What does Clemson think of Miami? How do other ACC rivals see the Hurricanes? (2024)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Miami Hurricanes were picked to finish second in the Coastal Division in the preseason poll of 147 media voters, receiving only three votes overall to end Clemson’s run as six-time defending ACC champions.

I wasn’t among the three who picked Miami. In fact, I wasn’t even among the 28 media members who picked them to edge out North Carolina, the Coastal favorite, for the division. I have them placing second, ahead of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech and Duke in that order.

Call me a hater if you want, but I don’t think the Hurricanes are ready to catch Clemson or beat Mack Brown and Sam Howell, even with 16 days between the ACC opener at home against Virginia and that game against North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Oct. 16.

But I’m hardly alone. Even Clemson linebacker James Skalski thinks North Carolina — and not Miami — is the team closest to closing in on the Tigers’ tails.

“North Carolina, I’d say,” Skalski responded when asked by The Athletic which ACC program might be closest to closing the sizable gap between Clemson and everybody else. “I thought Louisville had great personnel last year, and we never got to play them, and obviously they didn’t have a great year as they thought. But every team in this conference gots dudes. Don’t fool yourselves. Everyone’s got players. It’s about pulling it together. But North Carolina, I mean, when you’ve got a quarterback like that. When I played them two years ago, I think the whole offensive line was like true freshmen and sophom*ores. They’re still there. I remember those cats. They were good. So I think they’ll have a great year. Jeremiah Gemmel plays linebacker over there. We’re from the same hometown. I think they’re going to be good.”

Surely, somebody at Clemson has to think the Hurricanes with a healthy D’Eriq King at quarterback might get to Charlotte in December, right? That 42-17 win last October by the Tigers in Death Valley over the then-No. 7-ranked Hurricanes was closer than the final score indicated, right?

“I don’t like to get much into hypotheticals, but I mean, you’re correct,” Clemson offensive guard Matt Bockhorst responded when asked if Skalski was right about North Carolina being the team closest to the Tigers. “Obviously, coach Brown has North Carolina back in the right direction. “(Next) I would say Miami. I just remember it was a fun game. You can tell that Miami’s program is headed in the right direction. Obviously, we got the best of them last year. But I wouldn’t count them out. They’ve got D’Eriq King back healthy and there’s a lot going for Miami.

“I’m also really hoping and excited to see what Florida State does moving forward. I think Louisville has got a great thing going, Boston College. We’ve got some serious contenders, and in some ways, it’s frustrating for me because there are very legitimate teams in the ACC, very legitimate. Just because it’s not the SEC or whatever, people want to throw shade or whatever it is. That’s not the case. In my opinion, I think that we’ve got some very good teams that are going to do very well this year and I think if you look at the bowl games, postseason, and the statistics back me up.”

As much as Bockhorst might sound like an embarrassed older brother talking about his 13 other little brothers in the conference, this is probably a good time to remind you of a couple of things.

One, the Tigers have completely dominated the league, going 47-3 in conference play since 2015 (losses to Notre Dame in 2020; Syracuse in 2017; Pitt in 2016) and winning the ACC title game by scores of 38-3 (Miami in 2017), 42-10 (Pittsburgh in 2018), 62-17 (Virginia in 2019) and 34-10 (Notre Dame in 2020).

Two, nailing the Coastal Division champion with the preseason pick has been hit-and-miss. In 2019 and 2017, the writers got it right with Virginia and Miami, respectively. But in 2018, Pittsburgh was picked fifth and won. In 2016, Virginia Tech was slotted fourth and made it to Charlotte. In 2015, North Carolina was picked fifth and won the division. In 2014, Georgia Tech was picked fifth and won the division. In 2013, Duke was picked to finish last and won the Coastal.

If Miami is on the verge of catching Clemson and winning the conference for the first time ever, nobody really sees it coming — outside of those three mystery voters.

What else did other ACC players have to say about the Hurricanes?

Here are some other noteworthy thoughts shared with The Athletic from players from 2020 opponents Clemson, Pittsburgh, NC State and Louisville:

• Miami has one of the most experienced lines in the country but isn’t as talented as the Tar Heels if you ask two ACC defenders.

Like Skalski, Pittsburgh defensive lineman Deslin Alexandre thinks North Carolina’s offensive line is the best in the conference.

“Last time we played North Carolina, North Carolina had a really good, solid offensive line, big, strong, physical, technicians,” said Alexandre, who produced four pressures and a sack when he and Pittsburgh last played North Carolina in 2019. “I mean, everybody’s good. Everybody’s got a lot of talent. But to me (a good offensive lineman) is the guy that keeps coming at you in the third and fourth quarter as the game goes on. North Carolina’s offensive line is one of those teams. Miami’s O-line is pretty solid, but no one specifically stands out.”

For what it’s worth, Alexandre didn’t produce any pressures against Miami in 29 snaps last season and had only one in 36 snaps in 2019, according to Pro Football Focus.

• For all the attention NFL draft picks Jaelan Phillips and Quincy Roche got, Bockhorst and Wolfpack center Grant Gibson both had good things to say about Hurricanes fourth-year defensive tackle Nesta Silvera, Miami’s top returning defensive lineman.

“That was probably one of the better fronts we played the whole year,” said Gibson, who graded out 11th-best overall and second among ACC centers last year, according to PFF. “Both ends were good, but the inside guys were good, too. Nesta’s very good. He’s got strength, quickness and strong hands. Very good.”

“I do have a lot of respect for Nesta and I think that he’s a physical guy,” said Bockhorst, who was Clemson’s sixth-best graded offensive lineman in 2020 according to PFF, rated 64th out of 97 linemen in the conference (just below Miami’s DJ Scaife Jr. and Jakai Clark) to play at least 184 snaps. “He’s got a motor and he was one of my more challenging guys to go against last year.”

Silvera, who spoke to The Athletic on Saturday at an autograph signing in Miami, said Virginia’s “big” offensive line presented his biggest challenge last season.

• What stood out about the Hurricanes most in the loss at Clemson last year?

“D’Eriq King. I mean he’s like 90 percent of their production on offense. I mean, he’s unbelievable,” Skalski said. “I think they had a couple of their offensive lineman out versus us. So I don’t think we got to see their top guys. … But D’Eriq King was really (special). The tight end (Brevin Jordan) obviously was really good. But he’s gone. Explosive, just a fast team. I think we had their number that night. We can pat ourselves on the back a little bit, but they’ve got talent. I mean, they got dudes everywhere, skill (players) and D’Eriq King.”

•What advice would the Tigers middle linebacker give the Hurricanes for Alabama?

“Go lift heavy and live and die in that film room,” said Skalski, who went 2-1 against Alabama in the College Football Playoff from 2016-18. “You can’t make mistakes. That’s the thing about Bama or any team that stays at the top. It’s not that they’re overwhelmingly better than you. It’s just they don’t make the same mistakes as you, and they’re so good at playing consistently and not beating themselves when the competitive plays happen. They make them. So it’s not beating yourself, and when the 1-on-1 is there, you’ve got to win.”

• Louisville leading tackler and starting linebacker C.J. Avery said he still laments all the big plays the Cardinals gave up to the Hurricanes in a 47-34 loss to Miami last Sept. 19 at home.

“We actually played them really well outside of the big plays that they had,” Avery said. “Obviously, D’Eriq King is the best player on that team. He caused a lot of problems with his legs and his arm. He makes the right decisions. He was hard to prepare for.

“When we were game planning, we were more worried about the run, and I think that kind of opened up the passing lanes for him. He threw the ball pretty well in that game. He surprised me a little bit (with his throws). He kind of let the game come to him when they played us. But when he played NC State and had like five touchdowns, that was when I was like, ‘Okay, this guy is good.”

Avery said he would put King in the “top four” among returning ACC quarterbacks but said Miami’s fast tempo is what ultimately doomed Louisville more than King. Avery said Lashlee’s decision to throw the ball to Cam Harris out of the backfield – after calling running plays in the same unbalanced set at least three times before it – was “a really smart call.” It resulted in a game-altering 75-yard touchdown catch.

“I mean, it was kind of easy to know what was going on,” Avery said of Miami’s simplified offensive scheme under Lashlee. “It was just about making the play and stopping them. They did run some tempo, and with tempo, when you don’t get lined up, that’s when the big plays happen. That was kind of our problem last year. Tempo doesn’t allow you to get your feet in the ground and actually digest what’s going on. You’ve kind of just got to get up and just go play. Miami was the best team we saw last year at using tempo.”

• The Hurricanes do not face Louisville this season but do have a rematch with NC State on Oct. 23 at Hard Rock Stadium. The Wolfpack are still stinging from Miami’s 44-41 come-from-behind win last season in Raleigh.

“I watched that game this past week, actually. It came on the ACC Network, and I was just like we let one slip away from us,” Gibson said.

NC State linebacker Payton Wilson agreed.

“It was definitely an awesome game, but I’m not a big shootout guy because that means the defense isn’t doing well,” Wilson said. “We definitely (as a defense) lost that game for the team. We let up that touchdown at the end, a lot of touchdowns that we shouldn’t have let up. And we take that personally. That’s something that we look back on all the time. The defense lost us that game. We lost a few games last year and that’s something that can’t happen this year. We have the talent and the discipline to where it won’t happen.”

Wilson is still angry about the 40-yard run King pulled off on fourth down and inches on Miami’s opening drive of the game. Wilson crushed running back Cam Harris on the play behind the line of scrimmage. Nobody stayed at home to stop King.

“One person missed their job, and he ran for like 70 yards on the first drive of the series,” Wilson said. “Not many people can do that. He threw for 500 (yards) as well. Awesome player. Someone you’ve got a game plan for, for sure. Their overall speed (is their strength). Obviously, everyone knows Miami is going to be fast, but you don’t realize how fast until you play them. Their O-linemen are fast. Their running backs have 4.3 speed. Their receivers run 4.3. I think it’s just the pace of the game when you play teams. The pace of the game changes things and you have to keep up with it.”

•Louisville tight end Marshon Ford, the cousin of Miami Dolphins receiver DeVante Parker, said it was “the sorest” he’s ever felt after a game. Ford was not the Louisville player Canes safety Amari Carter laid out with a big hit in the fourth quarter.

“I think it was (linebacker turned defensive end Zach) McCloud,” Ford said of who hit him the hardest. “They’ve got good ballplayers, man. They definitely come downhill. They definitely hit and stuff like that. It was very much a physical game. Their defensive ends were physical. Their line was physical. It was just a physical team.”

•Ford said safety Bubba Bolden is Miami’s best returning defensive player in its secondary. Pittsburgh second-year slot receiver Jordan Addison, who put up sterling freshman numbers including eight catches for a season-high 147 yards against the Hurricanes, agreed.

“He’s a pretty great defender,” Addison said. “He does a great job with his hands being physical and covering in space. What Miami does is they do a really good job of playing physical and fast. They disguise a lot of coverages and they just fly around, and they hit.”

Said Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett, who did not play against the Hurricanes last season because of injury in a 31-19 Miami win at home: “I think the conference is full of really good defenses as a whole. Great defensive coordinators, great defensive minds, along with great players. Miami, Clemson, Virginia Tech are great defenses. Those three teams stick out to me as really, really tough teams to go against. They all throw a lot of stuff at you, and they all have some athletic guys in the back end.”

(Top photo of Clemson linebacker James Skalski reacting after tackling Miami running back Jaylan Knighton: Ken Ruinard / USA Today)