Syracuse suffered its first loss of the season, a 31-14 loss to Clemson on Saturday. Here are some quick hits from the game.

Maybe someday, Syracuse will stop increasing their degree of difficulty when playing a strong opponent. Against Clemson was not that day.

The Orange committed nine penalties for 92 yards, tying a season high in number of penalties and posting their second-highest yardage total. In Dino Babers’ 90 games at the helm, SU has averaged 7.59 penalties for 62.3 yards per game. In his seven full seasons, Syracuse has finished in the top six in the nation in penalties per game three times, including leading the nation last season. Their average finish is 22nd in penalties committed and 35th in penalty yardage.

Highlighting the penalty parade against the Tigers was Marlowe Wax’s personal foul for hitting Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik out of bounds. Yes, Klubnik flopped. However, if Wax does not touch him, the referee never thinks to reach for his flag. Why not just take the possibility of it happening off the table?

At least this year, it did not result in points for the Tigers, as when Wax hit Klubnik out of bounds it last year, it helped set up the first of two fourth quarter Tiger touchdowns that gave them the lead.

Brady Denaburg was sent out to try a 57-yard field goal with just under 3:30 left in the second quarter with the Orange down, 14-7. With the ball spotted at the Clemson 39 on a fourth-and-ten, a case can be made for trying for points. As a point of reference, during the five seasons Andre Szmyt kicked for the Orange, Syracuse punted from the opponent’s 39-yard-line or closer on seven different occasions.

Of course, when Denaburg left the kick short, it gave the Tigers favorable field position. They needed just four plays to score a touchdown, giving the ball back to the Orange with over two minutes left in the half. That was enough time for a Syracuse three-and-out and a Clemson drive into field goal range, an opportunity provided by, what else, an SU offsides penalty on third down that gifted their guests with a fresh set of downs before reaching field goal range.

Given the other, um, interesting things the Orange were doing against a good team, it was a very poor time for Garrett Shrader to have an off day. Shrader completed 15-of-29 passes for just 181 yards while throwing an interception, getting sacked five times, fumbling on a run, and making an errant pitch to LeQuint Allen that went in the scorebook as a fumble by the running back.

The fumble and bad pitch came in the first three drives, giving Clemson short fields for quick scores and a 14-0 lead with barely nine minutes off the clock. On the fumble, an unsuspecting Shrader got drilled by a high, legal hit (replay showed the opposing player hit him just below the shoulder). The poor pitch to Allen was high and behind the running back, who could not bring it in.

The interception came when Shrader stared down Damien Alford as his first option on a pass play. Jeremiah Trotter Jr. made a very good diving play to come up with the pick, but the ball never should have been thrown. The turnover set up the backbreaking fourth quarter touchdown by the Tigers that made it a three-possession game with under seven minutes remaining.

The injury to starting right tackle Dave Wohlabaugh Jr. finally came home to roost against Clemson. His replacement, Mark Petry, was embarrassed for two sacks on the second SU possession of the game.

The first looked like a blown assignment on first down (a double-team block inside with Chris Bleich with no one outside him in the formation, leaving the defensive end unblocked), then simply beaten by the same player in a one-on-one situation on second down. Petry had another poor block that nearly led to a sack (Shrader scrambled out of trouble on the play) and a false start penalty on third-and-ten in the second quarter.

On a positive note, Dan Villari had massive effect on first Orange scoring drive. The tight end broke two tackles and fought off a third on a 37-yard catch, then avoided a couple tacklers before fighting into the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown. Villari’s 65 receiving yards on those two plays led the team on the day.

The former quarterback also had an incomplete pass on a trick play between those two receptions (another pass attempt was nullified by a penalty) and later almost added a rushing touchdown on a direct snap in the fourth quarter (SU tried to repeat the play with a quick snap on the following play, but committed a false start).

While they did not force and turnovers, the defensive unit posted a couple very positive stats. The unit as a whole had 13 tackles for loss, including three sacks, paced by Leon Lowery Jr.’s two sacks and three tackles for loss.

Coming into the game, the team was averaging seven tackles for loss per outing. The Orange defense also had six pass breakups, nearly doubling their per-game average on the campaign.

The Orange (4-1, 0-1 ACC) will have their first road game in conference play, as they head south to take on #15 North Carolina (3:30pm Eastern, ABC/ESPN). The Tar Heels (4-0, 1-0) were off this weekend after defeating Pitt last week in their first road contest of the season, 41-24. Three of their four victories have come at the expense of Power 5 teams, as UNC opened with a win over South Carolina, then defeated Minnesota two weeks ago.

Quarterback Drake Maye, a potential top-ten pick in the next year’s NFL draft, has thrown for 1,187 yards by completing 72.7 percent of his passes, but has a less-than-sparkling five touchdowns and four interceptions on the season. Maye has added three rushing touchdowns to his stat line.

Omarion Hampton averages just under 96 rushing yards per game with seven scores, but exploded for 234 yards and three touchdowns against Appalachian State. Four different Tar Heels have at least ten receptions while five have gained at least 100 receiving yards. Linebacker Kaimon Rucker leads the North Carolina defense with four sacks while Alijah Huzzie has a pair of interceptions.

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