Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney readily admits that he was expecting a gritty effort from Syracuse on Saturday.

The Tigers certainly got that in the 18-13 win, but ultimately the game probably ended up being a little closer than it should have been.

Forget how many times Clemson had to settle for field goals in the red zone. Forget the running backs only having 14 carries combined. Forget the two turnovers. Despite all of that, the Tigers still held an 18-6 lead late in the fourth quarter.

However, just like last week against Florida State, the defense had trouble getting off the field when it badly needed a stop.

“I got a lot of respect for Fran and his team,” Swinney said. “You knew it was going to be a competitive game. I did not have any doubts that it would be anything other than a hard-fought game. That is just kind of who they are.”

With less than five minutes to go, the Orange took over at their own 26-yard line. All Clemson needed was a stop. Instead, Steve Angeli moved Syracuse 74 yards in just 1:31, scoring Syracuse’s first touchdown of the game and cutting the Tigers’ lead to one score.

Angeli hit back-to-back deep shots on Clemson on that scoring drive. The first was a 23-yarder that set up the Orange at the Tigers’ 33-yard line. On the very next play, Angeli threw his only touchdown of the game, pulling his team to within five points.

After holding Angeli in check for most of the afternoon, the veteran quarterback took advantage of a situation Swinney said his defense should have never been in. One of his players was getting his signals from the wrong person on the sideline.

“We change up who the live signaler is all the time,” Swinney said. “That changes with quarters, sometimes it can change within the quarter. We had a guy reading the wrong signaler, and that is no bueno. So we were playing the wrong coverage twice. And it cost us twice, on really good calls. If we execute the call that was made, we are in a good spot. But they found it.”

Seeing as the veteran quarterback passed for 117 yards in the fourth quarter alone, it was fortunate Syracuse never got the ball back. The Tigers were able to run the final 3:12 off the clock, thanks in large part to quarterback Tait Reynolds, who used his legs to pick up two first downs, icing the game.

“That was very disappointing,” Swinney added about the mix-up with the signals. “Just some miscues there. It is frustrating.”

– Photo courtesy of Bart Boatwright/The Clemson Insider