Clemson football: Left no doubt Saturday night in Death Valley

Clemson football rolled over Miami Saturday night 42-17.

In a week where the Miami staff and fans tried to convince themselves that they were on par with Clemson football, the Hurricanes and Tigers still had to show up and play the game.

It was a game that had all the pregame sizzle, the only clouds hanging over the game were the ones dumping rain from Hurricane Delta. The nostalgia of the Notre Dame game lives firmly in Clemson lore but this was a matchup I was hoping the weather played little to no outcome in the outcome.

Clemson received the opening kickoff and matriculated the ball to the end zone in 10 plays taking five minutes off the clock. After kicking off Miami went six plays and had to punt it back to the Tigers.

Clemson lead by Heisman candidate Travis Etienne posted a 16 play 89-yard drive to go up 14-0 early in the 2nd quarter It was clear the Tigers were not there to flap gums, make accusations, or converse about whose coaching staff was better.

None of the pregame rhetoric mattered the game had to be played and once again it was apparent early on that the only team stopping Clemson on this Saturday night was dressed in orange.

Clemson football defensive coordinator Brent Venables proves he is the best in the country.

Brent Venables did not care how much the Miami offensive line had improved. He did not care about the numbers the Hurricane offense had put up in their first three games with a transfer quarterback and first-year offensive coordinator.

The Tigers unleashed the fury on the Hurricanes offense. It was a tremendous performance from start to finish. People were recklessly questioning if college football had caught up to Coach Venables after what happened against LSU and last week against Virginia. What do you think?

The only disappointing takeaway from last night were the three blocked field goals attempts. After a great start to the year, B.T. Potter’s field goal percentage took a beating last night. It is hard to remember seeing that many kicks attempt not just missed but blocked.

That will have to be shored up this week and something to keep an eye on as the season moves on.

There is a lot still to be written about the 2020 Clemson football team but Saturday was a reminder that culture matters. Games are not played in the press, they are not played via history books, they are played on the field.

The current Tiger team took a significant step last night in their journey to get to Sun Life Stadium in January.