SYRACUSE – Let’s take a rewind to ACC Kickoff. Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader was talking about the matchup with Clemson, and he gave the Tigers some bulletin board material.

”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.

Never call your own shot, and Shrader’s claims didn’t live on the field. It was evident that Clemson wanted to send a message to the mobile quarterback early as defensive end Justin Mascoll leveled him, forcing a fumble which the Tigers recovered.

That was just the start. Clemson finished the game with five sacks and completely shut down a prolific rushing game led by Shrader. It was time for the Tigers defense to play with some swagger, but it was hard to expect it in such fashion on the road.

Following the game, Shrader talked about his offensive performance and took the blame for the Orange’s struggles. He finished the game 15-29 for 181 yards and two touchdowns, while two turnovers and 1.6 yards per carry derailed his day.

Shrader credited Clemson’s defense, but he still didn’t feel like that was the reason for their shortcomings.

”They’ve got great players, but they played exactly how we thought they would and we were prepared. We just did not play well, I thought we beat ourselves more than they beat us,” Shrader said.

Shrader delivered his best Dennis Green impression on that one, but the Tigers showed a lot of identity and ferociousness in the JMA Wireless Dome. It’s something for Clemson to build off of, whether the Syracuse quarterback thinks it was forced mishaps or not.