By Will Vandervort.
The starting quarterback is out at least two more weeks. Key playmakers on offense are gone due to injury and the offensive line has been decimated by injuries and is a patchwork group at best.
Sound familiar?
It sounds a lot like Clemson, but the point of the matter is it isn’t. That’s Syracuse’s offense and to top things off the Orange will visit the 20th-ranked Tigers this Saturday in Death Valley with an offensive coordinator that took over the play calling duties following a 28-6 beatdown by Louisville on Oct. 3.
So what does all this mean? It means Clemson’s fifth-ranked defense in terms of total yards smells blood and is out for the kill.
“We are going to prey on the weak,” Clemson safety Jayron Kearse said from the WestZone on Monday.
Syracuse’s offense is definitely weak right now, though it did heal some from last week’s 30-7 victory over Wake Forest. But the Demon Deacons’ defense, no matter what Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher says, is not exactly or better than Clemson’s.
The Tigers (5-2, 4-1 ACC) have been playing like a team on mission to prove it is the best defense in the country and in the last three weeks they have played that way.
Clemson has given up just 10 points and 227 yards per game in victories over NC State, Louisville and Boston College. No one has been able to throw or run the ball much in either contest. The Tigers held NC State to 35 passing yards and then held Louisville to 52 yards rushing.
Boston College, which did rank fourth in the country in running the football prior to last Saturday’s game, was held nearly 200 yards below its season average. The Eagles finished the game with 120 rushing yards.
NC State, Louisville and Boston College went a combined 6 of 45 on third downs in those three games. The Tigers lead the nation in third-down percentage defense as opponents are only converting 23.6 percent of the time.
“That all comes from winning on first down,” Kearse said. “When guys have second-and-ten and it is not second-and-five and things like that, it gives us a big advantage. It shrinks their playbook and they have limited calls to go too.
“Coach (Brent Venables) has great preparation for everything. We watch so much film during the week. We know what is coming on third down. We know tendencies and things like that.”
Clemson will not have too much to watch on the Orange’s offense because most of it is new.
New offensive coordinator Tim Lester, who is also the quarterbacks coach, took over coordinating duties on Oct. 4 and since then Syracuse has shown marked improvement. After scoring only two offensive touchdowns in a two-week span in losses to Notre Dame and Louisville, Lester took over the play calling duties from George McDonald who was demoted to wide receivers coach.
Syracuse (3-4, 1-2 ACC) scored 20 points against second-ranked FSU that following week and last Saturday scored 30-unanswered points against Wake Forest.
The Orange also found a little life in freshman quarterback A.J. Long, who completed 22 of 32 passes for 171 yards in his first career start at Wake Forest. He is the first quarterback in Syracuse history to win his first start as a true freshman.
Long came off the bench for Austin Wilson in the Florida State game and finished the day going 16 of 27 for 167 yards, two interceptions and two scores. Wilson started the FSU game for injured starting quarterback Terrel Hunt, who is out for at least two more weeks with a broken fibula.
But coming to Death Valley where 80,000 people will be screaming at him, while playing against a Clemson defense that feels it still has a point to drive home – it will be a different challenge than what Long saw at Wake Forest last Saturday.
“If they don’t want to do what they have to do, we are going to make them go out there and pay for it,” Kearse said. “If they are not going to have their game plan down pat, we are going to have ours down pat and make them pay for coming into Death Valley and playing against a Clemson Tigers’ defense.”
A Clemson defense that smells blood.