoff picture.
5 Things to Watch For
1. Who's the Quarterback?: So far this season, Miami has already started three different players at the most important position on the field. Tyler Van Dyke hardly resembled the player from a season ago before going down with a shoulder injury and backup Jake Garcia was mostly ineffective playing in his place. That led to Critsobal going with true freshman Jacurri Brown last week and while the true freshman certainly didn't have eye-popping numbers, his decision-making was sound and he didn't turn the ball over, something the Hurricanes had struggled with in recent weeks. However, if Van Dyke still isn't ready and Brown gets the start, playing in Death Valley will be something totally different than playing in Bobby Dodd Stadium. It will be interesting to see how the freshman responds.
2. Eliminating Turnovers: Clemson has lost the turnover margin in three consecutive games, yet somehow has managed to win two of those. Being on the wrong end of the turnover battle just isn't the recipe for success and if the Tigers do not get some of the ball security issues under control, it will catch up with them at some point. Just like it did at Notre Dame.
3. Who's In and Who's Out at Linebacker: Barrett Carter turned in his best game yet last week after starting in place of the injured Trenton Simpson at WILL. After earning ACC Linebacker of the Week honors, the coaches were asked about the possibility of Carter seeing more time inside, even after Simpson gets back. Dabo Swinney and Wes Goodwin wouldn't rule anything out, and with Simpson having so much success manning the SAM the past two seasons, it gives the Tigers a lot of flexibility in how they can defend this Hurricanes' offense.
4. Attacking Down the Field: For whatever reason, the Tigers have really gone conservative in the passing game. Last week against Louisville DJ Uiagalelei attempted 28 passes, but just two that traveled further than 20 yards in the air. Six of those throws were behind the line of scrimmage and 14 were less than 10 yards downfield. Something has to give.
5. Getting Uiagalelei Involved In Run Game Early: Uiagalelei needs to be a factor in the run game. Last week the coaches got him involved on the opening drive. Uiagalelei ran it four times on that 12-play opening possession, including an 11-yard touchdown run that put Clemson up 7-0.
"I definitely like getting involved in the run game early," Uiagalelei said. "It was cool for me to be able to get the juices out, kind of get everything going, kind of calm down. Getting hit kind of calms you down. It kind of eases you into the game a little bit.
Uiagalelei's better performances this season have come when the coaches have made it a point to get his legs involved early.
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