Tony Elliott painted Syracuse in the most positive light imaginable, but facts are facts. Syracuse has one of the worst defenses in the country.

The Orange are 92nd in the country in scoring defense, giving up an average of 30.7 points per game. Opponents have gained an average of 438 yards per game, which is 100th.

“They’ve lost a couple of guys up front. They’re not as stout up front as they were last year,” Elliott said. “They’ve got some experience at linebacker. They’ve lost a lot of guys in the secondary to some injuries.

“They’re not quite as experienced as they were last year, but they play hard. A couple of the d-linemen look like they’re in pretty good shape, they move better, especially (Ron Thompson), their defensive end. He’s a lot quicker.”

Linebacker Zaire Franklin leads the team with 58 tackles. Thompson is first with six sacks. Cornerback Corey Winfield leads the way with two interceptions.

As a team, Syracuse has 19 sacks, which is tied for 61st in the country.

“They’re not quite as aggressive, from a blitz standpoint. Now, they’re going to bring pressure, but they used to bring a lot of zero-pressure and really challenge you,” Elliott said. “Haven’t seen as much of that, but we’re going to prepare for that. We’re going to anticipate it, going up to their place, we’re going to anticipate them taking some chances.”

On the surface, Clemson has a shot to put up some serious style points in The Carrier Dome on Saturday, but Elliott said his boss, Dabo Swinney, doesn’t operate that way.

“The biggest thing I want to stress to the offense is we’ve got a desire to be the most explosive, one of the best in the country. Let’s go chase that,” Elliott said. “Also, too, you’ve got to look at it, you’ve got to continue to play good football and execute at a high level, to get to where you’re going.

“You can’t take any game off. You can’t take any opponent lightly. Now that you’ve got the bullseye, we’re going to get the best shot from everybody we play.”