Miami's defensive coordinator is preparing for a Clemson offense now run by Chad Morris, who coordinated the Tigers' offense from 2011-14 and returned to the job 12 years later. The last time Morris called plays in college was 2020, and the film on Morris' scheme is bare after only four games, so the Hurricanes went digging for information. "We're going back through film from 2013, 2014, 2020, trying to find different plays versus different pictures, different looks, trying to put it together for how we're going to get attacked this week," Hetherman told reporters this week.
That is where these programs stand entering Saturday night's showdown between No. 4 Miami (4-0, 2-0 ACC) and unranked Clemson (3-1, 2-0) in Death Valley. One program has relied on heavy investments in the transfer portal over the past three seasons to build its future; the other remains heavily invested in its past. The sportsbooks have reflected that new reality.
Miami is a 16.5-point favorite at Clemson, the largest spread Dabo Swinney has faced in 245 games and 18-plus seasons as coach, according to CBS Sports Research. Four years ago, the roles were reversed when Mario Cristobal brought his first Miami team to Clemson in November 2022. The Hurricanes were a 19.5-point underdog and played like it, gaining only 98 yards, a 57-year low for the program, in a 40-10 loss.
Clemson won its 40th consecutive home game, the longest home-winning streak in ACC history. Miami finished 5-7 in Cristobal's first season. Then Cristobal went shopping for quarterbacks.
Cam Ward arrived from Washington State in 2024 and was believed to be the highest-paid transfer quarterback of that cycle. He led the nation with 39 touchdown passes and went No. 1 in the NFL Draft. Carson Beck followed from Georgia on a $4 million deal in 2025, CBS Sports reported, and took Miami to the national championship game, where they lost 27-21 to Indiana.
The Hurricanes were the first ACC team to play for a title since Clemson in 2019. This year it's Darian Mensah, who might be better than both. He left Duke after a legal fight over a two-year, $8 million deal that ended in a settlement, and he signed with Miami to a deal believed to be among the highest in the FBS.
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