Orhorhoro: ‘I knew we were going to win’

In Clemson’s latest 27-21 victory over Syracuse, the Tigers faced one of their most challenging opponents yet and though Clemson’s defense struggled to keep quarterback Garrett Shrader and the run game at bay in the first half of play — allowing 172 total offensive yards — the Tigers defense came alive in the second quarter to claim the win and remain a perfect 8-0.

“I had a smile on my face because I knew we were just losing to self-inflicted wounds,” defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro said. “I knew we were going to win, like I had no doubt in my mind with the type of guys we got on the team and the experience. This is one of those games that made us come together even more and you tell everybody to tighten up and just get the job done. In the fourth quarter, that’s when we finish, and we finished the game off pretty strong. I wish we would’ve played like that the whole game, but some games just start off slow and finish fast.”

Orhorhoro was a big part of keeping Syracuse’s offensive success to a minimum in the first half of Saturday’s contest, accounting for two big pass breakups including one in the first drive of the game on a pass from Shrader to top receiver Oronde Gadsden II to turn the ball over on the fourth-and-three. Despite the defense rolling to a slow start, the win over the Orange highlighted the grit and will of this year’s team — something Orhorhoro knows from experience will pay off in the post-season.

“We’ve been in so many tough games and this game was probably one of the toughest,” the veteran defender said. “Syracuse is a great team and it just showed us that we can win when we’re down some touchdowns at home; this team is battle-tested. We won in [double] overtime on the road against a good Wake Forest and now trailing at home to a good Syracuse, it just showed us the ability we have to pull off some crazy wins and it shows the type of chemistry this team has.”

Now with almost all of Clemson’s defensive starters now back and healthy following a slew of injuries, the Tigers seemingly have all the pieces necessary to be a dominant contender for this year’s playoff. With this in mind, Orhorhoro is confident it’s just a matter of time before we see a complete team take the field and do so in dominant fashion.

“Probably just tightening up the little things,” Orhorhoro said. “It’s just little things that hurt us, it’s nothing big. We pretty much beat ourselves the first two quarters and once we put a complete four quarters together on all levels – special teams, defense, offense – it’ll be real scary. I’m hoping y’all will get to see that soon.”