What We Learned From Clemson's Win Over Syracuse

No. 1 Clemson's first five games were fairly predictable, but it's hard to understand why the Tigers didn't look as sharp against Syracuse in a weird win.

No. 1 Clemson's 47-21 victory was the oddest of the season. 

The first five games were fairly predictable, even the dominating win over Miami. Everyone knows the Tigers have one of college football's best offenses behind stars Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne.

The defense is young but extremely talented. What the Syracuse game showed is what can happen when even good teams don't execute well, and it's hard to understand why a team as well-coached as Clemson, well-prepared and oozing with better football players than their opponent didn't look all that sharp.

Call it being a 47-point favorite. Chalk it up to knowing they'd win the game against a one-win Syracuse team. Blame it on the early start, a lack of energy, reduced crowd or the unseasonably warm weather. 

Whatever it was, this wasn't Clemson's best game, period. That doesn't mean there weren't a ton of positives, and it's not fair just to focus on the negatives after a 26-point win. However, this was a 6-point game in the third quarter. 

Let's get right into what we learned from a late-game push to take care of the Orange and improve to 6-0:

Dabo Swinney ain't taking none

Clemson's head coach wasn't happy with multiple questions from the media about his team's issues and energy Saturday after the game. 

"I just want to make sure I'm at the right press conference here," Swinney said. "We did win the game, I think. Am I in the right spot? You don't usually score 47 points if you don't have the right energy. We made some mistakes. It's not energy when you don't make a certain play, or snap the ball over a head. Just didn't execute, but at the end of the day, it's not easy to win.

"There's a lot of teams out there that would have lost this game with some of the mistakes that we made. We won the game by almost four touchdowns. I'm not getting any questions about 'Are you proud of you guys for winning the game?' It's a lot of negative questions. You're not going to get any negative stuff from me."

This wasn't a crazy rant or anything close to his famous response to "Clemsoning." but clearly Swinney was a tad perturbed. He didn't handle it poorly or anything. At the same time, the questions are fair. To be the No. 1 team, you have to look like the No. 1 team every week, and the Tigers just didn't against Syracuse. 

That's not an indictment on the rest of the season or a reason to think any loss, much less multiple, is coming. They won by a lot despite not playing well. The postgame questions were predictable, and it's fine to cover the positive and the negative. It's just not something Swinney is into right now. 

Running game is weird right now

The Clemson running back won't ever eat Frosted Flakes before a game again. That's probably a wise move. And even though he didn't play his best game, averaging 5.4 yards per carry, he still scored three times and had a memorable spin move for one of those touchdowns. 

"Just watch this..."#ETN4Heisman pic.twitter.com/QOaKkthsOt

— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) October 24, 2020

Cramping and all, Etienne is just a huge part of Clemson's success, even when he's not as his best. The questions revolve more around why he didn't have a big game against an inferior opponent? It's two weeks in a row he's been held under 100 yards and put the ball on the turf, so are defenses doing something particular to stifle him? It feels like the offensive line isn't getting a great push, something Swinney admitted was an issue Saturday but not something he's concerned about. 

The rest of the running backs combined, Clemson averaged under four yards per carry. That's not good, and what happens when they run into a really stout defensive front? That's to be determined. 

Clemson has an unstoppable play

It's not really fair what the Tigers are doing to opposing defenses with Davis Allen. For the second consecutive week, the tight end not named Braden Galloway was left wide open for a touchdown catch. Three of his eight receptions have gone for touchdowns, including a 17-yarder Saturday. 

Clemson is doing a great job of setting teams up with his blocking, and then they'll leak him out down the seam when they catch a safety looking in the wrong spot with an RPO or fake screen. It's so easy, and it's hard to figure out how defenses will defend it until they do. It seems like Allen is good for one big play every game, something Clemson fans have been dying to see from the tight end position for years now. 

The offense can't fake it

Lawrence is a great quarterback. He wasn't great Saturday. The offensive line is one of Swinney's favorites. It wasn't aggressive enough against the Orange. The receivers dropped passes that allowed Syracuse to hang around a little longer than folks were comfortable seeing. 

This offense still scored five touchdowns, but that helped by four turnovers. One turned into a defensive score that negated Lawrence's pick-6. Syracuse didn't actually stop Clemson. Many times the Tigers stopped themselves, but there has to be some concern over an offense that had averaged 5.4 yards per play in 84 snaps. That's not efficient, and the huge chunk plays weren't there. Clemson had three plays go for 10 yards or more. Syracuse had seven. 

That was the biggest thing missing Saturday, and those plays will happen, but it wasn't as easy as it was at Georgia Tech. They can't fake it, and execution still matters. 

Coaches committed to long haul 

Swinney and his staff are as committed as ever to building the team's depth. There was a constant rotation on defense throughout the game. True freshman Tyler Venables, who was a quarterback this time last year at Daniel High School, led the team in tackles. It wasn't in garbage time, either. His first tackle was in the first quarter. 

Jalyn Phillips, Joseph Charleston, Fred Davis and LeVonta Bentley all played meaningful snaps on that side of the ball. Clemson also used six different running backs and had completions to 12 different receivers. 

It was a game that was technically in question in the second half, but the Tigers show they'll play anybody at any point, even if it means not looking like a well-oiled machine. It hurt that four starters were out and forced some guys to grow up, but that's the whole point. Even in a shortened season where lipstick on a pig might be needed more than ever, Clemson is committed to building its team for November and December. Swinney practices what he preaches there.