Reliving 2016: It was Schuessler’s Time to Shine
By: Ashby Mixon November 5, 2026

No. 3 Clemson 54, Syracuse 0

Editor’s note: Each week, the Clemson Insider honors Clemson’s 2016 National Championship Team by reliving that week’s game on the schedule. Follow all season long as we talk to players and coaches who lived through the ups and downs of a dramatic season that brought Clemson its first national championship in 35 years.

CLEMSON – Deshaun Watson and his accompanying Clemson Tigers were cruising for another touchdown and another ACC blowout on a November afternoon in 2016 when the dreaded injury bug paid a visit.

Watson, a clear Heisman candidate by kickoff against Syracuse on Nov. 5, started out looking the part against Dino Babers’ Orange. Second-ranked Clemson, led by the Tigers’ quarterback, wasted no time unleashing its prowess, scoring three touchdowns and a field goal in the first 20 minutes of play.

In that span, Watson threw for 133 yards on 10-of-13 passing attempts, rushing for 25 yards on the ground. Two of the touchdowns that mounted a 23-0 lead came from Watson’s respective passes to Deon Cain and Mike Williams. The third came from a one-yard run from Clemson’s signal-caller.

Watson was rolling.

As the second half ticked away, the Gainsville, Ga., native continued to stay hot, completing three passes for 36 yards as the Tigers again drove down the field at Memorial Stadium. Watson took off again for a 13-yard first pick up, but quickly came up gimpy.

The Tigers’ star threw an incomplete pass into the ground, looked at his shoulder and removed himself from the game.

A hush fell over the Death Valley crowd that had previously had little reason to be quiet through two quarters. What would head coach Dabo Swinney do without the centerpiece of his undefeated team?

Evidently, he would turn to fifth-year backup Nick Schuessler. When his time came, the veteran was more than prepared.

“For me, especially being a fifth-year senior and spending a majority of my time behind Deshaun, there’s no point in me putting in all this time and effort in the offseason and preparation to just go out there and play timid or scared,” Schuessler said. “So for me, it was just going out there and cutting it loose.”

Clemson quarterback Nick Schuessler replaced an injured Deshaun Watson in the 2016 game against Syracuse. Schuessler threw two touchdown passes and totaled 177 yards in the Tigers’ 54-0 victory. (Rex Brown/The Clemson Insider)

Schuessler’s definition of cutting it loose worked well for the Tigers. So well, in fact, that after Watson’s injury was ruled a minor shoulder bruise, Clemson’s staff decided to keep him on the sideline to risk further injury. 

After all, the Tigers’ backup had it under control.

He finished the drive Watson started with two completed passes, including a five-yard toss to Artavis Scott for a touchdown. In the second half, he added on another 18-yard touchdown pass to Cain and led the Tigers on another scoring drive capped by a dash to the end zone from running back Wayne Gallman.

“When Deshaun got banged up, we felt we had control of the game,” Swinney said after Clemson’s eventual 54-0 win. “He was ready to come back in the second half, but Schuessler did a great job stepping up today. He set a great example for his teammates. It’s hard to continue to have to prepare each and every week like you’re the starter. It’s a hard thing to do, but that’s what it’s all about.”

Shuessler finished the afternoon with a career-high 177 passing yards on 11-of-17 passing attempts with two touchdowns. Fellow backup Kelly Bryant also completed two passes for 21 yards as the Tigers cruised to an 9-0 record and a 6-0 clip in ACC-play.

On the defensive side, Clemson shut out its second team of the 2016 campaign, allowing just 277 total yards to a usually up-tempo Syracuse offense. It was the first time a Babers’-led-team was shut out and the first time Syracuse was shut out since a 56-0 loss in 2013.

Similarly to the Tigers, Syracuse’s quarterback Eric Dungey– the ACC’s leader in passing yards and completions per game entering the game– was knocked out of play in the first quarter following a hard hit delivered by linebacker Dorian O’Daniel.

Tanner Muse, Ryan Carter and Cordrea Tankersley each recorded an interception as Syracuse fell to 4-5 on the year and 2-3 in the ACC.

And for a quarterback that spent his days arriving late to practice to focus on his academic responsibilities, the chance to lead a second-half charge was right on time.

“In my mind, I tried to make it like a game situation,” Schuessler said. “Being a backup quarterback, you never know when your number is going to be called, so you have to be ready and ready to go. So with coming straight from the classroom and coming straight out to practice, I had to be ready to go. I just tried mentally to put myself in that position.”