Clemson football hasn’t had trouble with virtually any opponent recently. In 2018-19, the Tigers went undefeated en route to a national championship. During that run, Clemson’s opponents were only within double digits of the Tigers twice. First, it was a 28-26 Week Two road victory against Texas A&M. The final? A 27-23 home victory over Syracuse. In that game, the Orange led 23-13 in the fourth quarter before Travis Etienne gashed the Syracuse defense to the tune of 203 yards and three touchdowns. In 2017-18, Clemson lost two games all season. One was the national championship against Alabama and the other was a 27-24 loss at Syracuse. That Orange team would finish 4-8, losing every game after pulling the upset. Basically, this was a long-winded way of saying the Orange have played Clemson particularly well since a 54-0 loss in 2016.
If Syracuse wants to upset Clemson inside the Dome once again, there’s a lot of things that will need to change. For one, the Orange can’t allow Clemson’s offense to walk right down the field like Maryland did last weekend. The Terps went for 650 total yards, including 354 on the ground, and put up 63 points. Phew. That Orange defense on Saturday felt a lot like the defenses Syracuse fans have become accustomed to seeing, not the defense from 2018. Maryland also converted 11 of their 15 third-down opportunities. They only had the ball for five minutes longer than Syracuse, but what they did with that time was too much for the Orange to handle. Maryland’s offense has been great so far, but they don’t hold a candle to Clemson.
Dealing with Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne
For one, the Orange will have to somehow slow down Trevor Lawrence. They did this last season by literally knocking him out of the game in the first quarter. Lawrence had a rough start against Georgia Tech but bounced back nicely with 268 yards and one touchdown against A&M. Syracuse’s defense made Josh Jackson look like an NFL-ready quarterback, so it’s a scary thought now having an actual NFL-ready quarterback come to the Dome. Also, when Syracuse knocked off Clemson at home, Kelly Bryant left the game with an injury. There seems to be a theme of the Orange knocking out the Clemson QB and then keeping the game close. Not that it’s on purpose, but it’s an interesting theme.
Next up for Syracuse to stop is the run game of Clemson. The aforementioned Etienne has averaged 9.2 yards per carry and has 258 yards with three touchdowns through three games. However, Texas A&M was able to hold Etienne to just 53 yards on 16 carries. His damage came in the catching game, where he had 4 catches for 52 yards. People also forget the Tigers’ backup running back Lyn-J Dixon is another big threat. He led Clemson with 79 yards rushing last week. Even if the Orange can recover from the 354-yard rushing outburst from Maryland and stop Etienne, they still have to deal with Dixon.
The offense needs to step it up… big time
This article has probably seemed pretty bleak for Syracuse fans so far, as it should. But the real key to even keeping the game close is going to be the Orange offense. Even if the defense plays out of their minds, Clemson is going to score some points. It will be up to the Orange offense to be on their A-game in front of an electric home crowd. That offense starts with the offensive line, which has seemed to allow opponents to be in QB Tommy DeVito’s face virtually every play. Clemson’s defensive line isn’t quite as scary as last season (six sacks through two games thus far), but it is well-coached and still full of talent. Syracuse’s offensive line needs to figure it out before it’s too late on Saturday night.
As for the rest of the offense, DeVito wasn’t as horrible as people might think reading Twitter on Saturday. He finished 28-39 for 330 yards and three touchdowns, throwing one interception. Sure, some of this came during garbage time. But the important thing is seeing DeVito progress every week. It was also nice seeing him find Trishton Jackson (7 catches for 157 yards and 2 TD) and Taj Harris (5 catches for 85 yards) on a regular basis. DeVito and Jackson especially seemed to be on the wrong page multiple times against Liberty. Granted, they’ll have to play out of their minds to even come close to Clemson, but it’s all about development for the young quarterback. The running game also needs to be exponentially better this weekend. The Orange only rushed for 70 yards total, led by Moe Neal with 47 yards. This was one of my keys last week for Syracuse against Maryland, and they failed to move the ball much at all on the ground.
Final prediction
I’m not saying fans shouldn’t be optimistic, but also there comes a point where you have to be realistic. Sure, I’ll be there at the Dome, cheering my head off and hoping with every ounce of me that Syracuse pulls the upset. But a realistic goal for the Orange this weekend is to keep it close and come away with some positives. I have the final score at 48-27, with Clemson winning. But hey, it’s the largest crowd Syracuse has seen in quite some time. It’s Saturday night. It’s the home opener. Things could get weird.