Syracuse football prepares for Clemson looking to improve to 5-0.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 With Syracuse 4-0 non-conference play, the biggest game of the home slate is on Saturday,
00:09 which is Syracuse welcomes Clemson to town for the ACC opener, the ACC home opener.
00:16 So the question is, is Syracuse ready for the start of conference play and specifically
00:20 ready for Clemson?
00:21 This is a massive jump in talent in terms of what they have played at the non-conference.
00:26 The downside to playing lesser opponents in the non-conference is you don't get tested
00:32 to the level of an opponent like a Clemson, although I don't think Syracuse was expecting
00:36 Purdue to be as down as they were when that was scheduled.
00:40 So Sydney, we're going to go to you to start.
00:43 From what you've seen so far, is Syracuse ready for the start of conference play and
00:46 specifically ready for this Clemson game?
00:49 Because you're one of the few people that before the season started predicted Syracuse
00:52 was going to win this game.
00:55 I think they're as ready as they'll ever be.
00:57 I think there are some things they wish they would have gone differently.
01:02 I think they wish they would have had better competition for some games.
01:04 You talked about, I think Purdue is just, is having a down year.
01:08 You know, Army did challenge them, but like I said earlier, it felt more so like we were
01:12 beating ourselves.
01:14 But I think they just never hoped to go into this game down the players that they have
01:19 lost due to injury.
01:21 But you know, that's the sport.
01:23 And if there's one thing, it's could be the confidence that they have, obviously going
01:27 in four and O, they have done things well.
01:30 And they're starting to, you know, be able to connect offensively what we saw in the
01:34 back half of the last game.
01:36 So I think they're as ready as they'll ever be.
01:39 I think they have to understand Clemson is different than Clemson was last year.
01:44 You know, I don't think they are as strong of a team.
01:47 And right now Syracuse has something that they don't have, which is wins and confidence.
01:52 But with the wins, it's knowing how to win, how to come up on top when those games are
01:56 close so they can use that experience.
02:00 But I think it's going to be a big jump in competition.
02:04 And that worries me a bit.
02:06 Yeah, you know, Josh pointed out the slow starts that they've had, I think the last
02:12 three weeks, right?
02:13 So Western Michigan came out and scored on their opening drive.
02:16 Syracuse had the punt on its opening drive at Purdue.
02:20 Then Purdue did move the ball down the field, even though Syracuse got a fourth down stop.
02:23 And then it seemed like it took the whole first half against Army before Syracuse finally
02:27 woke up.
02:28 If they have a slow start against Clemson, something's seriously wrong because you can't
02:33 come out against that type of a team and not be energized, amped up and ready to go early
02:38 on.
02:39 Right.
02:40 And especially because we're expecting it will be the biggest crowd of the season at
02:42 the Dome.
02:43 The fans will be into it, given the opponent and the hype that's always around that.
02:47 If you're not amped and ready to go for that and you still have a slow start, I think something's
02:52 got to be wrong.
02:53 Right.
02:54 I mean, so, Josh, your thoughts on if you think Syracuse is ready and, you know, to
02:57 your point earlier, should should we expect another slow start in this one?
03:02 I think Sydney put it perfectly.
03:04 They're as ready as they're going to be, honestly, like you said, going into a matchup where,
03:08 you know, ESPN Analytics has them slightly favored.
03:12 We talk about how much of, you know, game I thought about on my podcast, No Cash Sports,
03:16 get it where you listen to the podcast.
03:18 I thought about how much quarterback players like just really become the dominant, you
03:22 know, factor in terms of determining team success even more than it has been recently.
03:26 We look at the research of the Pac-12 versus SEC this year and in this game with in this
03:30 game with SU and Clemson, like I think we have a decided advantage at the quarterback
03:34 position.
03:35 You know, a lot of people see Kovnic come in last year.
03:39 We knocked out DJ, who was only on the left, essentially with the sacks and the pressures
03:43 and he hasn't really stepped into that next time big Clemson quarterback role that we've
03:47 seen a la Trevor Lawrence, you know, the years that issue was getting dominated by Clemson.
03:51 So I think that, like I said, they're as ready as they're going to be.
03:54 If not a situation to where they're that big back wolf that we thought they were going
03:58 to be going into the season.
03:59 But there are a few things that Clemson does really well that we struggle with, like running
04:03 the ball.
04:04 Will Shipley has been the best player on this Clemson team for two years now and he had
04:07 almost 20 yards last year.
04:09 So we just saw them struggle against a team that had nobody nearly as well shipley.
04:13 So that'll be a big concern for me.
04:15 And in terms of this perpetually talented, you know, Clinton's front seven, you know,
04:20 with the office of law enforcement that we mentioned, like the also very key points that
04:23 Clinton does hang their hat on not only just this year, but just as a program.
04:27 And specifically this year for us, we're kind of we kind of will be at risk to those strengths
04:33 be susceptible for us.
04:35 And you know, I want to bring up a point that Griffin made earlier, which was when we were
04:40 talking about the second half of Syracuse Gambians army, and he mentioned that they
04:44 had some designed runs for Garrett Schrader in that second half.
04:50 He only ended up with 10 carries in the game, which I think feels about right for what he
04:55 should be doing with his legs.
04:58 Most games he had 25 against Purdue.
05:00 I think if he has to run the ball that many times against Clemson, that's probably going
05:05 to be problematic because I think he can take over a game like against an opponent like
05:09 a Purdue, even some of the opponents that Syracuse has on the back end of their schedule.
05:13 But when you're talking about the Florida States and the Clemsons, I don't think those
05:16 are games that he can go out and kind of play Superman and win by himself.
05:19 I don't think that's the type of opponent that you can do that against.
05:24 So if he ends up with, you know, 20 plus carries, that could be a situation, which is, you know,
05:31 as Sidney said, they're going into this game without a couple of the players that they
05:34 thought they were going to be able to have.
05:36 If you want to have Garrett Schrader for the rest of the season, you got to watch the number
05:40 of times that he has to carry it in games like this.
05:42 And then even, you know, the next couple, when you're talking Florida State, North Carolina
05:45 and the defenses that they bring.
05:47 But Griffin, your thoughts on Syracuse, if they're ready, it kind of, you know, playing
05:52 off the point that you made earlier as well.
05:54 Yeah, for sure.
05:55 I think that Syracuse will be ready because of that gradual increase in schedule that
06:03 we've talked about many times.
06:04 And I said, and I think our first episode, how I really prefer that schedule for a team
06:09 like Syracuse this year and how they're assembled in comparison to being battle tested right
06:14 from week one, like how they were against Louisville last year.
06:17 Clemson has that schedule and has had that up to this point, going right off the gate
06:22 against Duke on the road, losing that game.
06:26 And then this past week going and playing the number four team in the country.
06:29 So they've already had ACC games under their belt.
06:32 But I think for Syracuse, there is that emphasis that's been circled on the calendar for quite
06:38 some time because they always play Clemson close.
06:40 They've played them very good at home as well in recent years, too.
06:44 So I think that there is that emphasis already that they have to come ready to play because
06:51 you're going to prove doubters wrong that are saying, oh, you really haven't played
06:54 anybody up to this point by winning a game like this.
06:57 If you don't show up, then everything that everybody said about you is true.
07:01 And I don't think that how this team is constructed, the leaders that they have on this team, I
07:06 just don't think that they're going to let that happen, which is why I think that they'll
07:10 come ready to play in this game and almost have a 180 flip of the last few games where
07:15 they've came out really slow.