The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Clemson Tigers 2026 Edition

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CLEMSON, SOUTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 03: Darian Mensah #10 celebrates with Daylyn Upshaw #7 of the Miami Hurricanes after a touchdown during the first half of a football game against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium on October 03, 2026 in Clemson, South Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Another game, another victory for the Canes! On Saturday night, your Miami Hurricanes continued the ACC schedule and beat the Clemson Tigers 41-13.

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Craig T. Smith has your game recap:

AND Mike Schiffman is back with the 3 stars of the game:

And with no further ado, let’s get into this edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly:

The Good

  • A win! I will never take this for granted.
  • A win against Clemson. They were the bullies during their Golden Age, so beating them is something I’ve waiting a while to see.
  • Beating Clemson by the largest margin of victory for Miami since 1953.
  • Beating Clemson, and beating the ethos/aura/mentality/history/demons. I said this years ago re: FSU, but you had to beat the team AND the mentality that they could come back to beat you. And Miami did that tonight. Love that.
  • QB Darian Mensah. Not the perfect games we’d seen him throw in his first 4 starts here, but still very good. 18/27 passing (67% completions) for 227 yards and 1 TD, with 3 carries for 27 yards and a touchdown rushing.
  • Mensah’s cumulative stats this year: 112/133 passing, 84.2% completions, 1,438 yards, 15 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 12 carries, 79 yards, 2 touchdowns.
  • WR Cooper Barkate. 5 catches for 98 yards and a touchdown. Was nice to see him get a big performance on the books.
  • EDGE Damon Wilson II. *THIS* is the player we expected to see this year. 3 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, 2.5 sacks, and pressure all night long. His impact was MUCH more than the stats show.
  • EDGE Marquise Lightfoot. 2 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack in a half of work. Like Wilson II, his impact was much more than the stats show, with his pass rushing and pressure.
  • S Omar Thornton and CB/S Bryce Fitzgerald led the team with 7 tackles, each.
  • LBs Mo Toure and Chase Smith both had 6 tackles, and Smith added a TFL.
  • S Zechariah Poyser had 5 tackles, a TFL, and brought energy the defense needed
  • CB Ethan O’Connor had 5 tackles and was lockdown in coverage.
  • S J.J. Dunnigan. My favorite player showed up again. 1 tackle, and his first career interception, which he returned for a touchdown.
  • RB Javian Mallory ran hard. 14 carries for 63 yards
  • RB Mark Fletcher Jr. led the way. 17 carries for 77 yards and 2 touchdowns.
  • P Dylan Joyce. 3 punts for 146 yards (48.6 ypp average), with 1 over 50 and 1 inside the 20.
  • K Jake Weinberg 2/2 on FGs (50, 24), perfect PATs, and every kickoff but 1 was a touchback.
  • Plenty of other players contributed. Third Scroggins. Keona Davis. Jarquez Carter. Armondo Blount. Ryan Mack. Dylan Day. Daylyn Upshaw. Vance Spafford. Girard Pringle Jr. Kellen Wiley Jr. Cam Pruitt. I like it!
  • On the first actual offensive snap of the game (the first play was a Clemson penalty), Mensah hit Barkate for a touchdown on a screen pass. It was B-E-A-Utiful.
  • Also, watch that play again. Oh my GOD the kickout block from Ryan Rodriguez. SHEESH!
  • EDGE Marquise Lightfoot with an INCREDIBLE power rush, bowling over the lineman and making the sack as Clemson was building a bit of a drive.
  • K Jake Weinberg with a 50 yard FG that split the uprights to push the lead to 10-0 Miami.
  • LT Samson Okunlola continues to look like the 5-star recruit he was out of HS, and his draft stock rises by the play, it seems.
  • QB Darian Mensah did what OC Shannon Dawson has been asking him to do: run when the opportunity presents itself. And on this opportunity, the presentation was a 34 yard touchdown RUN.
  • DT Ahmad Moten Sr. and EDGE Damon Wilson II combine for a sack to end the Clemson drive. There we go.
  • Third Scroggins with a sack! His first of the year!
  • LB Chase Smith with a huge stop on 4th down in the red zone to end the Clemson drive and give Miami’s offense the ball again.
  • RB Mark Fletcher Jr. caps off the ensuing drive with this short touchdown run.
  • DT Ahmad Moten Sr. with a forced fumble, recovered by by Third Scroggins!!
  • RB Mark Fletcher Jr. scores to put Miami up 34-13 and effectively end the game. And he was nice enough to wave bye to the Clemson fans. What a guy!
  • Freshman S J.J. Dunnigan closes the night with a pick-6. I’m so happy!!!!!
  • 9 TFLs
  • 6 sacks
  • +2 turnovers — fumble recovery (Scroggins III), interception (Dunnigan)
  • 25 first downs
  • 419 yards of offense
  • 227 yards passing
  • 192 yards rushing
  • 6.8 yards per play
  • 12.9 yards per completion
  • 5.5 yards per rush
  • 8 chunk plays — 4 passes (15+), 4 runs (10+)
  • 32:29 time of possession. But this should have been more.
  • 41 points. But this should have been more.
  • 3-3 red zone score
  • Allowed 55 yards rushing
  • Allowed 1.5 yards per carry
  • Allowed 2/3 red zone scoring
  • Allowed 2 TFLs
  • Allowed 2 sacks
  • Allowed 4.7 yards per play
  • Advanced stats show a blowout, which this was, and should have been worse

The Bad

  • 6 penalties for 58 yards. Better than last week, but still not good enough.
  • Allowed 350 yards of offense to THIS Clemson offense
  • Allowed 295 yards passing, again, to THIS Clemson offense
  • Allowed 10.3 yards per completion
  • Allowed 75 snaps for Clemson
  • Allowed 8/18 on 3rd down
  • That’s 44% conversions for an offense only converting 27% coming into tonight
  • Allowed 8 chunk plays — 6 passes (15+), 2 runs (10+)
  • The lack of discipline on the opening kick return of the game. Players got out of their lanes, and allowed former Miami RB Chris Johnson Jr. to take the return out to the 42. When will it improve?
  • This CLEAR holding on Clemson’s RT vs Damon Wilson II uncalled. Clemson converted 3rd and long on this play.
  • Burning a couple of timeouts because the play clock was low. I’m not sure why we were late out of the huddle or with the play call getting to Mensah and to the line in these instances, but I don’t like it.

The Ugly

  • 6 more penalties.
  • That’s 29 penalties in 5 games, and 19 in the last 2.
  • Those penalties allowed Clemson to keep this game within touching distance.
  • Those penalties WILL bite us against better teams than this one.
  • Allowed 22 first downs to THIS Clemson offense
  • 4/11 on 3rd down
  • That’s 36% for the #3 conversion offense heading into this game
  • 1/2 on 4th down
  • Overall, the lack of execution on 3rd and 4th downs, both sides of the ball. Yes, this is harsh. No, I don’t care. The Standard is The Standard. Be better.
  • RT Matthew McCoy beat clean on a rush. Mensah was hit as he went to throw. It was called a fumble returned for a touchdown for Clemson on the field, but overruled as incomplete on review. The ugly was McCoy’s whiff here.
  • I maintain the viewpoint that McCoy is a Guard, not a Tackle, and I would like to see him move there immediately if not sooner.
  • Continuing to rotate S.J. Alofaituli in at LG. This is stupid. Ben Congdon is the guy. Do NOT take snaps away from 58 anymore.
  • Alofaituli as the injury-replacement for Buchanan? Okay. I can get with that. Just don’t ever play him over Congdon again.
  • Miami getting stuffed on 3rd and 1. Very poor result to that play and a drive against a defense struggling mightily.
  • Pass interference on Bryce Fitzgerald. Had good position in coverage, but got grabby. Midway through the 2nd quarter, he’s struggled in coverage tonight.
  • Even more injuries. RG Max Buchanan left with an apparent knee injury. RT Matt McCoy left with an arm injury. EDGE Marquise Lightfoot stayed in the lockerroom after halftime with a foot injury. He was in street clothes after halftime and did not return. Malachi Toney missed snaps after a diving catch and landing on his shoulder. Mark Fletcher Jr. missed snaps after several tough runs and Javian Mallory was the closing RB tonight.
  • Late hit out of bounds on S Dylan Day. Unacceptable penalties continue.
  • False start on LG Ben Congdon. Miami’s 7th false start of the year. Freshman or not, we can’t have that.
  • False start on OL Jamal Meriweather before a FG attempt. C’mon man.
  • S Omar Thornton with a missed tackle in the open field vs WR Bryant Wesco Jr. Allowed Clemson to get down to the Miami 2 yardline.
  • All the missed tackles and whiffed sacks. C’mon man. We have to be better

Team Grades

Offense: C+

This was an odd performance. 61 yard TD on the first official snap of the game….then a very pedestrian performance. I know Clemson has some talent, but the way we went from hot to ice cold was odd. I know 34 offensive points and plenty of yards is a good performance any week, and especially at Clemson, where the ghosts of their championship era are present, but with 3 penalties, 2 burned timeouts due to operational issues getting the play called and to the line in a timely fashion, and a touchdown called back due to one of those penalties, there is plenty of room for growth.

Defense: C+

9 TFLs and 6 sacks are great numbers, but there were just as many of each that were missed, especially sacks on Reynolds. It was the same thing we saw against Wake Forest and Gio Lopez. And, that horrible Thornton missed tackle allowed Clemson’s longest play of the game, and set them up to score their only touchdown. Oh, and more penalties.

Special Teams: B

Punting was great. 2 kick returns got across the 20, each. Kicker nailed both kicks and had touchbacks on every kickoff save the game-opener, when the returner — a Miami transfer — was bringing that out no matter what. But, across the board, this was what you need and want from the 3rd phase of the game. I’ll take it. Wait. 1 grade demerit for penalty before the 2nd FG attempt.

Coaching: A-

This one is a mixed bag for me. For production and performance, I’d probably give a B/B-. For operations, motivation, and final result, I’m giving the A- grade.

As my good friend FIU Mike said on Twitter, we’re critiquing a 4 touchdown victory! Remember where we came from! Remember heading into Clemson and getting our doors blown off. Remember 58-0. Remember (waves at the majority of the last 20 years of Canes football). Credit to the staff for having this team ready, fighting through the moments of (self-made) adversity, and earning the result that I believe is representative of the current state of each program. But Miami didn’t do less with more tonight. Miami didn’t lose focus and lose. Miami didn’t let the rash of injuries — both before and during this game — affect the outcome. And that comes down to coaching and leadership. And so I give them credit.

Yes, there are still the unacceptable penalty issues to address. Yes, there are the struggles on 3rd down that were contrary to everything we’ve seen from this offense. Yes, there was the pedestrian passing game outside of like 3 plays tonight. But those are issues to discuss later. I’ll focus THIS specific grade on the 4 touchdown win at Clemson we all watched and enjoyed. Bravo.

That’s it for this installment of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Hop in the comments and let me know your thoughts.

Go Canes

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