Clemson Football: 3 keys to victory vs. Syracuse in Week 3

Clemson football takes on the Syracuse Orange on the road at the Carrier Dome. Here’s what the Tigers must do to escape with a win.

This game has lost much of its preseason luster because Syracuse has looked bad early in the season.

They were average against the Liberty Flames on the road to open the season. That game could somewhat be forgiven since it was a 6 p.m. ET kickoff in Lynchburg, Va., at Williams Stadium. You wait around all day to play in Lynchburg, and that’s no disrespect to the Flames or Williams Stadium but you aren’t exactly playing at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami or Doak-Campbell in Tallahassee.

Week 2, however, was a complete head-scratcher. Losing to Maryland might be an upset, but not exactly a shocker. Surrendering 42 first-half points on the way to a 63-20 drubbing to the Terrapins was the shocker. In the words of the great Jim Mora the Orange “couldn’t do diddly-poo” against the Terrapins. Did anyone see that coming?

Clemson, on the other hand, is firing on all cylinders. The Tigers dominated — as they should have — the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. They invited Texas A&M to “Death Valley East” and outclassed the Aggies 24-10. It seems as if the Tigers have a clear upper hand in this one, but Syracuse has played Clemson tough the last few years, so that’s why you play the game.

If the Tigers want the road win, here are three keys.