Preview and Prediction: Clemson and Miami (someone picked an upset)

Death Valley will host its first battle of Top 10 teams since 2016 on Saturday, when No. 1 Clemson welcomes No. 7 Miami (Fla.) in front of a national television audience on ABC. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.

Death Valley will host its first battle of Top 10 teams since 2016 on Saturday, when No. 1 Clemson welcomes No. 7 Miami (Fla.) in front of a national television audience on ABC. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. 

Saturday's game will mark the first meeting between Clemson and Miami since the 2017 ACC Championship Game, when Clemson earned a 38-3 victory to secure the third of Clemson's five consecutive ACC titles across the last five seasons. That game featured the No. 1-ranked Tigers and the No. 7-ranked Hurricanes, the exact same AP Poll rankings these squads carry into Saturday night's contest. 

Clemson enters Saturday's game with a 12-9 all-time record in games in which both teams enter ranked in the AP Top 10. That includes a 7-2 mark since the start of the 2016 season. It will represent the fifth such matchup in Death Valley history, including most recently Clemson's classic 42-36 win against Louisville in 2016 that featured future NFL superstars Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson at quarterback. 

While much focus is expected to be placed on marquee quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence and D'Eriq King in this contest as well, the game will also feature two defenses that have been among the nation's most productive behind the line of scrimmage in recent years. 

Since 2016, Clemson and Miami rank No. 1 and No. 2 in the country, respectively, in both sacks and tackles for loss. Clemson holds a 209-177 lead over Miami in sacks and a 521-494 lead in tackles for loss in that time frame. Both teams enter this game ranked in the Top 10 in tackles for loss, with Miami sitting tied for fourth with 31 and Clemson tied for eighth with 27. 

Defenses around the country have had their hands full with Clemson running back Travis Etienne since his arrival on the college football scene in 2017. As a freshman, Etienne had a rushing touchdown in that 2017 game against Miami, one of 38 career games in which he has scored a touchdown either by rush or by reception. He is presently tied with Florida's Tim Tebow and Louisiana Tech's Kenneth Dixon for the FBS record for most career games scoring a touchdown, a record he can hold outright with another touchdown this week. 

Etienne's prowess as a receiver was on display last week, as he recorded 114 receiving yards, a Clemson record for a running back. This week, he'll have the opportunity to become the first Clemson player to record a rushing touchdown and receiving touchdown in back-to-back games since C.J. Spiller in 2009.

Comin' to your City:

• This is the 17 time since the start of the 2015 season Clemson has played at the site of College GameDay; the most appearances for any team
• Clemson hasn’t lost a regular-season game with GameDay in attendance since the 2013 Florida State game
• This the third time GameDay has been at a Miami game this season
• First time a team has been featured on the show three times within the first five weeks of the season
• This is the second straight top-seven matchup GameDay has attended
• It's the first time the show has attended consecutive regular-season Top 7 matchups since weeks 1 and 2 in 2017 when we attended Alabama vs Florida State and Oklahoma at Ohio State in back-to-back weeks
• Corso has picked Miami nine times and is 7-2 with those nine picks
• He is 5-7 all-time when picking against the Canes
• Corso has picked Clemson 11 times and is 9-2 with those headgear picks, including eight straight wins
• He has picked against Clemson 12 times and is 5-7 with those 12 picks
• He picked against the Tigers in both the CFP Semifinal vs Ohio State and CFP Championship against LSU

Prediction:

Zach Lentz: Clemson 41, Miami 17

Brent Venables got exactly what he wanted out of the UVA game, a lot of film to coach off. With that film and an angry defense, expect the Tigers to come out and make a statement and reassert themselves as the No. 1 team in the nation.

Brad Senkiw: Clemson 38, Miami 28

The Hurricanes have a lot going for them, including a dynamic QB and a star tight end. But the offense isn't efficient enough down-to-down and is too reliant on big plays. Brent Venables and the Tigers will sniff enough of those out while Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne will come up huge in the second half.

Jason Priester: Clemson 41 Miami 31

Miami makes some plays early on, keeping it close for a while. However, Clemson has been on this stage, the Canes have not and it starts to show as the Tigers start to pull away in the second half. Miami gets a late score to make it appear a little closer than it actually was.

Travis Boland: Miami 35 Clemson 32

The Tigers become the latest victim to Wide Right Miami mojo. "The U" makes a major statement and King becomes the frontrunner for the Heisman.

Christopher Hall: Clemson 34 Miami 24

The Tigers have excelled in these types of games over the course of the last five years. D’Eriq King will make plays and keep the Hurricanes in the ball game. But Clemson is the more experienced team and in a prime time atmosphere with weather potentially a major factor, I like the Tigers to rise to the occasion.