Syracuse could be trouble for Tigers
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Recent history suggests the most obvious obstacle standing between the Clemson Tigers and a fifth straight Atlantic Coast Conference football championship might be a Sept. 14 matchup at Syracuse.
Clemson has largely breezed through its ACC schedule the past four seasons, going 34-2 in league play while winning four straight conference titles and two national championships. The Tigers have defeated conference opponents by an average of 22 points during that four-year span, and few have been able to compete with them. That is, except the Orange. Coach Dino Babers’ squad stunned No. 2 Clemson in 2017, 27-24 at home. Last year, the Orange gave Clemson another big scare at Death Valley before falling 27-23 after a touchdown run by the Tigers’ Travis Etienne with 41 seconds left. This year the game moves back to Syracuse, where the Orange didn’t lose in 2018.
“Dino has created the belief in his team that they can win,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said Wednesday, the first day of the ACC’s annual football media showcase. “And I don’t see them going away anytime soon.”
Babers said beating Clemson two years ago proved to his players they’re capable of beating anyone.
“You’ve seen the mountaintop, OK? You’ve seen what it looks like,” Babers said. “You know how difficult it is. I think that gives us a little bit of an edge that we know we can. That doesn’t mean you will.
I mean, the last time that those young men at Clemson lost, the year was 2017. It’s 2019 now.”
Syracuse quarterback Tommy DeVito said the Orange view Clemson as a “faceless opponent.”
“We play them like anybody else,” DeVito said. “You can’t just make them special because they are Clemson and they have that name. It’s the same way you approach a lesser opponent.”
Swinney knows the Tigers will be heavy favorites to repeat as ACC champions with Etienne, quarterback Trevor Lawrence and wide receiver Justyn Ross returning. He said by now having a so-called target on their chests is “business as usual” given Clemson has won at least 10 games in eight straight years, including 15-0 last season.
Swinney said the key is never looking back on past success.
“We don’t carry anything over,” Swinney said. “… We redevelop leadership, reinstall our core values. We show up every year with something to improve.”
Syracuse won 10 games last season for the first time since 2001. The Orange figure to be Clemson’s toughest test in the Atlantic Division, with Boston College, North Carolina State and Wake Forest all facing quarterback questions and Florida State and Louisville in rebuilding mode.
While being in Clemson’s division may not appear to be the ideal situation for everyone, Babers embraces the challenge.
“When you go outside the conference and you start playing other teams, I mean, what is there to be fearful of?” Babers said. “When you’re in the ACC Atlantic, your big brother is as big as anybody on the street, OK? If you can handle him, you’re going to have an opportunity to handle anybody else.”
The Tigers decided not to send Lawrence to Charlotte, with a “stunt double” going in his place: John Simpson.
The offensive guard decided to sport a blonde wig to resemble the popular quarterback’s signature long-haired look, knowing everyone would probably rather talk to Lawrence. The Tigers posted a video of Simpson trying on the wig on their Twitter account.
“I’m kind of glad people don’t know my name,” Simpson said with a laugh. “I mean, I’m an offensive lineman. You’re not supposed to know my name. … I’m going to have fun with it.”
The 330-pound Simpson might not look a whole lot like Lawrence, but he had the hair flip down.
“Yeah, I’ve got some clout now, I’ve got a lot of clout,” Simpson said. “A lot of people have put me all over social media. I thought it was cool.”