Clemson left Syracuse with an ugly win and a whole lot of missed chances, but the Tigers still walked out at 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the ACC after an 18-13 victory that looked more like a three-point shooting contest than a football game.
The difference was Nolan Hauser. Clemson’s kicker drilled four field goals and helped carry the Tigers through a game where the offense rarely looked capable of finishing drives. Hauser’s day also put him in the record book, as his four makes tied the Clemson regular-season mark previously set by Greg Huegel.
On offense, Clemson never found much rhythm. The Tigers did hit a couple of early explosives, including a 53-yard connection to Bryant Wesco and a 52-yard burst from Jarvis Green, and they spent plenty of the afternoon crossing midfield.
The problem came after that. Once Clemson got into scoring range, the drive quality fell apart.
Tait Reynolds had an uneven day at quarterback. He made a few plays, but the offense as a whole never settled in, and an interception did not help matters.
Clemson also wasted a chance with a poor drop by T.J. Moore.
The one consistent bright spot was Wesco, who looked like a true No. 1 receiver with six catches for 100 yards and drew multiple interference calls against Syracuse. Even with that, this was the kind of game Clemson should have turned into a much more comfortable win.
The defense did enough to keep the Tigers in control. Syracuse had its moments and a few big plays, but the Orange repeatedly failed to cash in when they had a chance. Like Clemson’s offense, they stalled in the red zone, and they never found a reliable answer to the pressure coming from Tom Allen’s group.
Syracuse quarterback Steve Angeli spent much of the afternoon under duress. Clemson got to him for three sacks and turned a backward pass into points when Jahiem Lawson took it back for a touchdown. The Orange did add a late touchdown, but by then the Tigers’ defense had already done enough damage to keep the game from slipping away.
Special teams played a huge role in the outcome, and Hauser’s performance was the headline. He entered the day with 23 makes and left with a piece of Clemson history.
There was one blemish, though: a muff by Wesco that kept the grade from climbing even higher. Still, this was a strong showing for Rich Bisaccia’s unit in a game where every point mattered.
The coaching grade lands at B, and the reason is simple: Clemson had enough to win, but not enough to make it easy. The Tigers also went for a lone two-point try that didn’t work, another reminder that the game never fully got away from Syracuse. The Orange had chances to make things interesting, but Clemson’s defense kept answering.
In the end, the Tigers got the result they needed. The performance was messy, but it was still their second straight win, and they survived a game that left plenty on the table against a Syracuse team that was there for the taking.
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