CHARLOTTE — The Clemson Tigers have found themselves in nail-biters with Syracuse over the last couple years. Last season’s duel in Memorial Stadium entered the fourth quarter with a 21-10 Syracuse lead until the Tigers stormed back in with the home crowd and scored 17 unanswered points to escape with the victory.

Things are different when the two teams meet in 2023. Clemson has to travel up north to take on Syracuse in front of its home crowd, which will likely be their largest attendance of the season. Quarterback Garrett Shrader dealt with injuries all throughout last year, but he’s excited to be 100%, speaking highly of the Tigers’ program and the upcoming rematch at the 2023 ACC Kickoff.

“I think just the reputation that coach Swinney has and that program that he’s built, you know, they’re obviously one of the best teams in the country typically. And so keeping that in mind most most of the time, Clemson is gonna get everybody’s best,” Shrader said. “It’s hard to sustain that he continued to win games, everybody’s gonna put up their best punches every week. But besides that, I mean, we’re, I’m confident in the ability and the skill that we have our players. And we can play with anybody in the conference, there’s no doubt, I truly mean that there’s not a team that we can line up against when we’re healthy and we play or we can beat.”

Shrader delivered a strong performance against Wes Goodwin’s defense in 2022, throwing for a touchdown while also rushing for 71 yards and a score. Sadly all that will be remembered is the interception late that sealed the deal, but the Orange were in Clemson territory with a chance to score and win with less than a minute left.

He wasn’t 100% that game and his team was also dealing with a plethora of injuries during that game. After showing respect to the Tigers and the competition in the conference, Shrader delivered a proclamation that it’s time for the Tigers to fall by the hands of Syracuse.

“I think it’s our year to take them down, hopefully, and we just got to be ready to play and take it one week at a time and I’m excited,” Shrader said.

Whether Shrader is right or not will be decided Sept. 30, when the Tigers head up to the JMA Wireless Dome to take on Syracuse.