Late in the second quarter, Clemson’s freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence rolled out to his left and took off down the sideline. As Syracuse defensive end Josh Black tripped Lawrence from behind, Syracuse’s Evan Foster pummeled Lawrence and the freshman wouldn’t come back for the rest of the game.

After senior quarterback Kelly Bryant announced his transfer earlier this week, Clemson was forced to use redshirt freshman quarterback Chase Brice. But led by a heavy run game — the Tigers rushed for 293 yards— Clemson (5-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) stormed back and defeated Syracuse (4-1, 1-1), 27-23, on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

Here are three fast reactions from Syracuse’s near upset.

So close

Syracuse opened its first drive of the fourth quarter with a touchdown. It led by 10. Then, everything fell apart and Clemson running back Travis Etienne took over.

On Clemson’s next drive, Etienne ripped off a 17-yard rush and broke loose down the right side for a 26-yard touchdown. As he broke through the right side, the sophomore running back shook off diving attempts from both Ryan Guthrie and Andre Cisco.

On Clemson’s final drive, one which took more than five minutes and traveled 94 yards, Etienne sealed the game. From the Syracuse two-yard line, he ran untouched to the right side of the line and into the end zone, sealing SU’s fate.

Dungey doing Dungey

On national television, against a defense which ranks in the top 20 in both yards and points allowed per game, Eric Dungey threw for 250 yards while rushing for two touchdowns.

After spending the season’s first four weeks ranked 10th in ESPN’s Heisman Watch, Dungey pulled through against more high-end competition.

On fourth and goal from the one-yard line, Dungey took the snap from the one-yard line. He rushed to the left and leapt but didn’t reach the endzone. His second effort would though. The senior quarterback waved toward the corner of the endzone as he and the SU fans celebrated a 23-13 SU lead.

Role reversal

On Brice’s second pass of the game, Kendall Coleman stuck his helmet under the redshirt freshman quarterback’s chin. Steps earlier, Coleman fooled Clemson left tackle Mitch Hyatt. The junior defensive end jab-stepped left before bouncing outside and running straight through Brice.

Early in the game in the second quarter, Chris Slayton broke through the middle of Clemson’s offensive line. Pushing his man aside with a hard punch to the shoulder, he broke into the backfield and sank Trevor Lawrence.

Syracuse finished with four sacks and six tackles for loss.

Published on September 29, 2018 at 3:33 pm

Contact Josh: jlschafe@syr.edu | @Schafer_44