FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Cordrea Tankersley was stunned by the results of Clemson’s 58-0 drumming of Miami on Saturday at Sun Life Stadium.
“I have never beaten anybody like this in my life, even in high school,” the Tigers’ starting cornerback said afterwards. “It got personal. It kind of got personal. We just wanted to come out here and pretty much show the world what we are capable of.”
What No. 6 Clemson was capable of was handing Miami its worst defeat in the history of its storied program. Before Saturday, the Hurricanes had never been beaten this bad on the scoreboard. Prior to the Tigers’ 58-point victory, Miami’s worst defeat was a 70-14 loss to Texas A&M in 1944.
The 58-0 win also tied for Clemson’s largest margin of victory over another ACC team. Only the 1981 squad’s 82-24 victory over Wake Forest stands with Saturday’s effort.
“We just had to come out here and show everybody that we are for real,” safety Jayron Kearse said. “Last week was bit of a closer game than what we wanted it to be or what it should have been, so we felt like we had to come out here and make a statement on national television.”
Clemson (7-0, 4-0 ACC) made its statement early by going up 21-0 before Miami even knew what hit it. Quarterback Deshaun Watson threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jordan Leggett for the first score. Then Wayne Gallman went in from five yards out for a 14-0 lead, and Zac Brooks went over from the one on the next possession.
The Tigers proceeded to pour it on in the second quarter. Artavis Scott had a three-yard touchdown run to make it 28-0 and then Watson, who rushed for 98 yards and averaged 12.1 yards per carry, called his own number on a six-yard scoring run with 42 seconds left to play in the first half.
Clemson had 363 total yards at the break. The Tigers finished the game with a season-high 567 yards, including 416 on the ground. It was the 14th best rushing performance in school history and marked the first time a Clemson team rushed for more than 400 yards in a game since a win over Wake Forest in 2000.
“It was one of those games that comes every once in a while,” Clemson co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott said. “We really felt good about it all week long, the way our guys had been practicing.”
Tankersley interception and touchdown return of 36 yards that followed Watson’s touchdown eight seconds later made the Tigers feel even better, especially for Tankersley who admitted he was one of the Clemson players involved in a little pre-game pushing and shoving between the two teams.
“I was one of the ones. It got a little antsy,” the junior said.
Tankersley said the argument was over field position for pregame warm ups.
“We always do our workouts and stuff on that side of the field and they were kind of getting in our way and stuff. They were looking at us the wrong way, and it escalated from there,” Tankersley said.
Tankersley, and wide receiver Artavis Scott, just said, “Wait until twelve o’clock comes.”
“After that, it was like, ‘Alright! It’s getting personal. It’s time to take care of business now,’” Tankersley said. “We did not let it get to us. Coach (Dabo) Swinney told us to act classy and got out there and play football. That’s what we did.”
Clemson held the Hurricanes (4-3, 1-2 ACC) to 146 total yards. Knocked starting quarterback Brad Kaaya out of the game, and forced three turnovers on a team that had just two coming into the game.
On offense, the Tigers averaged 6.6 yards per carry and had runs of 59 and 63 yards. Gallman rushed for 118 yards on 22 carries, while backup quarterback Kelly Bryant had two touchdown runs, including a 59-yard jaunt.
The offense also converted 8 of 14 on third down conversions but needed faced just two third downs in building its 35-0 lead. They also had touchdown drives of 82, 84, 61, 85, 84, 45 and 69 yards.
It probably was not wise that Miami made the Tigers mad.
“I kind of think (they did). They are Miami. They play hard and they are a good program, but with the caliber we are, I don’t think you want to do that,” Tankersley said.