Coach Dino Babers is going to bring his Orangemen to Death Valley Saturday to take on #5 Clemson. Syracuse is currently ranked #14th in the latest AP Poll, making them the 3rd ranked team in four weeks as Tiger opponents.
QB Garrett Shrader, 6-4 228, is a big, dual threat quarterback that can hurt you with his arm and his legs. He isn’t as fast as Jordan Travis but is bigger and faster than Devin Leary. While he had fantastic stats against UConn and Wagner (37-40, 530 yards, 5 TDs), Shrader is completing 61% of his passes, with 7 touchdowns, 3 INTs, and has been sacked 10 times in four games, including 6 by Virginia in a 22-20 win. Last year, Clemson eeked out a 17-14 win in Syracuse with Shrader connecting on 17 of 37 passes for 191 yards, one TD and one INT.
RB Sean Tucker had a great game last year against the Tigers, gaining 157 yards on 22 carries, and the defense will definitely need to know where he is. He ranks 2nd in rushing in the ACC with 107 yards a game and scoring 6 touchdowns. However, that number is skewed, with Tucker gaining 345 yards on 50 carries and 4 touchdowns against UConn and Wagner. Against tougher competition, he is going for 74.7 yards a game and only two touchdowns. Still, he is a threat as proven by his game against Clemson last year. Tucker has hauled in 23 passes out of the backfield as well for another 198 yards and a touchdown.
WR Oronde Gadson, 6-5 215, is another one of those big wide receivers that tend to give the Tigers problems. Wake Forest had a trio of them. Gadson has hauled in 31 passes for 507 yards and five touchdowns. He saves his big games FOR big games and could be a problem for the Tiger secondary. He exploded for 8 receptions, 141 yards and two touchdowns last week against the NC State Wolfpack.
The defense is led by LB Mikel Jones, who has registered 40 tackles and three sacks. As a unit, the Syracuse defense has racked up 17 sacks and 5 interceptions. A fairly stingy group, other than the two cupcake games, the Orange is giving up 16.2 points a game and only 312 yards per game. In last year’s game, Syracuse outgained the Tigers 356 to 314. Understand, however, that Will Shipley didn’t play in this game, and the Tiger offense was going through their “struggle phase” until game 8 of 2021.
Senior Kicker Andre Szmyt, in his fifth year with Syracuse, is one of the more accurate kickers in the country. He broke in his freshman year in 2018 with a HUGE bang, connecting on 30 of 34 FGs and 61 of 61 extra points for a total of 151 points, second ONLY to……drum rollllllll….Travis Etienne’s 156 points. Fast forward to 2022, the 151 point-threshold isn’t in danger but he is still very accurate, hitting on 11-12 field goals and 25-25 on extra points. Get him to the 36 yard line and he is money.
Clemson has won 8 of the last 9 against Syracuse and Vegas has the Tigers as 14.5 favorite going into Saturday’s game. Last year’s 17-14 game notwithstanding, this Clemson team is far different from the team that traveled to the Dome last year. The Tigers have faced the gauntlet of Atlantic teams, having beaten Wake Forest, NC State, BC and Florida State the last four weeks. Syracuse, on the other hand, has beaten Purdue by 3, UVA by 2 and a Devin Leary-less NC State, all home games. The lone roadtrip for the Orange has been up to UConn. The last time Syracuse landed in Death Valley, they didn’t enjoy themselves very much, losing 47-21. DJ Uiagalelei completed 1 of 3 passes for 11 yards that day, taking over for Trevor Lawrence. It’s all DJ Saturday.
