Clemson will look to remain the ACC Atlantic Division’s lone undefeated Saturday when the Tigers return home to host Syracuse in a tilt of ranked unbeatens that few if any saw coming before the season started.
Kickoff from Memorial Stadium is set for noon. The game will be televised by ABC.
Clemson’s defense vs. Syracuse’s offense: The Orange are playing a more balanced style of offensive football this season.
As the ACC’s second-leading rusher, Sean Tucker is still a handful in the running game operating behind an offensive line with all five starters back. But Syracuse has done a much better job this season taking advantage through the air when teams stack the box trying to take away its ground game. Garrett Shrader may be the league’s most improved quarterback with a completion rate (69.5%) that’s nearly 18 full percentage points higher than last season.
Oronde Gadsden has been a breakout player out wide and, at 6-foot-5, is a potential mismatch that Syracuse could try to exploit against the nation’s No. 95 pass defense. Syracuse is also finding plenty of ways to get Tucker, the team’s second-leading receiver in terms of receptions, involved in the passing game, too.
But Syracuse has yet to face a top-30 defense nationally like it will Saturday. Clemson also ranks 26th in points allowed, eighth in tackles for loss and fourth in run defense, so for some of the issues they’ve had on the back end, the Tigers are still disruptive up front. Clemson will need a bounceback performance against Syracuse’s rushing attack after allowing a season-high 206 rushing yards to Florida State last week, but the Tigers are allowing less than 60 rushing yards on average at home this season.
If Clemson’s defensive front seven, which is whole again after dealing with attrition for much of the first half of the season, can slow down or even eliminate Syracuse’s ground game, then it can focus on getting after Shrader on passing downs against an Orange offensive line that’s struggled to protect at times regardless of the level of competition. Syracuse is allowing 2.1 sacks per game, which ranks in the bottom half of the ACC. Advantage: Clemson
Clemson’s offense vs. Syracuse’s defense: If Clemson’s defense is the strongest Syracuse’s offense has seen to this point, the same can be said about the matchup on the other side of the ball for each team.
In fact, there hasn’t been a better defense in all of the ACC than the Orange, who lead the conference in points allowed, yards allowed and passing yards allowed. And only Clemson has been stingier against the run than Syracuse (95 yards allowed per game).
The Orange run a 3-3-5 defense under third-year coordinator Tony White, a base look that’s becoming more rare in college football. The linebackers are a veteran group led by Mikel Jones and Marlowe Wax, and cornerbacks Garrett Williams and Duce Chestnut are next-level talents.
Like the offense, though, it’s hard to get a true gauge of how good this Syracuse defense is considering the schedule it’s played. The Orange’s first six opponents are a combined 19-22, and the only top-40 offense they’ve played so far (Purdue) scored 29 against them on the road last month.
Clemson brings the nation’s 21st-ranked scoring offense into this one as well as one of the hottest quarterbacks in the ACC in D.J. Uiagalelei, who’s accounted for 21 touchdowns with just two interceptions so far. With Beaux Collins, Joseph Ngata, tight end Davis Allen and an emerging Antonio Williams in the slot, the Tigers have the size and speed at receiver to test Syracuse’s back eight.
And while the running game has been hit or miss at times this season, running back Will Shipley is fresh off his best game of the season with 238 all-purpose yards last week against FSU. Safe to say this will be the biggest test for both of these units so far this season. Advantage: Draw
Special teams: If Saturday’s game comes down to a potential game-winning kick, both sides have to feel pretty good about it.
Two of the better placekickers in America will be featured in this one. B.T. Potter, a former Lou Groza Award semifinalist, has made 13 of 15 field goals for Clemson while Andrew Szmyt, a former Groza Award winner, has made 91.6% of his kicks so far this season (11 of 12).
As for the return game, Syracuse has been one of the nation’s best, ranking seventh in kickoff return yardage (26.5). Receiver Trebor Pena has done most of the damage there, averaging 27 yards on five kickoff returns. But Clemson, which is averaging 25.5 yards per kickoff return, isn’t far behind. Shipley had a 69-yard return a week ago.
If there’s a potential tiebreaker here, the threat of a blocked kick that changes the momentum always looms for Clemson, which has been one of the nation’s best at coming up with those this season. Only Central Michigan and South Carolina have more than Clemson’s four. Advantage: Clemson
Bottom line: Is Syracuse for real? Or is the Orange’s fast start this season more a product of the schedule they’ve played to this point? Either way, Clemson will easily be their biggest challenge so far, and the Tigers are simply the more talented team. Clemson finishes better than it did a week ago to pull away for a 38th straight home victory that keeps the Tigers in control of their ACC destiny heading into the bye week.
Prediction: Clemson 27, Syracuse 17
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