Miami-Clemson: Tigers Claw Out 40-37 OT Win, Dash Hurricanes' Title Hopes

The Hurricanes lost a gut-wrenching game to the Tigers in overtime yesterday afternoon, 40-37, when Clemson’s quarterback Kyle Parker found wide receiver Jacoby Ford for a 26-yard touchdown strike on 3rd-and-11 to cap off all scoring and send Miami to their second loss of the season.

The loss effectively ends Miami’s slim hopes for a shot at a National Title this season and puts in serious jeopardy the possibility of a BCS Bowl.

In case you missed the game, or were too busy watching the Alabama Crimson Tide narrowly avoid the upset of the year to the Tennessee Volunteers in their 12-10 victory capped by the blocked field goal by 350-lb Alabama nose tackle Terrence Cody—known as “Mt. Cody” to Crimson Tide fans—at the end of regulation, it was one of those thrilling back and forth affairs that Miami is known for being involved in every year; sometimes more than once.

I seriously debated whether I should write this recap at all. For one thing, I absolutely hate writing recaps of games my team loses in heartbreaking fashion. For obvious reasons, it’s just hard to find the necessary enthusiasm to put pen to paper, figuratively speaking.

That being said, I’d done far too much research in anticipation of writing this piece to let it all go to waste. I’d read numerous articles previewing the game, read all about Clemson University and their team at numerous sites, and beyond all that, had watched every frustrating, exciting, thrilling, ulcer-inducing minute of the game while taking copious notes.

Why would I let all that hard, backbreaking work (I kid, my back is fine, folks, although I could use a new chair) when I could pour out my anguish about the game instead. We Jews are want to purge ourselves of our troubles through the traditional means of talking about whatever pains us, and I’m no different. The catharsis is needed.

So, here’s my expurgation.

Miami still leads the all-time series with Clemson, 5-3, yet since joining the ACC, the Tigers have found a way to twice devastate the Hurricanes and their fans with crushing overtime wins in Miami. The first came on Nov. 6, 2004 as Clemson came away with a 24-17 overtime win over Miami; the last was yesterday’s 40-37 overtime thriller.

Miami gained some measure of revenge for that 2004 loss by going into Clemson’s home stadium and defeating the Tigers 36-30 in a triple-overtime win on Sept. 17, 2005, but none of that lessens the sting of yesterday’s loss to the boys from “Death Valley.”

Miami had come into this contest believing they could and should win it. Most of the nation felt they would win it, and the only way they were going to possibly have a shot at a championship this year (slim as that might have been), was if they did win it. Sadly, they didn’t win it ; and that can be, in my view, directly laid at the feet of the coaching staff.

Yes, I know, I know, it’s the players on the field who are ultimately responsible, but anyone who watched the game realizes that the coaches, on both sides of the ball, were simply boneheads yesterday.

I’m one of the first to defend Shannon from many of his critics, and some of the things that went wrong probably didn’t directly come from him, but the buck stops with him, and he has to own up to the atrocious play-calling at the end of the fourth quarter and in overtime.

My first gripe has to do with the plays being called on Miami’s last possession of the final period. Miami had just intercepted Kyle Parker’s pass in the end zone to retain their 34-31 edge with 5:42 left in the game, and everyone, including myself, felt the game was well in hand. After all, we had seen all the wild and crazy plays already, hadn’t we?

What happened next can only be explained a little by the events of Miami’s possession three series previously at the start of the fourth quarter, where on 1st-and-10 from the Miami 31, Javarris James rushed up the middle for a 44-yard gain. James, who up 'til that point had only touched the ball once in the game; a three-yard rumble in the first period of play, looked good on that 44-yard scamper.

However, it certainly wasn’t any reason to put the ball in his hands on three consecutive plays when the ‘Canes were only up by three with just less than six minutes.

Yet, that’s exactly what the Miami coaching staff did, having Jacory Harris forego trying a pass to Travis Benjamin, whom he’d connected with for a 69-yard touchdown strike on the previous series, and instead hand the ball off to James on pedestrian runs up the middle.

On 1st-and-10, James rushed up toward the middle of the line and pounded out a yard. That left Miami in a 2nd-and-9 situation, where you’d think they’d possibly have their dynamic young quarterback try and connect with someone like Leonard Hankerson, whom he’d been going to all day with great success. Nope, they again handed the ball off to James, who did get six yards on the play.

Again, that six-yard run must have given the Miami coaching staff some thoughts that James was about to bust another one for 44 yards, for instead of having Harris drop back and fake a handoff for a play-action pass, which the Tigers were ripe for, Miami again just ran James up the middle, getting one yard for their trouble and being forced to punt the ball with 3:23 left on the clock.

Only up by three, that was far, far too much time to give Kyle Parker and the rest of the Tigers. While the ‘Canes defense had looked great on certain plays throughout the game, they’d also been torched more often than a flambé at a five-star restaurant during the wild, wacky, topsy-turvy contest. You could simply sense that this game was going to overtime, no matter what happened; and that sense proved correct.

So, what are my gripes about overtime, you ask? Beyond the fact Miami’s defense once more got burned to a crisp on a 3rd-and-long to give up that 26-yard strike to Ford, I believe Shannon’s conservative playcalling during our score cost the boys from South Beach at least a slim shot at a title this year.

Yes, I know, I know, you never take points off the board unless there’s a great risk-to-reward ratio involved, and this situation doesn’t seem like it called for such a move. However, I beg to differ.

For those who didn’t see it, Miami, on their opening drive of the overtime, had a promising run by Greg Cooper of 19 yards on first down that brought them down to the six-yard line. James (yes that James) was then used to try and rush the ball to the left, but was stuffed after a gain of only a yard. The ‘Canes then tried to go to the right with Cooper, who couldn’t even muster up a yard.

That left Miami with a 3rd-and-goal situation from the five, and when Jacory Harris’ pass over the middle (that was nearly intercepted) fell incomplete, it’s almost as if Shannon and his staff sighed an “Oh well” and gave up right then.

On 4th-and-goal, the Hurricanes brought in their kicker Matt Bosher, who preceded to kick the 22-yard field goal. Only thing is, the Tigers were offsides during the kick. So, Shannon could take half the distance to the goal and repeat fourth down, or he could take the three points; he chose the points, while I would have taken the ball a couple of yards away from seven points and asked my offense to score.

This is supposedly an offense that should instill fear in opposing defenses. If so, why would you be afraid to ask it to score a touchdown from two yards out? Simply put, Shannon and the Canes played conservative and scared. Instead of instilling fear, they allowed the Tigers to claw their way back in the game and force them to eat a big helping of it themselves.

And it turns out that fear was justified, as Clemson came through again on 3rd-and-long and won the overtime thriller on the pass to Ford.

Ford, though the hero at the end, wasn’t the hero through most of the game for the Tigers. That honor went to halfback C.J. Spiller. The world-class sprinter literally ate Miami up all day long, including a 90-yard kickoff return that was as painful to watch as it was long.

Between him and Ford, Miami’s secondary was decimated, as they both worked to show that the Canes weren’t the world-beaters some of their fans hoped they were.

I’m not going to get into all of the statistics of the game in this piece, or rundown all the great plays that were made in the exciting, crazy back and forth that was this game. If you want to read about how many yards someone got or threw for, you’re welcome to peruse the box score of the game here or AP Sports Writer Tim Reynold’s recap you can read here .

Instead, I’ll just finish on this note. Miami came into this game supposedly with a possibility of having a shot at the title this year. They left it with that hope dashed.

Clemson was the better team yesterday, and there’s no getting around that. Miami may be more talented all-around, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell that by the play on the field in Land Shark Stadium. Instead, the three best players there were Kyle Parker, C.J. Spiller, and Jacoby Ford. If you wanted a fourth, I’d say look to Michael Palmer, the TE for the Tigers, who kept drives alive himself during the game.

Miami has a slim shot at making a BCS bowl. They’ll have to win out the rest of the way, and do it in convincing fashion, and they’ll have to get lots of help as well. Whether or not they do all that, one thing is for sure; they let this one get away. For they could have won it with just a little more boldness, Clemson being the better team yesterday or not.

Hopefully Miami learns from this and we won't have to see Jacory Harris look as despondent as he does in the photo above (taken right after the loss) again.

We’ll have to wait 'til next year to see if this young Canes squad has the ability and temper to win a title, and until then we’ll just have to root them on to whatever glory they’re capable of this year. Perhaps they’ll shock us. As long as it’s not the shocked feeling we got at their loss to Clemson I’m sure we’ll enjoy the shock.