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Miami (Fla.) vs. Clemson


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Parker's TD pass in OT clinches Clemson's upset of No. 8 Miami
 
 
CBSSports.com wire reports

MIAMI -- Jacoby Ford called the final play, promising Clemson's coaches it would work.

Did it ever.

Kyle Parker threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Ford in overtime, giving Clemson a wild, wacky 40-37 win over No. 8 Miami on Saturday night -- the biggest win during Dabo Swinney's tenure as coach, the Tigers' first victory in their last nine tries over ranked teams, and their first road win over a Top 10 foe in more than eight years.

Parker's TD pass in OT clinches Clemson's upset of No. 8 Miami - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com

"It was a play that we had never run before," Clemson offensive coordinator Billy Napier said.

It was a play Miami won't want to see again.

"We knew this game was going to come down to who made more plays," Ford said. "And we did."

C.J. Spiller had a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown -- the sixth of his career -- and a long catch for another score, on his way to a school-record 310 all-purpose yards for the Tigers (4-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). DeAndre McDaniel had a 23-yard interception for another touchdown and Richard Jackson hit a 30-yard field goal with 5 seconds left in regulation to tie the game.

Clemson trailed seven times in the game, erasing every one, Ford's TD catch the lasting blow.

"I have a birthday next month and I think I'm going to turn 50 instead of 40," Swinney said. "We had to put on Superman capes. We made plenty of mistakes that could have lost us the game, but they played with poise and confidence. We just kept battling."

How stunning was this from a Miami standpoint? Since the start of the 1985 season, Miami is now 113-2 when scoring 37 or more points.

The ACC is now out of Miami's control: Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Virginia all have one loss in the Coastal, meaning the Hurricanes will need help to reach the conference title game.

"Not making any excuses," Miami coach Randy Shannon said. "We just played sloppy."

Jacory Harris threw for two touchdowns for Miami (5-2, 2-2), but also threw three interceptions.

The Hurricanes could have had fourth-and-goal from the Clemson 3 in overtime after Matt Bosher's third field goal of the game. But Miami kept the three points on the board, turning it over to the defense.

And Parker -- who picked apart the middle of the field all day -- found Ford, a South Florida native, for the winning score. Parker finished 25 of 37 for 326 yards.

"I should have made the play on that myself," said Miami safety Randy Phillips, who was near Ford but in a supporting role on the final play. "I should have taken it into my own hands."

 

It was the third meeting of these teams since Miami joined the ACC; all three went to overtime, and all three have been won by the road team.

After the way regulation was nothing but wild back-and-forth, it couldn't have been too surprising that this one needed more than 60 minutes before getting settled.

Spiller had a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown just before halftime, then a 56-yard TD catch midway through the third quarter. Both came on Miami breakdowns; the Hurricanes didn't want Alex Uribe to kick it deep to Spiller on the return for a score, and the TD catch came when he was covered by linebacker Sean Spence, who battled an injured left knee all day.

The kickoff was particularly upsetting to Shannon. Uribe didn't kick in the second half, getting replaced by Bosher.

"Blown assignments," Shannon said. "We had something called and we went on the field and it was totally different. ... Guys didn't get it done."

Both defenses offered major scoring swings, too. Allen Bailey sacked Parker, knocking the ball loose and setting up Marcus Robinson's 53-yard rumble for a score that gave Miami a 24-21 lead in the third quarter. And in the fourth, McDaniel's interception runback -- the second pick of the day and seventh of the season, which led the nation at that point -- put Clemson up 31-27.

Harris remained cool under pressure, just as he has all season.

On Miami's very next play, he connected with Travis Benjamin for a 69-yard touchdown, a lead that looked likely to hold up when Phillips intercepted Parker in the end zone about four minutes later.

Parker atoned nicely.

"I think last week we realized that we could be really good and this week we acted on it," he said, going back to Clemson's 38-3 win over Wake Forest a week ago. "I thought we really got some explosive plays and we played well."

The opposite emotion echoed in the Miami locker room.

"This has to be my toughest loss here," Harris said. "We fought so hard throughout the game as a team and didn't come out with the victory. We let Clemson outwork us, we turned the ball over too much -- little things that made us get to this point."

 
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Talk Back
Reputation:84
Level:All-Star
Since:Oct 2, 2006

October 25, 2009 2:46 pm
Then your sports opinions have no credibility with me .  He just showed Harris what being the nations most talented player is all about.  310 all purpose yards against #10 ranked Miami.  Ingram has one decent game against SC and gets talked about for Heisman candidate, makes me laugh!  CJ has been doing that for the last few years folks.  CJ averages 200 all p ...(more)
Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:Sep 15, 2008

October 24, 2009 8:16 pm
Obviously as a Clemson fan I'm very excited about the outcome, but I was amazed at the way both teams kept coming back. Nine leads changes!? Amazing! This was certainly a step forward for Clemson. The Tigers finally came out on top of a close game. And did it on the road against a very good #10 team that refused to go away. The Tiger defense got enough turnovers and the OT stop it needed. Spiller ...(more)
Reputation:97
Level:Superstar
Since:May 5, 2008

October 24, 2009 8:06 pm
Left in the 4th quarter, and Miami runs the ball up the middle into a wall of white shirts THREE times in a row and punts back to Clemson on 4th and three. Why not TRY and get the first down to try and salt the game away. Un effing believable that idea of running it no where three times and not even burning any time off doing it. What in the hell? I knew at that point that Miami would go on to los ...(more)
Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:Sep 21, 2006

October 24, 2009 9:02 pm
Yesterday Jerry Palm wote an article about how this would be an "Uneventful Weekend"  because their was only  1 game that that had Top 25 teams playing each other.  SO, all of you guys starting talking about what upsets could their be.  No one mentioned Clemson.  So, I wrote "why are people overlooking Clemson."  Holy Crap, all I got in response wa ...(more)
Reputation:79
Level:Pro
Since:Aug 18, 2008

October 25, 2009 2:18 am
                        Its real simple IF the canes put a spy on Spiller and stop Ford they win. What coaching staff lets Spiller run wild on them. The coaching staff of the loser. Miami had a short to run out and end up in the top 5, but if your a coaching staff with that kind of sp ...(more)
Reputation:89
Level:All-Star
Since:Dec 2, 2007

October 24, 2009 7:53 pm
Well, maybe not...

As I posted a few weeks ago, all of the excitement and declarations of a return to glory because Miami beat an Oklahoma team without Bradford may have been premature...

This isn't hating on Miami, it's just pointing out that the "we're back" stuff was a bit premature, and l
osing at home to Clemson is not the way to
...(more)
FDR
Reputation:85
Level:All-Star
Since:Jan 15, 2009

October 24, 2009 8:58 pm

Again, just like the VTech game, Miami fans and haters need to settle down here. They are much better than what they showed. I mean they played maybe the worst game of the year, Clemson played probably their best, and Miami still almost won. I would also stay away from the fire Shannon talk. The coaching for this game was not great, but UM is still playing very well this season and recruiting w ...(more)

Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Aug 15, 2006

October 24, 2009 9:16 pm
Clemson was a whopping four point dog and the smart money was on them.  Yeah Yeah I know Miami had a number next to their name and I know how people make that the biggest factor of all in college football, but I go with Vegas because money speaks more than coaches and writers voting.  4 point dog winning... big deal.
Reputation:93
Level:All-Star
Since:May 11, 2008

October 24, 2009 8:16 pm
Miami is peaking one year early!

We'll still only lose 2 games this year, win the ACC, & win a BCS bowl berth.

Easily, right on track for another National title next season.



 
 
Kyle Parker has an outstanding game, completing 25 of 37 throws for 326 yards and 3 TDs. (US Presswire)
Kyle Parker has an outstanding game, completing 25 of 37 throws for 326 yards and 3 TDs. (US Presswire)

 
 
Scoreboard
Clemson  (4-3) «0141010640
Miami (Fla.) #8  (5-2)0101410337
 
Players of the Game
Hurricanes

L. Hankerson
Rec 5
Yds 87
Avg 17.4
TD 1
Tigers

K. Parker
Att 37
Comp 25
Yds 326
TD 3
 
Scoring Summary
MIAMatt Bosher 49 yd FG
CLEMMichael Palmer 15 yd pass from Kyle Parker (Richard Jackson kick)
MIADamien Berry 23 yd run (Matt Bosher kick)
CLEMC.J. Spiller 90 yd kick return (Richard Jackson kick)
MIALeonard Hankerson 5 yd pass from Jacory Harris (Matt Bosher kick)
CLEMC.J. Spiller 56 yd pass from Kyle Parker (Richard Jackson kick)
MIAMarcus Robinson 53 yd fumble return (Matt Bosher kick)
CLEMRichard Jackson 43 yd FG
MIAMatt Bosher 51 yd FG
CLEMDeAndre McDaniel 23 yd interception return (Richard Jackson kick)
MIATravis Benjamin 69 yd pass from Jacory Harris (Matt Bosher kick)
CLEMRichard Jackson 30 yd FG
MIAMatt Bosher 22 yd FG
CLEMJacoby Ford 26 yd pass from Kyle Parker
 
Team Stats
 CLEMMIA
First Downs2218
Third Down Efficiency7-148-14
Fourth Down Efficiency1-10-0
Plays-Net Yards71-41062-433
Rushes-Yds34-8435-177
Passing Yds326256
Kick Return Yds17359
Punt Return Yds0-3
Passes25-37-117-27-3
Punts3-1363-139
Fumbles-Lost3-22-1
Penalties-Yds4-3911-79
Time of Poss.31:4428:16
 
Individual Stats
RUSHING
CLEM: C.J. Spiller 14-81, Jamie Harper 6-19, Jacoby Ford 2-16, Andre Ellington 6-12, Team 1--2, Kyle Parker 5--42
MIA: Graig Cooper 17-99, Javarris James 6-56, Damien Berry 8-55, Travis Benjamin 1--14, Jacory Harris 3--19
PASSING
CLEM: Kyle Parker 25-37-326-1
MIA: Jacory Harris 17-27-256-3
RECEIVING
CLEM: C.J. Spiller 6-104, Michael Palmer 5-74, Dwayne Allen 4-36, Andre Ellington 3-25, Jacoby Ford 2-37, Terrance Ashe 2-26, Jamie Harper 2-9, Xavier Dye 1-15
MIA: Leonard Hankerson 5-87, Travis Benjamin 3-82, Thearon Collier 3-36, Dedrick Epps 2-27, Laron Byrd 1-15, Jimmy Graham 1-8, Graig Cooper 1-4, Mike James 1--3
 
Standings
TeamStandingsConferenceOverall
Clemson1st Atlantic Coast Atlantic 6-39-5
Miami (Fla.)3rd Atlantic Coast Coastal 5-39-4