2021 Schedule Preview and Prediction: Clemson at Syracuse |
Following the Clemson off-week after the Boston College game this season, the Tigers will travel to Syracuse, New York for a Friday kickoff to mark the halfway point of the 2021 regular season. With the game being held in the Carrier Dome, it will mark the first regular-season Friday night game since the Tigers lost 27-24 to Dino Babers and the Orange in the Dome in 2017.
Clemson took last year's game by a score of 47-21, but that score does not tell the whole story. There were fans were saying that Dabo Swinney and the Tigers came out flat and a halftime score of 27-14 was not up to par with what Clemson fans expected. The game got close in the third quarter when the Orange struck first, scoring a touchdown to cut the lead to 27-21. Travis Etienne scored two rushing touchdowns in the fourth and Andrew Booth had a fumble return for a touchdown to make the final score look a little more favorable for the Tigers as they moved to 6-0 on the season and dropped Syracuse to 1-5.
Overall, Clemson leads the series 7-2 and have been winners of the last three dating back to that Friday night game in 2017. The games have often been close with Syracuse and you don’t have to look back far to remember the Chase Brice-hero game in 2018 when Trevor Lawrence left with an injury and Brice leading the Tigers on a game-winning drive to keep the National Championship hopes alive.
This season will be year six of the Babers era in New York in what has been an up-and-down coaching hire. He has a 24-36 overall record, and after a 10-3 record in 2018, Syracuse fans thought they found their guy to help turn the corner. That trend, however, hasn't continued as Syracuse finished 2019 with a 5-7 record and then went 1-10 last season. This could easily be a make-or-break year for Babers as Syracuse fans want the team to be competitive and fight for a chance at their first ACC title.
Syracuse Offense
Last year was one to forget for Syracuse on both sides of the ball. The offense averaged just 17 points and a dismal 265 yards of offense per game. Before the season, the Orange had a string of bad luck when their top two running backs, Abdul Adams and Jarveon Howard, opted out, as well as injuries on the offensive line basically that made the rushing attack non-existent last season.
The offense relied heavily on quarterback Tommy DeVito who threw for over 500 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. DeVito will battle during fall camp with transfer quarterback Garrett Shrader, a dual-threat quarterback from Mississippi State. It’s unsure who will be taking the snaps under center in week one, but DeVito does have two years under his belt in Babers’ system.
Syracuse Defense
Defense was the strong suit to the Orange in 2020 and it looks to be the same in 2021. It will be year two under defensive coordinator Tony White and his 3-3-5 formation. The defense forced 13 interceptions as well as 23 fumbles, 11 of them which they recovered, last season.
They did allow on average over 450 yards of offense and 30 points per game, numbers which will need to change drastically in 2021 if they want to be competitive. The secondary will be the key for the Syracuse defense, and after sending three defensive backs to the NFL last season (Andre Cisco, Trill Williams and Ifeatu Melifonwu), some younger guys will have to step up -- most receiving playing time due to injuries late in the season last year.
The star player on the Syracuse defense will be sophomore linebacker Mikel Jones. In 2020, Jones led the nation in turnovers contributed to (eight) and paced Syracuse in total tackles (69), interceptions (4), quarterback hits (5), fumbles recovered (2) and fumbles forced (3). Watch for No. 13 to be flying all over the field.
Prediction
This game might be different if Clemson was traveling to New York on a short week after a game, but that’s not the case with the bye week. Brent Venables will be able to sit in his office for over a week and a half thinking of schemes he can throw at DeVito or whoever is under center.
The game will come down to what defense shows up for the Orange. If they can keep DJ Uiagalelei in check, forcing Clemson to stick to the ground game, we might be in for a doozy.
Clemson fans should not expect to turn on College Gameday the next morning and have to relive the last time the Tigers played on a Friday night in New York, but if Babers’and staff could figure it out once, can they do it again?
Final Score: Clemson 42, Syracuse 17
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