Clemson defeats Syracuse 31-14 in SU's ACC Opener

Garrett Shrader dropped to his right from the Clemson 6-yard line at the beginning of the fourth quarter. On a wheel route, LeQuint Allen Jr. beat his defender and Shrader perfectly placed the ball in the back right corner of the end zone.

The touchdown got the Orange to 14 points. While it was a great play, it was too little too late for an offense that couldn't produce the majority of the day.

Cade Klubnik's mobility mixed with his accurate deep ball throws allowed Clemson (3-2, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) to defeat Syracuse (4-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) 31-14 in SU's conference opener. It was a sloppy start for Syracuse.

"We were prepared," quarterback Garrett Shrader said, "We just did not play well today. I thought we beat ourselves more than they beat us."

In the first half, Clemson led the way because of Syracuse's undisciplined penalties. Six penalties for 67 yards plagued the Orange. No penalty was bigger than Marlowe Wax's.

As Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik scrambled to his right and threw the ball into the stands on third down and 13, Wax got in the face of Klubnik on the sideline after the ball was away. Wax was called for a personal foul, resulting in a Clemson first down.

Luckily for SU, the defense stood tall on that drive as a few plays later, Clemson attempted to convert a fourth down and two from the SU five-yard line. In one of Syracuse's biggest plays of the half, Leon Lowery Jr. came off the edge and got just enough of Klubnik to get him down and result in a turnover on downs.

The Syracuse offense in the first half did not play up to par with what it has been able to do early on in the season. And rightfully so. It was the first conference game of the season for the team. However, what knocked the Orange offense were turnovers by ball carriers.

Two fumbles gave Clemson short yard scoring opportunities.

On the first drive, Shrader rolled out of the pocket for one of his usual miraculous runs. After a few spin moves and tackles avoided, one of his spins led him directly into a Tigers defender. The fumble halted the drive and took away Syracuse's important first possession.

The Tigers answered quickly, scoring a 14-yard touchdown through the air to cap off a eight play, 55 yard opening drive.

Two drives later, on first and 10 from its own 23-yard line, a miscommunication and lack of attention to detail gave Clemson an easy score.

Shrader dropped to his right to pitch the ball off to running back LeQuint Allen Jr. The ball was a little high and behind Allen, causing Allen to have to adjust to the ball. The ball hit off of Allen's hands, fell onto the turf and was recovered by Clemson's Xavier Thomas. Thomas picked up the fumble and rushed down to the Syracuse three-yard line.

Two plays later, running back Will Shipley ran the ball into the end zone for a touchdown, giving the Tigers a 14-0 point lead.

At that point, it was close to do or die for Syracuse. When SU needed a score, tight end Dan Villari stepped up big time.

"We put plays in that were going to work against their defense," Coach Dino Babers said. "Dan has been doing extremely well in practice."

With the offense struggling on the previous drives of the game, Villari had the first big play of the day for Syracuse. Villari caught the ball along the Syracuse sideline and weaved his past defenders in bounds. The play resulted in a 37-yard reception and got the offense deep into Clemson territory.

Villari showed off his athleticism once again when a trick play was called for him. Shrader threw to his left behind the line of scrimmage to Villari. Villari caught it and threw down field to Donovan Brown. Brown was open, but dropped the ball.

Three plays later, Villari caught a 28-yard pass for Syracuse's first score of the game and only of the half.

Past that point in the first half, it became a defensive battle for multiple drives in a row. That was until Klubnik aired a pass out down the right side line to Beaux Collins. Collins was wide open because of a miscommunication between the cornerback and safety. The touchdown gave Clemson a 21-7 lead.

In its first four games, SU didn't allow more than 20 points. In the first half it allowed 21.

In the second half Syracuse would start on defense while trailing by 14.

Clemson exploited the SU secondary by throwing deep balls down the right sideline. Beaux Collins and Tyler Brown were weapons for Klubnik.

Collins was open down the sideline, but Syracuse again had penalty troubles, committing a pass interference penalty. Brown played the seam of the defense to for 47 yards. Despite the big play, Syracuse's defensive line played strong and forced the Tigers to kick a field goal.

"I thought the defense played studly," Shrader said. "They gave us ever opportunity."

While Syracuse's defense stood up to the challenge, the offense couldn't get going. The air attack could not keep up with Clemson's.The offensive line couldn't give Shrader time to pass and Clemson's defensive line picked up the intensity in the second half. Syracuse's offense totaled just 26 points in the third quarter.

"I thought some of the younger guys got nervous and didn't handle the stage," Babers said. "I think there's no doubt this team is extremely young and next time out they'll do better."

In the fourth quarter, the Orange got off to a fast start. The pass from Shrader to Allen gave the team hope that it could come back and allowed the fans to get back into the game emotionally.

With six minutes remaining in the game, Garrett Shrader attempted a throw between defenders to Damien Alford. Star linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. dove to his right and intercepted the ball.

On the following play from scrimmage, Phil Mafah ran 32 yards to the end zone to give Clemson a three possession lead. Any ideas of a home upset were crushed and Clemson for the second straight year broke Syracuse's undefeated streak.

"They won the game and they deserved to win the game," Babers said. "We need to go back, regroup, watch the tape...and next time we go against athletes like that see if we can up the ante and put up a much better performance."

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