When he turns on the film, it does not take Syracuse head coach Scott Shaffer long to see why Clemson is the top-ranked team in the country.
“They’re a great football team,” he said on Wednesday. “The thing that Dabo and his staff have done, they’ve done an unbelievable job recruiting, and they’ve won a lot of wars, and it shows up on the field with their talent level.”
When he looks at the Tigers, will visit the Carrier Dome for a 3:30 p.m. start on Saturday, he says it starts with the quarterback position. Deshaun Watson leads the ACC in total offense and passing yards, as well as touchdown passes.
Watson totaled 407 yards, including a career-high 107 on the ground in the Tigers’ win over Florida State last Saturday.
“He’s just a great player, and a guy that can do a lot of things. He’s got a very good arm. He’s got a great understanding of their offense and how to attack the different defenses they’ve played against this year, and he’s got some great targets to throw to all around the field,” Shaffer said.
Those targets are Artavis Scott, Hunter Renfrow, Jordan Leggett, Deon Cain and Charone Peake.
“Artavis Scott is a very good football player on the outside, making a lot of catches and turning short throws into big gains for them, as is Peake and Cain. Ray-Ray McCloud is a very talented young man. I’ve heard he may not be playing, but such great talent at the skill positions.”
But it doesn’t stop there. Clemson’s running game ranks second in the ACC and 21st nationally at 217.8 yards per game. Running back Wayne Gallman has 977 yards and eight touchdowns this year, and has rushed for at least 111 yards in six of the last seven games.
“It starts out up front with that offensive line, and those guys are very athletic, very big, very long, long-armed young men, and the thing that’s most impressive about them is they understand their system,” Shaffer said. “They communicate well. They play well as five on a string, like you have to with the offensive line, and just a very impressive unit.
“And then Wayne Gallman does a great job at running back. He’s got good size at about 220 pounds, but he’s got great speed, and he can make you miss in space and take it the distance.”
Then there is Clemson’s defense which ranks fifth nationally at 287.3 yards per game. The Tigers also rank seventh on pass defense and ninth in scoring defense.
“When you flip it to the defensive side, you’re looking at a front four that can really get after you and get after the passer,” Shaffer said. “They’re stout inside with (Scott) Pagano and (Carlos) Watkins and they’re good run stuffers. And then on the edge with (Shaq) Lawson and (Kevin) Dodd as well as Yeargin and Bryant, you have four guys in rotation at the defensive end spots that could probably play anywhere in the country.
“Their linebackers are smart, starting with (B.J.) Goodson inside. He runs the show. You can tell he runs the show. He’s a young man that’s been around for a while. He’s a redshirt senior, so he’s really taken the reins and you can see that he’s making sure that when checks are made, everybody is on the same page. The outside linebackers run extremely well like Clemson outside linebackers do. And then they’ve got one of the best corners in the country in (Mackensie) Alexander. A combination of him and Tankersley are two kids that can really run and cover and make plays on the football. And their safeties are above average, that’s for sure. So you’ve got a really good outfit that’s well-coached. They understand what Dabo is looking for, and they play a high brand of football.”