Clemson football is down 17-14 and doesn’t look like a College Football Playoff contender. The Tigers are on definite upset alert against Syracuse.
There have been defensive gaffes on both sides, and neither team has looked like a juggernaut even in the ACC through the first half of Clemson’s trip to the Carrier Dome to take on Syracuse in Thursday night action. Kelly Bryant slogged his way to an efficient but in the end immobile effort, though Dabo Swinney sought to keep the Tigers in range of remaining undefeated as he kept his quarterback out there way too long.
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Eric Dungey is outdueling Kelly Bryant in the first half. The Syracuse quarterback is 11-of-17 for 193 yards and a pair of first-quarter scores. Dungey has taken advantage of defensive mistakes by the defending national champions to pick up another 25 net yards on the ground. It has been an impressive display by a player hunting for another big upset after taking down Virginia Tech last year.
Both teams are finding it hard to pick up much yardage on the ground, but at least Dungey and his deep group of receivers are finding the holes in Clemson’s rebuilt defense.
Is this the night we see another bout of Clemsoning strike again? The Tigers have blown games in the past that they had no business of losing, and it could ultimately be Swinney’s intransigence to turn the offense over to another talented if inexperienced quarterback that could ultimately doom the Tigers on Thursday night.
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Stay tuned for more, because this game will be one of the biggest upsets of the year if the Orange pull it off in the second half.