The last time No. 1 Clemson came to the Carrier Dome, Syracuse took down the Tigers in one of the biggest upsets in school history.

Nearly two years later, a lot has changed. That same Orange team went on to finish the season with five straight losses, while Clemson lost to Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinals. Last season, with true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence at the helm, the Tigers went 15-0, including a 27-23 home win over Syracuse and a convincing victory over Alabama in the national championship. Meanwhile, SU won 10 games for the first time since 2001, culminating in a Camping World Bowl victory over West Virginia.

But the two teams still head into Saturday’s game trending in opposite directions. Syracuse, ranked in the preseason Top 25 for the first time in two decades, shut out Liberty in its season opener before getting blown out, 63-20, against Maryland last week. On the other hand, the Tigers are still No. 1 and still undefeated.

Here’s what to know about Clemson leading up to its primetime matchup with the Orange.

All-time series: Clemson leads, 5-2

Last time they met: The then-No. 3 Tigers escaped Death Valley with a win against the Orange, who led 23-13 in the fourth quarter before Travis Etienne brought a Clemson comeback. Lawrence was knocked out of the game late in the first half when he was hit on the side of the head during a violent collision with Evan Foster and was replaced by redshirt freshman Chase Brice.

At first it looked like SU, which was undefeated at the time, was primed to upset the Tigers and vault atop the Atlantic Coast Conference, but Etienne blew up the Orange defense for 203 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning score with just 41 seconds left. After going up by 10 points early in the last period, SU never made it past the Clemson 48-yard line.

The Clemson report: The Tigers feature arguably the three best offensive players in the ACC in Lawrence, Etienne and wide receiver Tee Higgins.

Lawrence, a potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, threw for 30 touchdowns and over 3,000 yards last season as a true freshman. He’s looked mortal this year, however, having thrown for three interceptions and just two touchdowns in a pair of Clemson wins thus far.

Etienne, meanwhile, is 10th in the country in rushing yards, including a 12-carry, 205-yard effort against Georgia Tech in the Tigers’ season opener. In his two career games against the Orange, Etienne’s rushed for 271 yards and four touchdowns. The final piece of Clemson’s three-headed monster is Higgins, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound receiver who’s projected to be an early pick in the 2020 NFL draft. The junior totaled 936 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns last season but was held in check by the Orange, who held him to just 53 yards.

While the Tigers lost three defensive linemen to the first round of the draft this year, Clemson still boasts one of the best defenses in the country, headlined by linebacker Isaiah Simmons and cornerback A.J. Terrell. Together, the duo has helped the Tigers hold its first two opponents to just three touchdowns combined so far, including then-No. 12 Texas A&M to just 10 points last week.

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How Syracuse beats Clemson: In order to beat the Tigers, the Orange need to play a near-perfectgame and get a little bit lucky.

First and foremost, Syracuse needs to figure out who its defense really is. The season-opener version that shutout Liberty? Or the overpowered, lost version that let Maryland rack up 650 yards?

One thing that will help SU is the fact that for the first time all season, it’ll have film to prepare its game plan off of. There won’t be surprises and mid-game adjustments that the Terrapins threw at Syracuse last week — instead, the Orange will have a pretty good idea of what the Tigers will be throwing at them. It’s just a matter of stopping them.

Containing Etienne will be key to any hope SU has of slowing down the Clemson offense. Syracuse has to continue to give Lawrence issues, create turnovers and do anything it can to prevent Etienne from running wild on it like he did last year.

Offensively, the Orange need to stop being one-dimensional. While the running game carried the offense in Week 1, it was passing that paced the offense last week. SU needs some consistency on offense, and it needs it this week. That partially stems from the offensive line, which is still a work in progress through two weeks, but won’t be facing the likes of Clelin Ferrell, Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence this season.

To beat Clemson, Syracuse needs to piece together the best aspects of its two games this season and then some. It won’t be easy, but it has been done before.

Stat to know: 1 — The combined score differential of the past two Clemson-Syracuse games.

Two years ago was the major upset, 27-24 in the Carrier Dome. Last year at Clemson it was 27-23, Tigers. It may not make any sense, but there’s something about playing Clemson that makes Syracuse buckle down and play its best football. The spread for Saturday’s game is currently 27.5 in favor of the Tigers as of Wednesday, but that’s not much different than last year’s (24.5) or 2017’s (23.5). A lot of people expect Clemson to blow the Orange out, but recent matchups suggest otherwise.

Player to watch: Trevor Lawrence, quarterback, No. 16.

One of the most feared players in college football, Lawrence capped off his true freshman season last year with arguably his two best games — 327 yards and three touchdowns versus No. 3 Notre Dame, and 347 yards and three touchdowns against No. 1 Alabama. He showed poise and skill for a freshman quarterback that was almost unprecedented, and immediately rose to superstar status. While he hasn’t played up to that potential so far this season, that time is coming for Lawrence. And Syracuse better hope it doesn’t come Saturday.

Published on September 11, 2019 at 10:23 pm

Contact Eric: erblack@syr.edu | @esblack34