(Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)
Land Shark Stadium was a tough place to be this weekend with both home teams going down in two different football games.
The No. 18 Miami Hurricanes could not stop C.J. Spiller and the Clemson Tigers offense, getting bit by the upset bug in a 40-37 overtime loss.
The next day the Miami Dolphins failed to pull off the upset of the undefeated New Orleans Saints losing 46-34.
Both days of football provided exciting games that is, until the final seconds ticked off the clock.
For the Hurricanes it was a game full of missed assignments and missed opportunities. The defensive line jumped offsides four times in the game, giving the Tigers offense two first downs.
On the Spiller 56- yard touchdown reception Miami linebacker Sean Spence was outmatched on the coverage allowing the running back to hit the end zone unchallenged giving Clemson a 21-17 lead.
The Dolphins had the magical beginning for an underdog against the heavy favorite. They jumped out to a 24-3 lead on two Ricky Williams’ touchdowns and one from Ronnie Brown. The defense had Saints quarterback Drew Brees under pressure for most of the first half.
A late Brees touchdown run cut the lead to two touchdowns right before halftime. It was the momentum New Orleans would need on their come-from-behind win, including outscoring the Dolphins 22-0 in the fourth quarter.
Both Miami defenses gave up over 400 yards of total offense. In the case of the Hurricanes, the game was close from start to finish. For the Dolphins it was a blown lead that haunted the team’s inability to produce points in the second half.
The loss to Clemson was disheartening for a Miami team that survived through their first four games but was never comfortable Saturday on both sides of the ball. The offense stressed on the running game as opposed to the passing game that baffled defenses all season long.
On a critical third-and-2 play Whipple called for a Javarris James draw play. Clemson stuffed the run forcing a punt and moving the ball down the field to tie the game and forcing overtime. In the game against Oklahoma the ‘Canes faced a similar scenario but they passed the ball for the first down moving the chains and running out the clock.
It seemed like this game they psyched themselves out on important game situations. The Hurricanes can only look back at this game and dwell on the mistakes they made and how it affects the rest of the season within the conference.
For the Dolphins, this is a team that is better than their record through the first three games when they started the season 0-3. The loss to the Saints only adds to the pain this team had when it let a hard-fought win against the Indianapolis Colts slip away. The Dolphins controlled the time of possession for 45 minutes but Peyton Manning still found a way to leave Miami undefeated with a 27-23 win.
They had a similar situation against the Saints where Miami led through three quarters before losing the lead and the game in the fourth quarter. It was evident that you can only hold down the Saints high-octane offense for a small margin of time before they wake up and start attacking.
A lot of credit goes out the New Orleans offense for coming out in the second half a completely different team. Even more credit goes to their defense limiting the Dolphins offense in the last two quarters and only allowing 10 points. Overall the team made adjustments on both sides of the field that caught Miami off guard and they never did recover.
Both home sides had opportunities to win their games but in the end they could not pull it off.
Home field advantage was nowhere to be found this weekend in South Florida. Both Miami teams need to go back to the drawing board. One thing is for sure both games at Land Shark Stadium were high scoring entertaining affairs.
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