SYRACUSE, NY
If anyone had any doubt coming into this game…it was well evident at conclusion of Saturday’s contest inside the Carrier Dome. Clemson came with a purpose, and left no doubt in their 41-6 rout of the Orange on their homecoming in front of over 50,000 and announced 3rd largest crowd in school history.
Clemson set a program record for consecutive wins The Tigers’ (3-0, 2-0 ACC) got their 18th consecutive win surpassing the mark of 17 set in 2014-15 . Superlative on the night included the Tiger signal caller, Lawrence who completed 22-39 passes for 395 yards and three touchdowns. Also the Tiger Defense with an eight sack performance was at time just dominant. And the Syracuse offensive line had no answers for all night.
The game was close for almost a quarters as the Tigers could not mount any sustainable momentum and had success early on. The Tigers then hit a dry spell for much of the 1st half, trading punts with a very inept Syracuse offense. Well let’s be sure we don’t forget the reason for the Orange’s ineptness on this evening was a tenacious Clemson defense that was just relentless in it’s pursuit of Cuse QB Tommy Devito. The Tigers racked up the most sacks in the season so far as they tallied eight total on the night. Also another footnote on their performance, Dabo Swinney told us after the game this was the most “TFL’s” (tackles for loss) by a defense in his tenure as head coach at Clemson.
Back to the game…. a game that to this point was underwhelming from both fan-bases perspectives, as the Cuse’ was just unable to get anything going against the Tigers and Brent Venables scheme. Clemson on offense, found QB Trevor Lawrence were having issues stringing together drives. Which they then found themselves forcing the issue more than they wanted…and one such occasion Lawrence was looking for Deondre Overton and did not see the lurking safety who crept in and jumped the route, and intercepted the Tiger signal caller returning the ball all the way inside the Clemson five yard line. The Clemson Defense would show up and bail the Tigers offense out in a major way, on the next play they forced the Syracuse QB Devito out of the pocket and he threw right into a waiting Mario Goodrich’s hands for an interception. Tiger Cornerback from Missouri who was just inserted into the gamereplacing an injured Derion Kendrick ( Back Spasm). Clemson would roll into the locker room with a 11 point lead on a real sloppy first half by Clemson standards. Clemson 17 Syracuse 6
The second half saw Syracuse take the kickoff … and continue to have issue …with the Tigers defensive front again forcing them to go three and out. Clemson also had no luck on it’s initial drive of the half. But on a night that saw Clemson fan favorite Amari Rodgers again showcase a skillset many Clemson fans forgot about. Especially when you have the likes of Higgins and Ross roaming around the route tree on pass plays. Rodgers saw the end zone twice on Saturday night with the most electric being when he took a simple hitch pass in the right flat and turned it into an 87 yard Touchdown with a tight rope walk down the sideline to boot. Rodger emergence adds just yet another weapon to the Clemson offensive ammo chest. And its not like Higgins himself went off in the first half with 7 receptions for 155 yards. The night ended with a bench clearing party and the 3rd team offense in there with the final minutes ticking off the clock and Clemson attempting to facilitate just that. When on an simple dive up the middle at the Clemson 43 turned into a 57 yard touchdown run by freshmen Chez Mellusi to cap it all off and end the night with an Clemson Orange exclamation mark.
Clemson is a multi-faceted and hydra type offense . You gang up in the box to stop Etienne and you get peppered by the slants and out patterns. You sit back on routes and you get zone reads and doses of the two headed running back monster that is Etienne and Dixon. The night played out as a lot of us predicted going in, this was not the Clemson team of two years ago.. nor is it the team from a year ago. They are marking the ACC with an identity of their own and its a dominant defense and an offense that can beat you in any facet of the game. On this night Syracuse saw just that and lost in a big way 41-6 at the hands of the nations #1 ranked team. Clemson now 3-0 overall (2-0 ACC) will be in action next Saturday at 730PM versus UNC Charlotte. Stay tuned here to CSN for all your daily Clemson Coverage.
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