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On This Date: 2013 (3)Clemson- 49 Syracuse- 14
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Oct 5, 2023, 9:02 AM
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10/5/2013
Syracuse, NY
Clemson pounds Syracuse football in first ever ACC game, 49-14
By Brent Axe | baxe@syracuse.com
The top three reasons Syracuse lost to Clemson 49-14 at the Carrier Dome on Saturday.
3.Clemson was Clemson
Folks, sometimes it is just this simple.
Clemson was bigger, better and faster than Syracuse.
The Tigers came in and played their game, and that game was good enough to send Syracuse home with a big loss.
Adam Humphries grabbed three catches for 118 yards, the first 100-yard game of his career (and he had that the end of the first quarter). The Tigers were just as advertised, as SU players on both sides of the ball would tell us after the game.
“They did everything they did on film," Syracuse cornerback Julian Whigham said. "They threw post routes, go routes and stop routes. They just played their offense."
“We saw exactly what we saw on film," H-back Ashton Broyld said.
"It was just a little bit more man coverage than we expected. At the end of the day, we got to play football. We didn't play our best football today and we know that. It was a time and a point where we had them. We had them right where we wanted and we just didn't execute, and that's what we come back for on Monday, to get better and tighten up the little things.”
2. It got late early
Clemson 21, Syracuse 0 was the score after one quarter at the Carrier Dome.
Tajh Boyd was 10-for-12 for 220 yards and two touchdowns. Clemson had 278 yards overall in that first quarter.
If Syracuse was going to pull out a big upset and take down the No. 3 team in the country, gaining some sort of early momentum and getting the 48,961 in attendance to make life difficult for the Tigers was crucial.
Instead, Clemson came out firing and put Syracuse in a deep hole.
"Coach Swinney always emphasizes coming out fast and putting it on them from the get go and try to do that through four quarters," Clemson linebacker Spencer Shuey said.
"For the offense to be able to come out and score like they have, it definitely helps us as a defense and gives the whole team a lot of confidence.
1. The need for speed
In its first ACC game, Syracuse got a humbling lesson in what it will take to be a contender in its new league.
Clemson came in and ran over, by and around the Orange all day. Heisman candidate Boyd had 363 yards and four touchdowns at halftime. The Tigers had 439 yards overall at the half.
The Tigers finished with 624 yards of total offense.
The biggest message sent is that the Orange will not be able to compete with the likes of Clemson and Florida State in this league unless they figure out a way to recruit more speed.
And who knows how long it will take for Syracuse to get in on more of those recruiting battles for the top speed recruits that normally choose schools like Clemson over Syracuse.
"We tried to pull everything out to make it respectable but we came up short and I just want everyone to understand that we got beat by a doggone good football team today," Scott Shafer said.
"There is a reason why they are top-3 in the country and we just have to re-focus and move forward to this N.C. State game.”
This game didn't help close the gap between the two schools. It only emphasized it. Syracuse looked just like a former Big East team that just joined a new league.
Clemson looked like an SEC team that happens to be playing in the ACC.
It was over when ...
Boyd connected with Sammy Watkins for a 91-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.
The Syracuse defense had played inspired coming out of halftime and held the Clemson offense mostly in check in the third quarter. Marquis Spruill had delivered a punishing hit on Boyd, and the Clemson quarterback had thrown his second interception of the game.
The Orange defense was giving some life back to the offense to try and get back in the game.
But then the bomb happened.
After the Syracuse offense went for it on fourth-and-4 on the Clemson 13-yard line and failed, Boyd got the ball back and threw the pass of the year in the Carrier Dome so far this season, and one of the best in recent memory, to a streaking Watkins, who soared past Syracuse cornerback Ri'Shard Anderson for the score.
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