ACC Football

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney took the blame for his team's 35-14 upset to Notre Dame on Saturday.

"This was a really bad day and all the criticism was warranted and just should be directed at me, period," he told reporters after the game. "This is one of the most disappointing days that I've had as a head coach."

Swinney added the Tigers "got out-coached in every facet of the game."

Clemson trailed 28-0 in the fourth quarter. The offense gained just 281 total yards as DJ Uiagalelei went 27-of-39 for 191 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

A head coach taking accountability for a disappointing loss is nothing new, but some fans might be wondering whether Saturday did serve as a warning sign to Swinney.

Clemson needed two overtimes to put away Wake Forest in September and needed a 17-point fourth quarter to avoid losing to Syracuse in October. The Tigers finally suffering a defeat isn't surprising.

There were also big-picture questions surrounding the program coming into the 2022 season.

The Athletic's Bruce Feldman and Grace Raynor reported in September 2021 how Swinney's offensive scheme was looking a bit outmoded. With offensive coordinator Tony Elliott leaving to coach Virginia, this offseason presented Swinney with an opportunity to bring in somebody from outside the team with fresh ideas.

Instead, Brandon Streeter got a promotion from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator.

On the other side of the ball, Clemson adopted the same approach to replace outgoing defensive coordinator Brent Venables, with Wes Goodwin taking over the unit.

Swinney clearly values maintaining the status quo and relying on the philosophies that got him here.

Sometimes evolution is necessary, though. Alabama's continued success might not be happening right now if Nick Saban hadn't brought in Lane Kiffin to lead the offense in 2014.

Swinney just signed a contract extension in September that keeps him at Clemson through 2031. He's obviously not going anywhere for now.

How this season finishes out will, however, go toward addressing the overarching concerns hanging over the program.

Cormani McClain, a 5-star cornerback in the 2023 recruiting class, announced Thursday he's decided to play college football at Miami.

Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal reacted to the news:

McClain emerged as an intriguing two-way contributor at Lake Gibson High School in Florida, where he played both corner and wide receiver. He transferred to Lakeland High School for his senior season.

The versatile playmaker projects as a defensive back at the college level, and he could also be an impact player on special teams at the outset.

He's rated as the No. 2 overall prospect and the top-ranked cornerback in the 2023 class, according to 247Sports' composite rankings.

Last May, McClain told Warchant's Michael Langston he still enjoyed playing on offense but his affinity for playing cornerback grew over time.

"I love playing press-man," he said. "I also play a lot of receiver, and whatever the team needs I'm going to do in making some big plays. Offense is probably more natural for me at times because that's where I started my career, so I'm comfortable with route-running. But corner ... I just love it there. Being out there on a corner, and it's one-on-one."

His steady growth as a corner allowed him to receive scholarship offers from many of the nation's top programs before he made his final decision.

Now his focus will shift to continuing that development in college.

McClain is a special talent on a path toward a potential NFL career, but there's still a major jump from high school ball to high-level college games, so a transition period should be expected as he arrives to Miami ahead of the 2023 season.

That said, even if he's not a Day 1 starter for the Canes, it probably won't take long before he sees the field. It's a significant recruiting victory for Cristobal and Co.

The Miami Hurricanes fell to the Duke Blue Devils 45-21 on Saturday to fall to 3-4 on the season, and head coach Mario Cristobal ripped his players for not working hard enough following his team's latest loss.

"If someone’s not playing hard, they have to go play somewhere else," Cristobal said, per Brett McMurphy of Action Network. "What we have to do requires tough people. To turn a program, rebuild it, it requires tough-minded people willing to do the work"

The Hurricanes had a solid start to the season, posting wins over the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats and Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Since then, things have gone downhill for Cristobal's squad.

Miami lost its next three games to the Texas A&M Aggies, Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders and North Carolina Tar Heels and dropped to 2-3 on the season. The Canes bounced back with a slim 20-14 win over the Virginia Tech Hokies on Oct. 15, but their latest loss has them back below .500.

Miami struggled mightily in Saturday's game against Duke. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, who completed 11 of 16 passes for 81 yards and one touchdown, exited with an injury and was replaced by Jake Garcia, who completed just 13 of 21 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns against three interceptions in relief.

The Hurricanes committed an unacceptable eight turnovers in Saturday's loss, including five fumbles in addition to Garcia's three interceptions, one of which was a pick-six.

Fans had high hopes for Miami this season following the hiring of Cristobal, who led the Oregon Ducks to a 35-13 record and four bowl appearances in his five seasons as head coach, but that success hasn't translated with the Hurricanes.

Miami is going to need a solid turnaround to make a bowl in Cristobal's first season as head coach. The Canes have a tough schedule remaining with games against Virginia, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Clemson and Pittsburgh.

They'll try to bounce back next weekend against Virginia.

Dabo Swinney attempted to shoot down any notion of a quarterback controversy after DJ Uiagalelei was benched in the third quarter of Clemson's 27-21 comeback victory over Syracuse on Saturday.

Speaking to ESPN after the game, Swinney said "ain't no question" Uiagalelei will remain the Tigers' starter.

True freshman Cade Klubnik replaced Uiagalelei with Clemson trailing 21-10. The Tigers scored 17 unanswered points to escape with a win and remain undefeated.

Uiagalelei entered the day as a potential down-ballot Heisman contender. He threw for 1,665 yards and completed 64 percent of his passes while running for 337 yards and accounting for 21 touchdowns with two interceptions in the first seven games.

The junior quarterback matched his interception total for the season in three quarters against Syracuse's defense. He completed 13 of 21 attempts for 138 yards with no touchdowns before he was benched.

Even though Clemson's offense came to life in the fourth quarter, Klubnik didn't set the world on fire under center. The 19-year-old went 2-of-4 for 19 yards through the air and had 13 rushing yards on eight attempts.

The rushing attack, led by Phil Mafah and Will Shipley, led the Tigers' comeback. They combined for 135 rushing yards on Klubnik's first three drives.

Clemson was also aided by penalties from Syracuse's defense. Elijah Fuentes-Cundiff was flagged for a personal foul after a 10-yard run from Klubnik on a 3rd-and-25 play that helped set up a touchdown to cut the deficit to 21-16.

Isaiah Johnson was called for pass interference on 3rd-and-11 with 2:58 remaining to give the Tigers a first down. They finished the drive with a field goal to extend their lead to 27-21 with 93 seconds left to play.

Based on how high Uiagalelei's ceiling is and how well he played heading into Saturday, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him remain the starter.

Swinney does have extra time to make decisions about his starting quarterback. Clemson has two weeks before it takes on Notre Dame in South Bend on Nov. 5.

Despite the benching of quarterback DJ Uiagalelei in favor of true freshman Cade Klubnik, the No. 5 Clemson Tigers remained undefeated with a 27-21 win over the No. 14 Syracuse Orange at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina, on Saturday.

With Uiagalelei at the controls, Clemson turned the ball over four times and trailed 21-10 through three quarters of play, which sparked the quarterback change.

Uiagalelei was directly responsible for three of those turnovers, including one that put Syracuse firmly in control of the game in the second quarter.

In addition to throwing a pair of interceptions, Uiagalelei fumbled the ball while the Tigers were going in for a score, and Syracuse defensive back Ja'Had Carter returned it 90 yards for a touchdown:

That put the Orange ahead 14-7 and represented a 14-point swing, and the Tigers went into the locker room at halftime trailing 21-10.

When Clemson couldn't close the gap in the third quarter and Uiagalelei threw his second interception of the day, head coach Dabo Swinney decided to replace him with Klubnik, who was rated by 247Sports as the No. 1 quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class.

Amid his struggles and after getting benched, Uiagalelei was the subject of a ton of criticism from observers on social media:

Klubnik didn't do anything spectacular with 19 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions on 2-of-4 passing, but he seemed to give the Tigers new life when they needed it most, and he came through with a big two-point conversion after Clemson's go-ahead touchdown by running back Will Shipley.

From the time Klubnik took over for Uiagalelei through the end of the game, the Tigers scored 17 unanswered points, which allowed them to hand the Orange their first loss of the season.

Now, the question becomes whether Swinney will stick with Klubnik going forward or go back to Uiagalelei in the next game despite how poorly he played against Syracuse.

During his postgame interview with ABC, Swinney insisted that Uiagalelei is "our guy" and "our quarterback," but he will have some time to make a final decision, as Clemson is on the bye next week before returning for a road game against Notre Dame on Nov. 5.

The unranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish upset the No. 16 BYU Cougars 28-20 on Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to improve to 3-2 on the season, and it was a particularly impressive evening for quarterback Drew Pyne and tight end Michael Mayer.

Pyne, who is starting in place of Tyler Buchner, who is expected to miss four months after undergoing shoulder surgery, completed 22-of-28 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns against one interception.

Mayer, one of the top tight ends in the nation, caught 11 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. He became Notre Dame's all-time catch leader for tight ends with 141 receptions.

The combination of Pyne and Mayer drew instant praise on Twitter during and after Notre Dame's big win:

If one thing is clear, it's that Pyne and Mayer will continue to have a significant impact for Notre Dame this season.

The Fighting Irish have now won three consecutive games and will hope to improve to 4-2 with a win over Stanford next weekend.

Head coach Marcus Freeman looks to have turned things around at Notre Dame after Saturday's 45-32 victory over North Carolina.

The Fighting Irish have now won back-to-back games following their 0-2 start. This was their best offensive performance so far, putting up season highs in points, total yards (576), passing yards (289) and rushing yards (287).

Quarterback Drew Pyne has looked good since getting chewed out by offensive coordinator Tommy Rees in the first quarter of last week's game against California. The sophomore went 24-of-34 and set career highs with 289 yards passing and three touchdowns.

After going scoreless and racking up 25 yards on their first two drives combined, Pyne led the Irish to scores on six consecutive possessions to open up a 38-14 lead early in the third quarter.

Pyne had four completions of at least 20 yards against the Tar Heels. He and Tyler Buchner combined for nine such completions in the first three games of the season.

It's been encouraging to see Notre Dame's offense rebound from a brutal stretch to begin the season. It started with a rough showing in a 21-10 loss against Ohio State that was on prime-time national television.

Things bottomed out one week later with a 26-21 loss to Marshall in the Fighting Irish's home opener. The defeat snapped the program's 42-game winning streak against opponents unranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

It made Freeman the first head coach in program history to lose his first three games. He served as interim head coach for Notre Dame's 37-35 loss to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl.

Since the second quarter of last week's win over Cal, Notre Dame has put up 69 points in its last seven quarters of football. Beating North Carolina won't go down as a marquee moment for the Fighting Irish, but it could end up serving as a crucial turning point for the team.

Next up for Notre Dame is a matchup with No. 19 BYU on Oct. 8 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The No. 25 Miami Hurricanes were upset by the unranked Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 45-31 on Saturday for their second straight loss, and it was a brutal showing for Mario Cristobal's team.

Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke was replaced by Jake Garcia in the third quarter after completing just 16 of 32 passes for 138 yards and one touchdown while also tossing two interceptions.

It was a hideous performance from Van Dyke, who entered Saturday's game having completed 62.8 percent of his passes for 671 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in three games.

Garcia completed 10 of 19 passes for 169 yards in relief of Van Dyke.

The Miami defense was also subpar against Middle Tennessee, allowing Blue Raiders quarterback Chase Cunningham to throw for 408 yards and three touchdowns on just 25 attempts.

The Hurricanes were especially susceptible to big plays, as Middle Tennessee recorded four pass plays of 69-plus yards. The victors finished with 507 yards of total offense compared to Miami's 367.

Now 2-2 on the season following back-to-back losses, fans, understandably, ripped the Hurricanes on social media following the loss.

Miami will now go back to the drawing board heading into its bye week before its matchup against the North Carolina Tar Heels on Oct. 8.