Clemson kept its ACC hopes alive the same way it has handled the road all season: by leaning on defense, squeezing out points and leaving Syracuse with a win.
The Tigers beat Syracuse 18-6 on Saturday at the JMA Wireless Dome, a game that never turned into an offensive showcase but fit Clemson’s familiar away-from-home script in conference play. The Tigers struggled to finish drives in the red zone, yet junior Nolan Hauser kept the scoreboard moving with four field goals.
That performance pushed Hauser into the record book. He tied the program mark of 27 field goals set by Greg Huegel, and with three games left, he is positioned to break it.
Clemson’s defense did the heavy lifting. Dabo Swinney’s team forced two turnovers from Syracuse quarterback Steve Angeli, and both came at key moments.
The first was a strip by West Georgia transfer Kourtney Kelly, with edge rusher Jahiem Lawson scooping it up and taking it 22 yards for a touchdown. The other came late, when Ashton Hampton intercepted Angeli in the end zone with 6:09 left in the fourth quarter.
Even without finishing enough drives, Clemson still piled up 359 yards of offense. Two plays of more than 50 yards in the first quarter helped get the unit moving, and true freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds continued to show progress. He finished with 161 passing yards and an interception, while also adding 58 rushing yards.
One of those runs mattered just as much as any throw. Reynolds picked up 10 yards on a third-and-8 to help put the game away and secure Clemson’s fourth conference win of the season. All four have followed the same blueprint.
Syracuse kept fighting and finally got on the board with 3:12 remaining, but Clemson had already taken control. Angeli completed fewer than half his passes, going 40 times through the air while the Tigers kept him under pressure and out of rhythm.
Clemson now has to keep winning. The Tigers still have two more conference games before hosting South Carolina in the annual Palmetto Bowl at the end of the month, and that path would be their only route to a College Football Playoff bid this season for Swinney.
Next up is Georgia Tech at home this weekend. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. on the CW Network.
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Clemson Survived A Brutal Injury Week With Bigger Questions Ahead
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The injury list did not stop there. Quarterback Christopher Vizzina rolled his ankle and was limited in practice, though he remained available for the game, and receivers Gordon Sellars III and Tyler Brown also dealt with practice injuries. For a Clemson team trying to keep its season on track, the bigger concern now is not just surviving one rough week, but how long it can keep absorbing hits before the depth chart starts to show the strain. [Read more 🡒]