Clemson Football: 3 takeaways from pull-away win over Syracuse

Clemson football scored 20 unanswered points to pull away from the Syracuse Orange 47-21 at home. What did we learn from this one?

Any time you win a game by 67 points and your next opponent has just one win, the betting line will inevitably be huge. It should come as a surprise to no one that the Clemson Tigers were were a huge favorite to win their home game today against the Syracuse Orange, even if a whopping 48 points favored them.

Maybe the line was a bit high, but Clemson has been dominant all season. The offense has been humming like the engine on a ’69 Camaro and just as potent. On Saturday, however, the offense took some time to get going. Sometimes, the offense needs a pick-me-up from the defense. Elite teams are often capable of dominating one phase of the game when the others are not working so well.

Clemson’s offense was pedestrian — by Clemson’s standards — and the defense carried the day for the Tigers forcing four turnovers, including a scoop and score for Andrew Booth in the third quarter take the momentum from the Orange for good.

For Syracuse, it was another loss and another game in which the passing attack was ineffective. Syracuse quarterback Rex Culpepper was on the run most of the game, throwing three interceptions ending the game with a quarterback rating of 34.8.

Although Syracuse ran for 150 yards on the ground, 61 yards came on one carry from Nykeim Johnson.

Here are three takeaways from Clemson’s win against Syracuse.