Clemson Football: 3 bold predictions vs. Syracuse in Week 5

Clemson football is looking for revenge against a suddenly-hot Syracuse team in Week 5, but will the Tigers take care of the Orange?

There will be a different feeling in Clemson, S.C., this weekend as Kelly Bryant will no longer be the starting quarterback and a new era has taken shape for Dabo Swinney and the Tigers.

After seemingly losing his starting job to freshman sensation Trevor Lawrence, Bryant made the decision to transfer from the program despite leading the Tigers to the College Football Playoff a year ago. He just wasn’t the best option under center and like Jalen Hurts of Alabama, he found himself on the losing end of a surging underclassman ready to fight for his job.

The Tigers will host an upset-hungry Syracuse team which pulled off the shocker a year ago in the Carrier Dome, taking down Bryant and Clemson. Revenge is on the docket, but will the Tigers be able to remain focus on the task at hand?

It’s time to see what Lawrence is made of. Will the Tigers exact revenge in Week 5?

3. Travis Etienne breaks out for 150-plus yards

After a slow start to his sophomore season, Travis Etienne has caught fire in recent weeks, recording two straight 100-yard games against Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech.

That momentum will carry over into this one as he’ll rush for over 150 yards for the second time in three games, taking advantage of a run defense that hasn’t yet faced a running back of his caliber — though Cam Akers was relatively close but was held to 10 carries against the Orange.

Etienne will have his best game of the season and he’ll average over 10 yards per carry for the third game in a row. If that’s not enough to give this kid confidence heading into the meaty part of the schedule, I don’t know what is.

As a freshman, he had five carries for 68 yards and a touchdown in the loss to the Orange and he’ll make sure that upset doesn’t happen again.