Tigers deal with failure to finish out at Miami, seek better season finish |
Things looked promising for the Tigers with a 17-7 lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter Saturday night in Miami Gardens. But, the defense’s inability to stop the run, as the Hurricanes were able to get 52 rushing yards in the last quarter alone, helped lead to a tough double overtime defeat.
“We didn’t stop the run game, opened up a lot of other options, and so we just got to be better at stopping the run game, especially in the middle,” fifth-year defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro said. “We just didn’t finish. We had the lead. We (were) up 10. As a defense, we just couldn’t stop the run. So, we got to do a better job with balling up, finishing, and just play big boy football in this kind of place.”
Injuries have been a recurring problem throughout the season. Sophomore wide receiver Antonio Williams exited the game with injury, sixth-year defensive end Justin Mascoll was also forced to leave the game with an injury, and fellow defensive end Xavier Thomas didn’t make the trip for a team rules violation. Junior linebacker Barrett Carter emphasized the next-man-up mentality on Clemson’s team, however.
“We have a lot of young talent definitely emerging. So, it’s always the next-man-up mentality. So, (Thomas) wasn’t out there, and Mascoll went down. It’s always next man up. So, whoever has the opportunity just has to step in and just play that role and try to dominate,” Carter said. “We just failed to execute. That’s on both sides of the ball. Whatever play Coach calls, we have to line up and run that and do our job, can’t get tired of doing the little things. That’s what we did. We just have to execute, and that’s just what we didn’t do in the fourth (quarter).”
The game-ending play rested on quarterback Cade Klubnik’s shoulders. Fourth and goal from the half-yard line in double overtime, he was supposed to hand the ball off. Instead, Klubnik decided to keep it and lost eight yards on the play. Offensive lineman Will Putnam acknowledges that while the mistake was paramount, there were other plays that led to the end result.
“Obviously, that was a big mistake, but that wasn’t really the only mistake, and I think just kind of, the accumulation of stuff like that was really the tale of the tape,” Putnam said. “We struggled in the first half. We were able to move the ball still.”
Players like Putnam are still choosing to take things one game at a time and are trying to attain the goal of still having a 10-win season. The Tigers have not had a season with less than ten victories since 2010 when they were 6-7; that is also the only losing season during head coach Dabo Swinney’s coaching career at Clemson.
“You can either tuck your tail and lose out the rest of the season, or you can try to do the best you can to finish,” Putnam said. “Might not be the finish we wanted starting the year or really the finish we wanted six hours ago. But, it is what it is.”
The next game up for the Tigers is playing NC State on the road (2 p.m./The CW).
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