Recap: Full Dome Watches No. 1 Clemson Down Orange, 41-6

Saturday, September 14

Syracuse NY

7:30 PM

Syracuse University

1-2 , 0-1

Clemson

3-0 , 2-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Clemson

Syracuse

Recap: Full Dome Watches No. 1 Clemson Down Orange, 41-6

9/14/2019 11:03:00 PM | Football

Box Score Highlights Photo Gallery Dino Babers Press Conference Players Press Conference Postgame Notes Quotes

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Top-ranked and defending national champion Clemson (3-0, 2-0 ACC) remained unbeaten with a 41-6 victory against Syracuse (1-2, 0-1 ACC) on Saturday, Sept. 14 in front of a sellout crowd of 50,248 at the Dome.

The Tigers extended their national-best winning streak to 18 games with the decision. Clemson has won 20 consecutive regular-season contests with the last loss coming to Syracuse on Oct. 13, 2017.

Saturday's defeat ended Syracuse's six-game home winning streak.

QUOTABLE
"First of all, I would just like to thank all 50,248 fans for coming out. What an amazing turnout in support of this football team. Unfortunately, we couldn't bring home the win. They wanted the giant upset and we sure wanted to deliver for them. The student body was fantastic, as well as the band, and the entire city's support," Orange head coach Dino Babers said. "We're disappointed that we couldn't deliver, but our guys will be back. Our guys will be ready to go."

POSSESSION FLIP-FLOP DOOMS ORANGE UPSET BID
Trailing 17-6 early in the second half, Syracuse's defense came up with a big play in Tiger territory. Redshirt senior cornerback Christopher Fredrick deflected a pass by Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and then corralled the ball for an interception. His return gave the Orange first-and-10 at the Clemson 9-yard line.

On the next snap, the Tiger defense forced Syracuse signal-caller Tommy DeVito out of the pocket. The redshirt sophomore threw on the run and was picked off by defensive Mario Goodrich at the Clemson four.

The Tigers took advantage of the miscue three plays later. Lawrence hit Amari Rodgers on a wide receiver screen and, after breaking a tackle, Rodgers sprinted 87 yards for a touchdown. The point after put the visitors ahead 24-6 with 9:42 remaining in the third quarter.

SECOND PICK PROVIDES ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY
Syracuse's secondary presented its offense with great field position a second time in the third quarter. Sophomore Trill Williams intercepted Lawrence and brought the ball back 41 yards to the Clemson 3-yard line.

The Orange had four attempts at scoring their first touchdown of the evening, but Clemson answered each one. Syracuse ran sophomore Jarveon Howard into the line twice, but only advanced the ball a yard. DeVito carried on the next two snaps, but was unable to find the end zone.

LAWRENCE OF CLEMSON
The Tiger signal-caller completed 22-of-39 passes for 395 yards and three touchdowns before he was removed in the fourth quarter. Lawrence connected on scoring throws of 16 and 87 yards to Rodgers and seven yards to Frank Ladson Jr.

Lawrence also contributed a 1-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter.

Clemson's other touchdown came on a 57-yard run by Chez Melussi with 48 seconds left in the contest. Kicker B.T. Potter made all five of his extra points and hit field goals from 40 and 37 yards.

SZMYT'S THREE-POINT PLAYS
Redshirt sophomore Andre Szmyt got the Orange on the board twice in the first half. His 29-yard field goal early in the second quarter finished off a 10-play, 48-yard drive and narrowed Clemson's advantage to 14-3. When called upon again late in the period, Szmyt was successful once more, this time converting from 23 yards yards. It represented the final points of the half and sent the teams into the intermission with the Tigers ahead, 17-6.

Szmyt has multiple field goals in 12 out of his 16 career games and is the Syracuse all-time leader in field-goal percentage at 89.1 percent (33-37).

THE LOUD HOUSE
Syracuse welcomed 50,248 fans for the contest, the third-largest Dome crowd in history. The record of 50,564 was set when the Dome opened on Sept. 20, 1980 with a matchup against Miami (Ohio). Syracuse also had 50,350 stream through the building's gates for a pairing with Navy the same season.

GETTING A KICK OUT OF HOFRICHTER
Redshirt senior punter Sterling Hofrichter did his best to keep the Clemson offense from gaining good field position. He punted nine times for an average of 52.2 yards. A career-best six of his boots traveled at least 50 yards, including matching his career long with a kick of 65 yards. Three of the efforts ended up inside the Clemson 20-yard line and five resulted in fair catches. The combination of Hofrichter and Syracuse's coverage teams held Clemson to two punt returns totaling three yards.

Hofrichter moved past current New York Giants punter Riley Dixon into fifth place on the program's all-time punt list with 221 attempts. The record is held by Brendan Carney (271). Hofrichter also went by Dixon for fifth in career punting yards with 9,586 to his credit. Carney's 11,534 yards tops the Orange career chart.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

The two teams each ran 71 plays, but Clemson came away with a 612-187 advantage in total yardage.
Syracuse's defense tallied a takeaway for the 17th straight contest. It is the third-longest active streak in FBS football behind Houston (20) and Mississippi State (18).
Saturday marked the 12th time Syracuse faced the top-ranked team in the Associated Press poll. The Orange slipped to 1-11 in those encounters.
Syracuse faced the reigning national champion for the 10th time with Clemson's appearance in the Dome. The Orange have won three of those meetings, beating Penn State in 1987, Michigan in 1998 and Clemson in 2017.
Senior linebacker Lakiem Williams led Syracuse tacklers with eight total stops. Junior linebacker Isaiah Simmons had 11 total tackles for the Tigers, including 3.5 for a loss, and two sacks.

GREEN'S JERSEY TAKES UP PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN DOME
The familiar No. 72 jersey of former Syracuse defensive lineman Tim Green became a permanent fixture in the Dome during a halftime ceremony attended by Green and his family.

A member of Syracuse's All-Century Team, Green set school standards for quarterback sacks (45.5) and tackles by a down lineman (341) over the course of a career that spanned from 1982-85. He is the first defensive player in team history to have his jersey retired.

A two-time Academic All-American and a Rhodes Scholarship finalist, Green went on to have a successful NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons. After retiring from football, Green was an NFL analyst, a best-selling author, and a lawyer.

Green announced in November 2018 that he has been diagnosed with ALS.

UP NEXT
Syracuse hosts Western Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 21 in the Dome. The game kicks off at noon and will be televised by the ACC Network.

Season and single-game tickets to watch Orange football are on sale now online (Cuse.com/tickets), by phone (888-DOME-TIX) and in person at the Dome Box Office located in the Ensley Athletic Center. Season tickets start at $125.

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