By Kaila Burns-Heffner.

Clemson scraped by with a 16-6 victory over Syracuse, and for the third game in a row won by 10 or less points. A bye week could not come at a better time as the No. 21 Tigers have been beaten up, worn out and burdened by injuries.

Their next game will be played on the road at Wake Forest on Nov. 6. This should give Clemson time to recover from the physically tough games that both the offense and defense have been affected by the last three weeks.

“It is a very good time just to heal up, the body is kind of sore. We’ve been hitting a lot, preparing for a lot of rough games, so it’s a great time to just heal up and get better,” said offensive guard David Beasley.

And no group needs to heal more than the offensive line.

The offensive line has been put through the wringer this season, as many players have had to sit out of games due to various injuries and other ailments. The line has been left with no depth and the linemen have been cross-trained in different positions to accommodate the absence of players Jay Guillermo, Ryan Norton and Joe Gore.

In the Syracuse game, starting left tackle Isaiah Battle sat out for violating team rules, Guillermo was still out with a broken foot and Norton suffered an injury that took him out of the game late in the third quarter. Gore returned after missing three games following surgery on his appendix.

Offensive Guard David Beasley mentioned that he has gotten used to not knowing who would be coming in to play beside him on the line.

“I’m kind of happy with whoever I play by because you have got to make the team better regardless,” said Beasley.

Despite the hardships the offensive line has had, they have been able to battle through them and help lead Clemson to five straight victories. The homecoming game was the debut for Clemson’s first 100-yard rusher of the season, Wayne Gallman, and the offensive line pulled together to help make that happen.

“I’m happy that we’ve got a running back that will step up, take the charge and get the 100 yards,” Beasley said. “It makes me proud, it makes the O-line proud that we were able to help somebody get 100 yards because that is kind of hard for a running back to do when all of the defense is scheming you.”

Clemson (6-2, 5-1 ACC) was finally able to score their first touchdown in Death Valley since the third quarter of the NC State game with a fourth-quarter pass to tight end Stanton Seckinger after Gallman began to productively run the ball.

The return of offensive linemen such as Battle, Gore, and Guillermo will help the line build back some of it’s depth and will strengthen the offense overall.

“We just have to play better on offense, but I want to get back to where we just dominate where we just run through and dominate teams,” said Beasley. ”I think we’re going to get back to that with a couple players coming back getting off of injuries. Clemson’s offense is about to step back up and take some heat off our defense.”