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On a third-and-12 play in the first quarter, Clemson lined up five wide receivers to go for the first down. Syracuse sent just four rushers as D.J. Uiagalelei dropped back to throw, but Cody Roscoe immediately got to Uiagalelei, wrapping him up from the right side and wrestling him to the ground. The sack forced a Tigers punt on the next play.

Clemson’s offense entered Friday night’s game in the Carrier Dome struggling offensively — ranking last in the Atlantic Coast Conference in points per game. Uiagalelei has been tasked with replacing three-year starter and No. 1 NFL draft pick Trevor Lawrence at quarterback and has underwhelmed so far this season, leading a team that has won six straight ACC Championships to a disappointing 3-2 start. Those struggles continued against Syracuse.

Roscoe said Syracuse (3-4, 0-3 ACC) came into the game knowing Uiagalelei was a big quarterback at 6-foot-4, 250 pounds, and had a strong arm. The defense’s goal, Roscoe said, was to make Uiagalelei feel “uncomfortable,” and throughout the game, SU did just that. SU recorded two sacks and five tackles for loss, holding Clemson (4-2, 3-1 ACC) to only 17 points. But the Orange’s offense struggled to manufacture points, and after a missed Andre Szmyt field goal with less than a minute remaining, Syracuse dropped to 3-4 this year.

“It just comes down to finishing,” Roscoe said. “We’re starting off good, we’re staying in the game, we’re staying close to everybody, and we just gotta … get it that point where we’re finishing these games.”

In the week leading up to the game, Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said that despite being 3-2, Clemson still has “the best personnel in the conference.” The Tigers’ offensive and defensive units are filled with 4- and 5-star recruits, but that level of talent hasn’t fully translated to on-field success, especially in some of the close games against Boston College and NC State.

Uiagalelei was ranked the No. 10 recruit nationally by 247Sports and arrived at Clemson as Lawrence’s natural successor with his pass-first and pro-style skillset. Roscoe said when the Tigers design pass plays, Uiagalelei likes to sit in the pocket while looking for a target. So Syracuse’s coaches designed plays to put Roscoe and the other SU defensive lineman in one-on-one positions against Clemson’s offensive lineman. The goal was to force Uiagalelei to have to move around in the pocket and potentially take off and run.

“We did a pretty decent job,” Roscoe said. “At times he did get out of the pocket, and he did break a couple of runs. There were some things that were on us.”

The execution was displayed on a third-and-6 play in Syracuse territory when Uiagalelei kept the ball on a quarterback keeper and was quickly swarmed by Orange jerseys several yards from the first down sticks. And it was also displayed when linebacker Stefon Thompson sacked Uiagalelei from behind in the third quarter after going nearly untouched during the play.

Syracuse players said throughout the week that they were still treating Clemson the same despite its record and position outside the AP Top 25 Poll. That meant knowing SU would be a hefty underdog against the Tigers, but Roscoe said the Orange’s defense never felt outmatched going against Clemson’s offense — specifically against its offensive line.

Four of the Tigers’ five offensive linemen were rated 4 stars or higher as recruits, per 247Sports, while Syracuse has just two 4-star recruits on its roster: quarterbacks Garrett Shrader and Tommy DeVito. But Syracuse’s previously overlooked defenders — including Roscoe, a 2-star recruit out of high school who played for McNeese State in the Football Championship Subdivision from 2017-19 — matched up well against Clemson’s front five. SU’s defense disrupted the Tigers’ offensive flow, keeping them under 20 points.

“Our D-line room up front is some of the best guys in the business,” Roscoe said. “Regardless of who we play … we got to come ready to play.”

In the first half, Clemson recorded just 33 yards of offense but responded in the second quarter with two touchdowns to take a 14-7 lead heading into halftime. In the second half, the Tigers found more success running the ball downhill against the Orange. Roscoe said Clemson changed its pass protection, too, to aid Uiagalelei. But Syracuse also adjusted, and the quarterback threw for only 72 yards in the final 30 minutes.

Clemson ran the ball 20 times in the second half for 62 yards, and Roscoe said SU’s defense takes “pride” in stopping the run but still let the Tigers control the clock too much in the second half. This was a “demoralizing situation,” as Clemson held the ball for three more minutes than Syracuse did in the second half, he added.

The Orange’s defense had to help out an offense that had trouble finding points on Friday, linebacker Mikel Jones said. After finding plenty of success running the ball against Liberty, Florida State and Wake Forest, Shrader ran for 10 yards on seven attempts, stifled by a physical and talented Tigers’ defense. The Mississippi State transfer struggled throwing too, missing on short throws and only connecting on one deep pass, which was a touchdown to Trebor Pena in the fourth quarter.

Now, Syracuse has lost three straight games after getting poor performances out of its defense. The Orange have had strong performances out of their offense in losses to Florida State and Wake Forest, but things changed against Clemson. SU scored 14 after putting up over 30 points in both games. And the defense that struggled to contain Jordan Travis and Sam Hartman stopped Uiagalelei. Still, that defense gave up three points too many in the 17-14 home loss.

“It’s definitely a tough one,” Jones said. “We’re almost where we want to be. We just got to keep going.”

Published on October 16, 2021 at 1:58 am

Contact Connor: [email protected] | @csmith17_