Dabo Swinney has not forgotten what happened the last time Clemson shared a field with Syracuse.
Speaking at his weekly Tuesday press conference ahead of Saturday’s road trip to upstate New York, Clemson’s head coach made it clear that the Orange have his team’s full attention. Coming off a 36-24 road win at Florida State, the Tigers (5-3, 3-2 ACC) enter November facing both a revenge spot and a mounting injury crisis.
Clemson was stunned at home by Syracuse in a 34-21 loss last fall, trailing 24-7 at halftime before mounting an unsuccessful second-half push. Swinney was candid about the memory.
“They’ve had some takeaways. They’ve, you know, had to make a game-winning drive,” Swinney said. “They’ve had to convert fourth downs. They’ve done a little bit of everything to win some games. So I think that is a great sign of, you know, how well this team is coached. Number one, this is a physical football team. This is one of the more physical teams that will play, and we certainly know that firsthand because they kicked our teeth in last year in the first half, and we didn’t even wake up to the third quarter. But this is a team I got a lot of respect for.”
Dome Danger and Syracuse’s Surge
Syracuse (4-4, 2-4 ACC) enters Saturday riding the momentum of consecutive victories over North Carolina and SMU. Swinney noted that the environment inside the JMA Wireless Dome only magnifies the challenge.
“Tough place to go play up there, but they’re coming off two really big wins, emotional wins. You know, winning obviously over time with North Carolina was a big time win,” Swinney said. “North Carolina is a good team, and then to beat SMU on a game-winning drive. You know, so two huge wins. They’ve gained a lot of confidence. Quarterbacks playing well.”
‘Where’s Waldo?’ and Syracuse’s Dynamic Attack
Syracuse’s offense, led by quarterback Steve Angeli, leans on balance and perimeter playmakers. Swinney highlighted wide receiver Umari Hatcher, who leads the Orange with 60 receptions, comparing the defense’s task of locating him to a children’s puzzle book.
“I think offensively, they got, you know, two of the better receivers in the country,” Swinney said. “You know, number two, the Hatcher kid. I mean, he’s he’s he’s kind of a Waldo type guy. You know, they always say, ‘Where’s Waldo?’ Well, he’s he’s he’s got 60 catches. Right, so they get in the ball a ton, but they’ve got good receivers, good players. The freshman number five has come on for them here as of late too.”
Freshman wide receiver Calvin Russell III has emerged alongside Hatcher, but Clemson’s defense still has to slow down Syracuse’s downhill ground attack.
“But they just play tough, play physical. You know, challenge you. They’ll come downhill, so you better have your big-boy pads on to play these guys because they’re going to challenge. If you can’t stop running, you’ll be in for a long day. So big, big challenge for us there, and we certainly didn’t do any of those things against them last year. So we’ve got to play much, much better to have a chance to go win this game again. Quarterback’s a good player.”
Swinney expanded on the complementary nature of the Orange’s scheme: “He’s distributing the ball well, they take a lot of shots. Again, very balanced offense. All starts with the run game, and you know a lot of RPOs built into that. That’s kind of how they want to play, and then the shots that come with it. And over on the defensive side, you know they play really hard.”
Scouting a Familiar Defensive Front
Syracuse’s defense plays with the same physical brand as its offense, anchored by edge rushers Keyshawn Johnson and Tunmise Adeleye. Swinney knows Johnson, whom Clemson recruited before the defensive end chose Syracuse.
“You know, physical, same thing. I mean, you can just tell the personality of their team is the same on both sides of the ball. They want to play tough. They want to play physical. They want to challenge you. Play a lot of man cover. They played SMU a little differently than they really played everybody else. And I think probably that’s maybe because of the quarterback at SMU and who he is.”
“But you know, really, outside of them, I mean, they really have just gotten up challenging everybody, and you know, they’re a front that, you know, the more you watch them, the more you really like this group. You know, 30 and 14, they’re two wins. 14 as a kid, we recruited. We had him on an official visit.”
Swinney offered high praise for Johnson’s motor on the edge: “Really, really liked him a lot, and you know we brought him in here in January. He ended up going up to Syracuse, but he’s what I thought he would be. He’s fast. He’s not big, but he plays big, and his intensity, his effort, his motor is relentless. So really good player. He’s got six sacks, and then on the other side, number 30.”
“He’s a very good player as well. Very disruptive. They’re really stout and big inside. Linebackers have been around. They’re downhill guys. Played a lot of football. So the secondary does a good job again. Mix it up. You know, from a man zone standpoint, but again, two good teams going to battle on the road.”
Next Man Up for Battered Tigers
Clemson heads north carrying significant physical setbacks. On Monday night, Swinney confirmed that starting center Harris Sewell, guard Elyjah Thurmon, running back Gideon Davidson, and linebacker Kobe McCloud are all sidelined. The injuries place true freshman Grant Wise into his first career start at center, with Jarvis Green taking over as the starting running back ahead of Chris Johnson Jr. and Jay Haynes, while Fletcher Cothran steps into an expanded role alongside Jeremiah Alexander at linebacker.
“You know, really proud of our team for coming off a great win this past week on the road. So we got to, you know, for us, it’s just we got to we got to got to stack it up. We got to put some consistency together and try to have a great November as we head into November football. I still think our best football is in front of us. I think we’ve gotten better.”
Swinney addressed the depth chart challenges directly, challenging his younger players to step up in Syracuse.
“We’re beat up. Sure, some of y’all heard some of the news last night. I mean, we got some guys that are out. So, I mean, that’s a bad thing because we’re missing some of our best players. But it’s also an opportunity for some guys to play, and you know that’s why you practice. That’s why you prepare, and you know what you wish for, right? Because now’s your opportunity. So some of those young guys got to go play for us.”
Clemson and Syracuse kick off at noon ET on Saturday at the JMA Wireless Dome on ESPN2.
Dabo Swinney Sounds the Alarm on Syracuse