Tigers, down 2 QBs, hustle to avoid upset

CLEMSON, S.C. — Should No. 3 Clemson fulfill its championship aspirations this season, prepare to hear plenty about “The Drive.”

With new starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence knocked out of the game, reserve Chase Brice — who was about sixth on the depth chart last January — guided a 94-yard, fourth-quarter scoring drive that ended with Travis Etienne’s 2-yard touchdown run with 41 seconds left and gave the Tigers a 27-23 victory against Syracuse on Saturday.

“I’ll never forget this one,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “Some might say it’s the fifth game of the year, but it’s more than that. I saw a team that didn’t quit.”

This one was hard to forget, both for the week Clemson (5-0, 2-0 ACC) endured in going from having one too many starting-caliber QBs to seemingly having none by the fourth quarter to the game’s dramatic finish.

Lawrence, a 6-foot-6 freshman, supplanted senior Kelly Bryant as starter. A day later, Bryant said he was transferring. Then in the second quarter, Lawrence took hard hit to the head, wobbled to the sideline and did not return.

Things looked bleak for the Tigers when Eric Dungey’s second 1-yard rushing TD put Syracuse up 23-13 with less than 13 minutes left. Clemson then put together two touchdown drives to avoid a second straight season of being upset by Syracuse.

Etienne countered Dungey’s score less than two minutes later with a 26-yard run that cut it to 23-20. Five minutes later, Clemson embarked on what might turn out to be the season’s defining drive.

“I think I’ll remember that forever,” co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott said.

Brice, a redshirt freshman with eight career passes before Saturday, completed a 20-yard throw to Tee Higgins on 4th-and-6 to keep the drive going. Brice ran for 17 yards to get the Tigers inside the 20. And Etienne carried it across the goal line to send Memorial Stadium into a frenzy. “They told us someone had to step up,” said Etienne, a sophomore who rushed for 203 yards and three TDs. “We all decided it had to be us.” Dungey was sacked twice by freshman Xavier Thomas on Syracuse’s final drive. The Orange (4-1, 1-1) were trying for their first 5-0 start since 1987.

Pete Iacobelli is an Associated Press writer.

Richard Shiro / Associated Press Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence scrambles out of the pocket with blocking help from Cade Stewart.