Clemson Football: 3 takeaways from Week 3 takedown of Syracuse

Clemson football had some sloppy moments, yet still ran away with a five-touchdown victory on Syracuse. What did we learn?

After getting blown out by Maryland last week, Syracuse was hoping to catch top-ranked Clemson off guard in Week 3 and spring a surprise on the defending College Football Playoff national champions. The Carrier Dome has been a house of horrors for Clemson in the recent past, but the Tigers did not suffer any letdown on this visit to upstate New York.

Racking up more than 600 yards of total offense while holding Syracuse to just 187 total yards of offense, Clemson maintained their stranglehold on the top spot in the polls with a runaway 41-6 victory to add a second ACC win to their record early in the season.

While the score indicates a straight-up rout, there were some things that Clemson needs to continue working on correcting as they get deeper into their conference slate. Next week features a chance to get things sharp on the field when Charlotte visits Death Valley.

In the end, a conference win is a conference win, and a 35-point margin of victory is nothing to scoff about. But given there were some issues that remain despite the win, what should the Tigers take away from this victory on the road in conference play? Here are three things we learned, some positive and some less so, from this ACC showdown in primetime.