SYRACUSE, N.Y. — It’s the witching hour for the Clemson Tigers in ACC play. After starting 0-2 in the conference, it’s truly make or break time for Dabo Swinney’s team.

As the coaches and players have referred to many times, Clemson is just a few plays from being undefeated. That’s not reality though, and there’s very real reasons for the messy start to the season.

There’s no slouch to get the first ACC win either, with undefeated Syracuse on the docket. That said, there’s a few common trends with this Tigers team that can be snuffed out for Clemson to prove themselves.

Eliminate turnovers

Yes, it’s Week 5 and we are still talking about turnovers. Against the Blue Devils, it cost them all night. Versus the Seminoles, it was the first nail their coffin.

Going on the road to take on the Orange, it can be that again. Syracuse is a disciplined team and they’ve finished their food for four straight weeks. The Tigers are -2 in the turnover margin against ACC opponents this year. Improving that or at least keeping it the same is first and foremost.

“Finish the job”

That’s a quote that rings through Death Valley during Clemson’s fourth quarter hype video. Sadly, it’s become ironic as the Tigers haven’t done a good job of just that.

Duke was the first example, where they surrendered 15 unanswered in the fourth quarter. Florida State wasn’t much different with a scoreless fourth and overtime for Clemson.

You seeing the trend here? The two ACC games were riddled with these mistakes. There’s a lot of intricacies that go into these losses and many plays the Tigers wish they could have back, but these two issues rise above them all.

Clemson has to end them when they take on Syracuse in hopes of handing the Orange their first loss Saturday at noon, televised on ABC.