Clemson vs. Miami: Score, Highlights and Twitter Reaction

In its first major road test of the season, Clemson made history by handing Miami its worst-ever loss in a 58-0 drubbing. The Tigers improved to 7-0 and made a compelling case to be placed in the Top Five when next week's polls are released.

According to College Football Talk, the Hurricanes' worst loss prior to Saturday was a 70-14 thrashing at the hands of Texas A&M in 1944. 

Clemson was in control of this game from the opening kickoff, picking apart Miami's defense with a rushing attack that racked up 416 yards on 63 carries. The Tigers went into halftime with a 42-0 lead and coasted over the final 30 minutes to make sure no one got injured. 

This is what Clemson's stat line looked like heading into halftime, per the team's Twitter account:

For perspective on the Tigers' 363 yards and 22 first downs in the first half, it had a total of 296 yards and 15 first downs in a 24-22 win over Notre Dame on Oct. 3. 

Five different players—Wayne Gallman, Zac Brooks, Artavis Scott, Deshaun Watson and Kelly Bryant (two)—had rushing touchdowns in the game.

Watson was stellar, throwing for 143 yards and running for 98 more with two total touchdowns before being taken out midway through the third quarter. His 34-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Leggett basically summed up how things were going for both teams, per ESPN:

In an unusual move at the break, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney had his team kneeling on the field, per Dave Hyde of the Sun Sentinel:

The ABC television broadcast picked up some of Swinney's speech, in which he told the team to keep playing Clemson football. While not the most inspirational talk, it's hard to argue with something that worked so well. 

While the Tigers can go back home with all the confidence in the world, Miami will be asking a lot of questions. The Hurricanes entered this game 4-2, with those losses coming on the road against Cincinnati and Florida State by a combined 16 points. 

There has been speculation about the future of Miami head coach Al Golden for a long time. Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated last week named him the next coach to be fired:

"

There doesn't seem to be a firm magic number of wins or losses for Golden, but the fanbase has been in revolt for a while and seems ready for a change. My guess is he would need to win the ACC Coastal Division to stay, but with games against Virginia Tech, Clemson and Duke in the next three weeks, that won't be easy.

"

The "good" news is there Hurricanes were able to defeat Virginia Tech a week ago, but no one is going to remember that after Saturday's laugher. 

Before the game, Matt Porter of the Palm Beach Post tweeted a picture of a plane flying an anti-Golden banner near Sun Life Stadium:

ESPN's Paul Finebaum made a joke at Golden's expense once the rout was on:

Adding injury to insult for Miami, starting quarterback Brad Kaaya left the game in the second quarter after failing a concussion test following a sack, per WQAM (h/t Susan Miller Degnan of the Miami Herald).

As you can see in the video below, per Demetric Warren of Varsity Preps, Shaq Lawson broke through the line to take down Kaaya despite the Hurricanes having three more blockers than Clemson had pass-rushers:

There was a moment early in the game when Clemson led 7-0 but Miami appeared to have something going. The Hurricanes put together a 56-yard drive to reach the Tigers' 19-yard line, but it ended when Kaaya threw an interception. 

Kaaya's overall numbers entering play Saturday were strong, with 10 touchdowns and one interception. The sophomore, however, is among the nation's worst when it comes to red-zone turnovers, per ESPN Stats & Info:

It's been a long struggle for Miami as it tries to get back to being relevant in the ACC, not to mention the national conversation. The Hurricanes are 32-25 under Golden, which is not the standard this program is used to setting. 

Of course, credit Clemson for never letting up. The Tigers are one of the nation's best teams and are going to be in the mix for the College Football Playoff. 

In fact, Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd was finally swayed by what he saw from Clemson:

This was just one of those weeks when everything went right for Clemson and wrong for Miami. 

The Hurricanes will have a shot at redemption next week at Duke. Golden has to get his players to put this loss behind them; otherwise, the ugliness could carry over against a solid Blue Devils squad. 

The Tigers will face another ACC road test next week against North Carolina State before a huge showdown at Memorial Stadium against Florida State. Swinney is pushing all the right buttons so far this season, so don't expect a lot of changes until the opposition proves it has the advantage. 

Post-Game Reaction

Not surprisingly, Swinney was very pleased with the way his team performed, per Dan Hope of OrangeandWhite.com:

Swinney was particularly complimentary of his star quarterback:

Following this kind of victory, it's hard to be critical. Swinney will obviously find plays that weren't perfectly executed, as every coach does, but 58-point wins don't happen very often. 

Things were much different on the other side. Miami's coach was direct in assessing the problems of his team, per Orlando Alzugaray of 560 WQAM. 

"It's really pretty simple: We got beat up front. We've gotta get it corrected quickly," Golden said. 

Swinney was not going to bask in the misery of another head coach, per Aaron Brenner of the Post and Courier: