Miami Falls at Home 40-37 To Clemson In Overtime

A 26-yard pass from quarterback Kyle Parker to wide receiver Jacoby Ford sealed No. 8 Miami’s fate in overtime.

The Hurricanes lost 40-37 in a high scoring affair, dropping to 5-2 and 2-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). 

It was a game of many turns with 12 lead changes.  It was a game Randy Shannon said was sloppy on his team’s behalf.

"It was a tough loss tonight,” head coach Randy Shannon said in a news release.  “Clemson just made more plays when they had opportunities to do it. We had sloppy play all night long.

“If you play a team like Clemson, that has athletes on the football field, and you play sloppy as a unit, let guys hang around and hang around, they're going to (get) opportunities to win the game.  I'm not making any excuses. We just played sloppy.”

Aside from lighting up the scoreboard both teams amassed over 400 yards of total offense at Land Shark Stadium in front of announced crowd of 43,778.

This game was a trap game of sorts for the Hurricanes who won three-of-their-first-four against top 25 teams to start the season and catapulted into the top 10.  The Miami defense allowed a season-high 410 total yards.

Clemson’s (4-3, 3-2 ACC) Parker completed 25-of-37 for 326 yards and three touchdowns. 

Running back C.J. Spiller was the playmaker of this matchup, totaling 310 all-purpose yards.  He rushed for 81 yards, had 104 receiving yards and 125 yards on kickoff returns.

"They've got some playmakers, a lot of athletes on their team," Shannon said.       

This was the third consecutive meeting between both teams that ended in overtime.  In 2004 Clemson won 24-17 in the first overtime at the Miami Orange Bowl.  The following year Miami took a 36-30 triple overtime win at Clemson. 

Miami quarterback Jacory Harris threw for 256 yards on 17-of-27 with two touchdowns and three interceptions, the latter resulting in a 23-yard touchdown return by DeAndre McDaniel to give Clemson a 31-27 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

"This has to be my toughest loss here because we fought so hard throughout the game, and we didn't come out with a victory,” Harris said in a news release.  “We let Clemson outwork us and we turned the ball over too much. It was just the little things that made us get to this point."

The Hurricanes trailed the Tigers after Harris’ interception but recaptured the lead on a 69-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Travis Benjamin.  Benjamin had three catches for 82-yards and a touchdown.

"Coach Whipple has a lot of trust in me, but at the same time I was throwing too many interceptions,” Harris said.  “He told me he had a lot of faith in me and we just wanted to take a shot. They were giving it up to us the whole game, but at the same time that didn't help us win."

Miami had possession of the ball with over three and half minutes and facing a third-and-3 from their own 27- yard line.  They attempted to get the first down but running back Javarris James rushed for a yard bringing up a fourth-and-two and forced Miami to punt the ball away.

Shannon said the play call on Miami’s final possession of regulation was not a conservative approach.

"It wasn't conservative,” Shannon said.  “We were trying to run the clock out like we did the last two or three games. We were able to run the football in our four-minute offense the last couple of games.

“That's what I mean by sloppy play. Guys up front blew the check. When that happens, that's going to get you.”

Clemson would drive the ball 47-yards down field for kicker Richard Jackson to tie the game at 34-34 with five seconds left in the game.

In Miami’s overtime possession running back Graig Cooper gained 19-yards on the carry placing the ball at the Clemson 6- yard line.  The Hurricanes could not find the end zone and Bosher completed his third field goal of the game putting Miami up by three, 37-34.

Shannon said he did not consider going for it on fourth-and-goal from the 3.

"No. It was fourth-and-three,” Shannon said.  “It really wasn't going to make a difference."  

On the Clemson possession, Miami had them on third-and-11 before Parker found Ford on a streaking slant across the middle-of-the-field for a 26-yard touchdown and the game finisher.

"A breakdown,” Shannon said.  “All sloppy play. You give up big plays when you get sloppy."  

Offensively, Miami had more total yards than Clemson, 433 to 410.  Cooper rushed for 99 yards on 17 carries.  James added 56 yards on six carries and Damien Barry had eight carries for 55 yards.

Wide receiver Leonard Hankerson led all receivers with 87 yards on five receptions and a touchdown.  Harris was able to spread the ball to eight different receivers in the game.  The Hurricanes committed four turnovers in the game, very costly for the team.

 The defense could not contain the Tigers offense, allowing Parker to complete 67.6 percent of his passes.  They finished the day 7-of-14 in third down conversions.

Spiller had a record day, returning a 90-yard kickoff with 0:46 left before the half to give Clemson a 14-10 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter he added a 56-yard touchdown reception giving the Tigers the lead once again, 21-17 with 05:49 to go in the third quarter.

Linebacker Colin McCarthy led Miami with 11 tackles.  Defensive lineman Marcus Robinson provided a fumble recovery, returning it 53-yards for a Miami score.

The loss does not help Miami’s cause in the run for the ACC Championship game.  A week ago Georgia Tech defeated Virginia Tech placing all three teams in a three-way tie in the coastal division.  Now with two losses the Hurricane will need help from other teams in the ACC.

The Hurricanes travel to Winston-Salem next Saturday where they take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

"There is nowhere else to go but to go up,” Harris said.  “We have to keep on fighting. After Virginia Tech, we didn't want to feel like this and it's unfortunate that we had to come back to the same situation."