NCAAF Game Recap - Clemson at Syracuse
Sat Sep 14, 2019 7:30 PM EDT

Clem
41
Syr
6
F
Bama
47
SCar
23
F
ArkSt
0
UGA
55
F
NWSt
14
LSU
65
F
Okla
48
UCLA
14
F
OSU
51
Ind
10
F
NM
14
ND
66
F
Kent
16
Aub
55
F
Fla
29
KY
21
F
IdSt
0
Utah
31
F
Tex
48
Rice
13
F
Pitt
10
PSU
17
F
Mont
3
Oreg
35
F
Lamar
3
TxAM
62
F
Stan
27
UCF
45
F
AzSt
10
MSU
7
F
Iowa
18
IASt
17
F
WaSt
31
Hou
24
F
MD
17
Temp
20
F
PorSt
10
Boise
45
F
Hawaii
20
Wash
52
F
USC
27
BYU
30
F OT
FlaSt
24
UVA
31
F
UNC
18
Wake
24
F
Kans
48
BC
24
F
K St
31
MissSt
24
F
E Mi
34
Ill
31
F
NCSt
27
WVU
44
F
Furm
17
VaTec
24
F
Chat
0
Tenn
45
F
MiaOH
13
Cin
35
F
Cit
27
GATec
24
F OT
AF
30
Colo
23
F OT
Norf
7
CoCar
46
F
FlAtl
41
Ball
31
F
Akr
24
C Mi
45
F
ECU
10
Navy
42
F
Army
31
UTSA
13
F
OkSt
40
Tuls
21
F
Mem
42
SoAl
6
F
UNLV
14
NW
30
F
GaSo
32
MIN
35
F
Mor
12
JMU
63
F
SouLA
29
Miss
40
F
Lou
38
W Ky
21
F
EWa
45
JacSt
49
F
ColSt
34
Ark
55
F
B-C
0
MiaFL
63
F
CAPly
7
OreSt
45
F
NorTx
17
Cal
23
F
SamHu
23
UND
27
F
Idaho
16
Wyo
21
F
LT
35
BGSU
7
F
SMiss
47
Troy
42
F
SCSt
16
SoFL
55
F
Buff
17
Lib
35
F
UMass
17
UNCC
52
F
Ohio
31
Marsh
33
F
GASt
10
WestMI
57
F
Murr
0
Toled
45
F
Web
13
NEV
19
F
TxSt
17
SMU
47
F
Duke
41
MidTN
18
F
UNH
17
FLInt
30
F
SEMO
0
MIZ
50
F
TxSo
6
ULLaf
77
F
TCU
34
Purd
13
F
MoStU
6
Tul
58
F
SDSU
31
NMS
10
F
NIU
8
Neb
44
F
TxTch
14
Ariz
28
F

Sep 14, 2019, 7:30 PM EDT

Final

1

2

3

4

T

(1) Clemson (3-0)

14

3

10

14

41

Syracuse (1-2)

0

6

0

0

6

Lawrence leads No. 1 Clemson past Syracuse 41-6
Sun Sep 15, 2019 1:19 AM

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence was forced to be a spectator a year ago when a hard hit to the helmet knocked him out in the second quarter of his first college start. This time he left in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand.

Lawrence threw for a career-high 395 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another, and top-ranked Clemson smothered nemesis Syracuse 41-6 on Saturday night.

"It felt good. It felt good to be able to finish," said Lawrence, who scored untouched from a yard out after a nifty fake to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Anytime you win a game like that, convincingly, it's just awesome."

Clemson (3-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) has won 18 straight games, a school record and the longest streak in the nation. It's the second-longest winning streak by an ACC member in conference history, trailing a 29-game run by Florida State from 2012-14.

Syracuse (1-2, 0-1), the last team to defeat Clemson in the regular season, was unbeaten at home last fall. The Orange were coming off a 43-point loss at Maryland that dropped them out of the rankings.

"We didn't score enough points to really make it a game, and that's always something we've been able to do against them," Orange coach Dino Babers said. "When you're playing somebody that hasn't lost a bunch of games, you've got to have a clean game. I thought the defense played well enough to make it a game."

The offense didn't. Clemson limited Syracuse to 187 yards and sacked Orange quarterback Tommy DeVito eight times. Clemson finished with 15 tackles for losses of 71 yards as it won its eighth straight true road game and avenged a 27-24 loss to Syracuse two years ago.

"This is a big, big win for us," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. "The defense tonight I thought was amazing. It all starts up front. We lost a lot of players but we've just got some guys around here that can play."

Lawrence, who threw on the run when he had to, finished 22 of 39 with two interceptions. Clemson finished with 612 yards offensively.

"We've got a good group," Swinney said. "They're just going to get better. They've accepted the challenge. We've got three wins. That's where we wanted to be. We're a hungry team."

Clemson took a 7-0 lead on its second possession with Lawrence methodically driving the Tigers 79 yards in just seven plays. He completed four passes for 54 yards, mixing in a 9-yard gain on a keeper and finishing it with a 16-yard strike into the end zone to Amari Rodgers with standout Orange safety Andre Cisco out of position.

The Tigers boosted the lead to 14-0 on Lawrence's 1-yard keeper after a 35-yard completion on the run to Tee Higgins in double coverage and a personal foul against the Orange put the Tigers deep in Syracuse territory.

Unlike his predecessor, dual-threat Eric Dungey, Syracuse quarterback Tommy DeVito likes to set up in the pocket but didn't have time as the Clemson defense repeatedly pressured him in his third college start. The Orange were held without a first down in the opening quarter.

"We just hurt ourselves," said DeVito, who was 15 of 27 for 172 yards with one interception. "We didn't put points on the board. That's unacceptable."

DeVito was sacked six times in the first half and had to throw on the run all night. He did duck low to avoid the pass rush and hit tight end Luke Benson for 24 yards to set up Andre Szmyt's 29-yard field goal early in the second to get the Orange on the board.

The Carrier Dome was sold out for the first time in 21 years, but the homecoming crowd of 50,248, the third-largest since the building opened in 1980, wasn't much of a factor as the Orange fell behind. When DeVito hit Moe Neal out of the backfield for a 50-yard catch-and-run down the right side and connected with Neal again on the next play for 17 more to move the ball inside the Clemson 10-yard line, the Dome came alive. But the Orange couldn't solve that defense, had to settle for Szmyt's 23-yard field goal, and trailed 17-6 at the half.

Syracuse had two terrific chances to get back in the game in the third and failed both times, prompting many fans to head for the exits.

Chris Fredrick intercepted Lawrence and returned the ball 20 yards to the Clemson 9, but DeVito was forced out of the pocket on the next play and his pass on the run was intercepted by Mario Goodrich at the 4. Three plays later, Rodgers caught a swing pass out to the right, averted two tackles, and went 87 yards for a score. The play was reviewed as Rodgers appeared to be barely out of bounds on the replay but it was allowed to stand.

Trill Williams intercepted Lawrence late in the period and returned it 53 yards to the Clemson 3, but the Orange were unable to punch it in and turned the ball over on downs when DeVito was stopped on fourth down.

SIMMONS SPEAKS OUT

Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons had a game-high 11 tackles, including two sacks among his 3.5 tackles for a loss, and the outcome was exactly what he was looking for.

"Of course we want to dominate the ACC," Simmons said. "I felt there was a lack of respect coming from them. It seems like they put everything they had into beating us with all their hype videos and making our game homecoming and they sell out the stadium. You can't have a good program and do that. You've just got to treat every opponent the same way, like it's a nameless opponent, and prepare like everyone. We play every week like it's for a national championship. That's the way it has to be. You can't dwell on the past. You can't look forward to next week. You just have to go week by week."

NUMBERS

Higgins had seven catches for 150 yards, all in the first half, outgaining the Syracuse offense by 16 yards in the first two quarters.

DeVito lost 42 yards rushing, mostly on the sacks, and four other runners for the Orange managed just 69 yards on 27 carries.

TURNOVERS

Syracuse has a streak of 17 consecutive games with a takeaway, the third-longest streak in the country.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Clemson is seeking its third national championship in four years and the top-ranked Tigers easily avoided a pitfall to stay on track in a conference that appears to be down this year.

THE TAKEAWAY

Clemson: The Tigers remain the class of the ACC and the win over Syracuse, the team picked to finish behind them in the Atlantic Division, removes an obstacle going forward.

Syracuse: Despite a 43-point loss at week ago at Maryland, the Orange, who were ranked No. 22 in preseason, still received votes in this week's poll. That's a sign of the respect the team has earned under coach Dino Babers, who guided them to 10 wins last season. Expect the Orange to regroup after squandering chances in a big game.

UP NEXT

Clemson returns home to face Charlotte next Saturday.

Syracuse continues a three-game homestand when Western Michigan visits next Saturday.

---

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Passing

Clem Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
T. Lawrence 39 22 56.4 3 395 87 2 95.6
C. Brice 3 1 33.3 0 -4 0 0 42.4
Syr Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
T. DeVito 27 15 55.6 0 172 50 1 59.5
C. Welch 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 39.6

Rushing

Clem Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
T. Etienne 14 76 5.4 15 0
C. Mellusi 1 57 57.0 57 1
Syr Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
A. Adams 14 34 2.4 6 0
M. Neal 9 22 2.4 6 0

Receiving

Clem Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
T. Higgins 7 150 21.4 58 0
A. Rodgers 4 121 30.3 87 2
Syr Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
M. Neal 2 67 33.5 50 0
L. Benson 2 26 13.0 24 0

Fumbles

Returning

Clem KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
A. Rodgers 0 0 0 2 1.5 0 3
J. Ngata 1 25.0 0 25 0 0 0
Syr KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
S. Riley 1 14.0 0 14 0 0 0

Punting

Clem Punt Yds Avg LgPu
W. Spiers 6 243 40.5 53
Syr Punt Yds Avg LgPu
S. Hofrichter 9 470 52.2 65

Takeaways

Clem Int Yds InTD
M. Goodrich 1 0 0
Syr Int Yds InTD
C. Fredrick 1 20 0
T. Williams 1 41 0

Team Stats Comparison

Clem Syr
Points For 41 6
Total Yards 612 187
Rushing Yards 221 15
Passing Yards 391 172
Passing Completions / Attempts 23/42 15/29
Turnovers 2 1
Interceptions Thrown 2 1
Fumbles - Lost 0/0 0/0
First Downs 24 10
Penalties - Yards 7/70 9/85
Time Of Possession 40:40 20:20
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 5/14 4/19
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 0/0 0/3
Punts - Average Yards 6/40 9/52

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter Clem Syr
Clem 04:31 TD Amari Rodgers 16 yd pass from Trevor Lawrence (B.T. Potter kick) 7 0
Clem 09:26 TD Trevor Lawrence 1 yd run (B.T. Potter kick) 14 0
2nd Quarter Clem Syr
Syr 02:36 FG Andre Szmyt 29 yd FG 14 3
Clem 10:29 FG B.T. Potter 40 yd FG 17 3
Syr 13:00 FG Andre Szmyt 23 yd FG 17 6
3rd Quarter Clem Syr
Clem 05:18 TD Amari Rodgers 87 yd pass from Trevor Lawrence (B.T. Potter kick) 24 6
Clem 12:36 FG B.T. Potter 37 yd FG 27 6
4th Quarter Clem Syr
Clem 04:49 TD Frank Ladson Jr. 7 yd pass from Trevor Lawrence (B.T. Potter kick) 34 6
Clem 14:12 TD Chez Mellusi 57 yd run (B.T. Potter kick) 41 6

Game Information

Stadium: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York
Attendance: 50,248
Game Time:
Weather: