CLEMSON – In Clemson’s 18-13 win over Syracuse at JMA Wireless Dome Saturday, the Tigers failed to score an offensive touchdown for the first time since a tense rivalry win over South Carolina back in 2023.

However, on the other side of the ball, the Tigers also got to boast their first touchdown by a defensive lineman in two years, dating back to a Payton Page 57-yard interception against the Citadel.

In all four quarters, Clemson’s offense consistently threatened to make it into the end zone, venturing into Syracuse territory seven separate times. However, when the Tigers worked their way down into the red zone, familiar struggles from the 2026 campaign remained.

In Clemson’s first drive of the game, running back Jarvis Green took off for a 53-yard pickup on his first carry of his first collegiate start, immediately putting the Tigers in favorable scoring position. However, after two short runs from Green and a five-yard pass to tight end Olsen Patt-Henry, Clemson was relegated to send out its field goal unit, a recognizable fate for dwindling drives.

A few minutes later, with the scoreboard tied 3-3, Tigers’ quarterback Tait Reynolds found receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. for a 53-yard pass to give Clemson its second-longest explosive play of the year through the air and the ball on the Orange’s 22-yard line. 

Clemson had the momentum. The field position. They’d quieted a feisty orange-tinted Dome.

Still, the Tigers failed to punch in a touchdown.

Kicker Nolan Hauser came out again, this time knocking through a 36-yard strike. It was his 25th make of the year and tied Greg Hupel’s record for most Clemson field goals by a kicker in a single season through only nine games.

Despite Hauser’s individual successes, the Tigers’ overall offensive struggles persisted into the second period, after yet another 60-plus yard drive ended in a field goal. Though Clemson had accumulated more passing and rushing yards than the Orange by halftime, head coach Dabo Swinney’s offense did not have any touchdowns to show for it.

The struggles are nothing new for Clemson this season, as Swinney’s squad currently ranks last in the ACC and 134th in the nation in red zone touchdown percentage and total touchdowns.

However, as it has on several occasions this season– Tom Allen’s defense swooped in to save the Tigers’ winning chances. This time, it came in the form of a joint play from defensive tackle Kourtney Kelly and defensive end Jahiem Lawson.

With 7:13 to play in the third quarter and Clemson holding a 12-6 advantage, Syracuse started a drive with a three yard loss on a running back’s carry. Opting to pass on the next play, quarterback Steve Angeli dropped back to find a receiver when Kelly came flying in to force a lateral– or backwards– pass.

After it left the senior signal-caller’s hand, Lawson picked the ball up off the ground and ran it into Syracuse’s end zone for the first score of his Clemson career. Originally, the play was ruled a sack and a fumble, but was turned to a lateral pass upon review from ACC officials.

Since the play was upheld, it was the first defensive touchdown in three games, the first by a lineman in two years and marked only the second time in 10 years the Tigers won a game without scoring an offensive touchdown.

After a fumble and a punt return mishap, it was the only time in that span that the Tigers did not score an offensive touchdown or win the turnover margin but still came out with a victory.

Lawson, a fifth-year senior, was not the first in his bloodline to give Clemson a defensive score. His brother, Shaq, was responsible for two sacks that led to safeties for the Tigers back in 2014 and 2015, respectively. 

The Central, S.C., native finished with a quarterback hurry and a sack. Kelly, on the other hand, finished with three total tackles– including one for loss– in his fourth career game with the Tigers.

As he stood still in the end zone, surrounded by a sea of orange-clad teammates and juxtaposed to similarly dressed Syracuse fans, Lawson carried the weight of being a veteran, a defender and the difference in Clemson coming out of Upstate New York with a victory.

—courtesy of Clemson Athletic Communications