Look who's 40
CLEMSON -- The Death Valley winning streak is a man. It's 40.
Dabo Swinney turns 53 years old Sunday.
What he saw in the second half Saturday probably added another year to that total.
We don't yet know how this season will be defined, but through 11 games Clemson has perfected the art of letting teams hang around.
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For a time it looked every bit like the Tigers were going to pillage Miami in vintage fashion.
And then the second half began and Clemson's offense, so crisp and free and confident over the first 30 minutes, descended into a haze of turnovers.
It's true that the Tigers finally did respond, going 86 yards on eight plays for a touchdown with 4:40 left in the game.
It's also true that the team extended two amazing streaks -- the longest current home winning streak in college football, and the 12th consecutive season of 10 wins or more.
But it's also true that it took an absolutely blistering tirade from the head coach, his entire offense surrounding him on the sideline, to jolt the group out of its slumber.
Clemson tacked on a late touchdown with the backups to make the final score 40-10, and maybe that brings the surface-level style points that are needed with the 10-1 Tigers trying to make a case for a playoff spot.
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But there's no doubt that Swinney will head into the final week of the regular season looking to clean up the things that caused the Tigers to take their foot off the Hurricanes' throat in the second half.
If the CFP committee is looking at the final score and statistics alone, the Tigers should be in pretty good shape. Clemson had an overwhelming 447-98 advantage in total yards, a 27-6 margin in first downs, and rushed for 207 yards.
But a deeper examination showed an offense that can look so good for 30 minutes before struggling to get out of its own way over the next 30.
The Tigers, up 21-0 early in the second quarter and 24-0 at the half, were rolling early in the third quarter when DJ Uiagalelei made a poor decision on a ball that was intercepted at Miami's 20-yard line.
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On the next drive, Uiagalelei responded right away with an energetic, decisive 27-yard run to Miami's 25. But then a perfect throw to Davis Allen down the seam to the 8 ended up going the other way when Allen lost a fumble.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Uiagalelei lost a fumble after holding it too long and getting hit from pressure off the left side. The fumble return went to the 10-yard line, and the Hurricanes reached the end zone to make it 26-10.
Add in a three-and-out on Clemson's next possession, and the offense might have frittered away all the goodwill it earned in an excellent first half while piling up 228 yards, 15 first downs -- and, most important, zero turnovers.
After the offense turned the ball over just three times in the first seven games, they have a whopping 12 in the last four games.
Uiagalelei completed 22 of 34 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns, and he led the Tigers in rushing with 89 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
The defense looked energized and ascendant for the most part, as Trenton Simpson returned to his old position at SAM linebacker and Barrett Carter remained on the weak side.
Jeremiah Trotter was a monster in the middle, totaling nine tackles, a tackle for loss and a pass broken up.
The Tigers had five sacks and even accounted for two points when Toriano Pride sacked Jacurri Brown to make it 26-3 with 1:34 left in the third quarter.
At halftime Miami had just 8 total yards, and 28 yards in penalties.
Brown, a freshman who gave the Hurricanes a spark in last week's win at Georgia Tech, threw for 53 yards on a 6-of-13 clip with a tipped-ball interception and rushed for 22 yards on 10 carries.
The Hurricanes were 3-of-11 on third downs, while Clemson was 14-of-19.
The Tigers go into the final game of the regular season looking to totally devour someone, and they'd like nothing more than for it to be the Gamecocks.
But this letting-teams-hang-around thing has become a bit of a trend.
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