Teams: Syracuse Orange (2-1, 0-0) vs Clemson Tigers (1-2, 0-0)
Day & Time: Saturday, September 20, 12:00 pm
Location: Memorial Stadium, Clemson, SC
Line: Syracuse is a +17.5 underdog to Clemson according to Fanduel’s odds.
TV/Streaming: ESPN, WatchESPN
Radio: Cuse.com, TK 99/105, WAER 88.3, SiriusXM 371
Rivalry: 10-2, Clemson
Current Streak: 5, Clemson
First Meeting: Syracuse and Clemson first met on New Year’s Day in 1996 in the Gator Bowl at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, the home of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Now known as TIAA Bank Field, the two programs played the first ever bowl game at the venue and Syracuse cruised to a 41-0 win. Donovan McNabb threw for 309 yards that day, 173 of which went to Marvin Harrison.
Last Meeting: Nine penalties, five sacks against, and a couple turnovers meant the Orange did not have a great day against Clemson. The Tigers took a 14-0 lead and held it in 2023 for a 31-14 win.
Head Coaches: Syracuse: Fran Brown (second year, 12-4) | Clemson: Dabo Swinney (18th year, 181-49)
Coach Bio: Swinney attended his native Alabama and joined the Crimson Tide as a walk-on wide receiver in 1989. He later received a scholarship for his final three seasons in Tuscaloosa and caught seven career passes for 81 yards. After his undergrad career finished, he joined the Crimson Tide coaching staff as a graduate assistant before coaching the wide receivers and tight ends at various points from 1993 to 2000. Swinney moved to Clemson in 2001 to coach the wide receivers before being named interim head coach midway through the 2008 season.
Since his promotion to the head coaching role, Swinney has only had one losing season in 2010. He led Clemson to bowl appearances in every season as a head coach, including College Football Playoff appearances in six consecutive seasons from 2015 to 2020. Swinney has led the Tigers to four National Championship games in that span as well, winning two of those games.
Last Year: Three losses in the regular season is unusual for Clemson under Dabo Swinney. However, with Syracuse’s assistance, the Tigers made the ACC Championship Game. Clemson defeated SMU to qualify for the College Football Playoff. However, the Tigers would loss on the road in the first round to Texas.
Last Game: A couple of turnovers allowed Georgia Tech to hang in with Clemson at Atlanta. The Yellow Jackets hit a field goal at the end of the game to upset the Tigers 24-21.
“Fear Me, I’ve Killed Hundreds of Timelords”: Peter Woods might not have the stats this season, but there’s a reason why his ceiling could see him going in the top three picks of the upcoming NFL Draft.
If Syracuse Wins: We party like it’s a Friday night in 2017.
If Syracuse Loses: Dabo gets fired because Clemson hates winning?
Fun Fact: Steve Angeli ranks first nationally in passing yards per game with 357.4 yards
