Story by James Anderson
Photo by Zach Francis
Photo by Zach Francis
Syracuse, NY. - They gave the number one team in college football everything it could handle, but for the Syracuse Orange (3-7, 1-5 ACC), it wasn’t enough, falling to the Clemson Tigers (10-0, 7-0) 37-27 on Saturday afternoon.
Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback Deshaun Watson went 34 of 47 for 360 yards, with two passing touchdowns and one rushing, to lead the #1 Tigers (10-0, 7-0) to victory. They held off a game Orange squad, in front of 36,736 in
the Carrier Dome. The loss was
Syracuse’s 7th straight and officially knocked the
Orange out of bowl contention.
While Clemson never trailed in the
contest, the Tigers never led by more than 14 points, and couldn’t put the
Orange away for good until late in the fourth quarter, trading field
goals during the final minutes.
"Boy, they do a great job over there (Clemson), and congrats to them." Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer said to reporters after the game. "(I) thought our kids played extremely hard, continued to fight...I think there are a bunch of fighters in that room."
Clemson Establishes Control Early
In the first two minutes of game time, Clemson struck for two
touchdowns to jumpstart a lead it would not relinquish.
The Tigers took the kickoff and opened up with a 64-yard pass from Watson to Charone Peake. One play later, Wayne Gallman carried it
11 yards for the first score of the game to put Clemson up.
Syracuse, on its first offensive play, had the
opposite result, as QB Zack Mahoney coughed up the ball and give it back to
Clemson at the 23. Five plays later, the Tigers capitalized, with a 3-yard run
from Watson to make it 14-0, two minutes in.
"Obviously, difficult situation, can't spot the number one team in the country 14 points in the first two minutes of the game." Shafer said. "And we're disappointed with that, and once we washed that off ourselves, I thought our kids played extremely hard, thought we played effective football."
Syracuse Strikes Back
Clemson returned the favor, fumbling on their first play
of a drive and giving Syracuse a chance at the Tiger 28. An Ervin Phillips sprint later the Orange was on the board, 14-7.
"We certainly made some critical mistakes and we can’t make some of the mistakes we’ve made and not expect them to take advantage of it," Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.
The Tigers fumbled again later in the quarter, after a
pass to Hunter Renfrow was completed, but hopped away from him into Orange
arms at midfield. The turnover did not lead to points, however, as Clemson blocked a
48-yard field goal try from Cole Murphy.
Syracuse’s next drive closed the gap, needing just four plays
on 56 yards, sealed with a 10-yard run by Mahoney to tie it up at 14 with
3:34 left in the first quarter.
Tigers Make Another Break
Clemson took back control to close the quarter
on a dominating 10 play, 75-yard drive, filled with sideline passes and yards
after catches. Watson laid out a 4-yard touchdown pass to Peake to put the
Tigers ahead 21-14. Peake had seven catches for 120 yards on the day for Clemson,
in addition to the TD.
After a Syracuse three and out, Clemson went back to work,
with Watson on the third play of the drive linking up with Deon Cain for the
40-yard touchdown. Just like this, not unlike the beginning of the game, two
touchdowns later Clemson was back in the driver’s seat.
Cole Murphy’s second field goal try from 48 yards
sailed through unimpeded, slimming the defect to 28-17 with 3:20 left in the
half, but Clemson answered with a field goal to match from 38 yards to
close the half at 31-17 Tigers.
Orange, Mahoney Show Life in the Third Quarter
Midway through the third quarter, Syracuse
generated some offense, and in the process, some noise from the
Carrier Dome crowd. It was the longest drive for the Orange, going 97 yards in
eight plays, and had little issue doing so, bringing the lead down to seven again.
Mahoney made his presence known on this drive, with a
28-yard pass to Steve Ishmael while being drilled letting go of the pass from
the end zone; a 17-yard strike to Brisly Estime; a 30-yard run to get the
Orange deep into Clemson territory, and a 12-yard touchdown run to seal the
deal, bringing it to 31-24 Tigers.
"I've being hearing that a lot, how's a fifth-string walk-on, you know, able to compete with some of the top teams, but I already give all the credit to the coaches," Mahoney said about people being "amazed" at what he's done in his starts. "The system that we're running, and the preparation that they're giving for me has given me a lot of confidence and given the team a lot of confidence."
Emotions Get The Better Of Orange
With momentum riding high after the touchdown, Syracuse and
Shafer drew the ire of the officiating crew, when appearing to
hold the Tigers to a three and out, a hands to the face penalty was called on
the Orange. This sent Shafer into a tirade, and netted an additional
unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
Battle Of Field Goals To Close
After an insane pace between the two teams, no one scored another touchdown; the fourth quarter saw three field goals, and a battle for field position and clock control. Clemson worked an 11 play, 47 yard drive on their next possession, but only managed a 31-yard field goal from Greg Huegel to show for it. That put the Tigers up 34-24 with 13:33 left in the 4th quarter.
Syracuse responded, but on a drive where a touchdown seemed crucial, and being only 4 yards away, seemed reachable. But a handoff to George Morris on 3rd and one was stuffed, losing three and forcing the Orange to settle for a field goal of its own, 24 yards out for Cole Murphy, to bring it within seven once more.
Clemson continued its offensive momentum on the next possession, seven plays for 60 yards and a 42-yard field goal from Huegel to put it 37-27 with 6:58 left, and Syracuse did not answer again. The Orange had another three and out sequence before giving it back to the Tigers, who ran the clock out for 13 plays and ending it in the shadow of the Orange end zone, sealing the victory.
Swinney said the Tigers did not take Syracuse lightly.
"We had 570 yards of offense. It’s not a beauty pageant, this is football and all you need is one more point than the opponent. Everyone has good players and good coaches. We didn’t play Clemson football tonight. But at the end of the day, we played well enough to win."
Clemson quarterback
Swinney said the Tigers did not take Syracuse lightly.
"We had 570 yards of offense. It’s not a beauty pageant, this is football and all you need is one more point than the opponent. Everyone has good players and good coaches. We didn’t play Clemson football tonight. But at the end of the day, we played well enough to win."
Clemson quarterback
Notes and Extra Points
Syracuse freshman running back Jordan Fredericks was a non-factor in this one, as he sustained an "upper body injury" in the 2nd quarter, and did not return...Mahoney had more rushing yards than passing in the game 86 yards on 10 carries, compared to going 8 for 21 on 80 yards. He did have two rushing scores on the day...Watson was the leading rusher for the Tigers, going 105 yards on 13 runs and one TD. Clemson dominated in the passing department, 360-80...Syracuse held the advantage in turnovers, having two fumble recoveries and an interception to Clemson's one fumble recovery. Syracuse fumbled on the kickoff return to start the 2nd half, but was recovered by the Orange to prevent two bad half starts....The Orange is on the road next week for the final away game of the season, traveling to Raleigh, NC. to take on the Wolfpack of North Carolina State (6-4, 2-4) at 12:30 p.m. NC State lost to 16th-ranked Florida State in Tallahassee, 34-17 Saturday. The Tigers will host Wake Forest (3-7, 1-5) for their last home game of the year.
QB Zack Mahoney: https://youtu.be/KYRsA_58iUo
RB George Morris: https://youtu.be/UeZqeHG7FZk
CB Juwan Dowels: https://youtu.be/XrZuUdsE7R0
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