Clemson Tigers

Clemson Football: 3 things to watch against Syracuse

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Jadar Johnson’s health

The trend of breakout upperclassman on defense has continued in the 2016 season. Jadar Johnson has been a mainstay on the Tigers defense all year. In his first three season at Clemson, Johnson had 36 tackles, 4 ints, 2.5 tfls, and 1 sack. Through eight games this season Johnson has 28 tackles, 6 pass deflections, and 4 interceptions.

In last weekends victory over arch-rival Florida State, Johnson strained a calf muscle. It will be interesting to see how healthy Johnson is for Clemson’s game vs Syracuse. The Orange have the number one ranked passing offense in the ACC averaging 357.1 yards per game. Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey is completing 64.7 percent of his passes for 15 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Jadar Johnson’s presence in the secondary is vital to the Tigers success. Johnson is currently leading the team in interceptions and he is also, by far the most experienced defensive back on the team.

I expect Johnson to play, however, I am not sure if he will be at 100 percent. A calf strain may affect his ability to break on the ball, as well as his overall speed.

Turnovers

Clemson has had an issue with turnovers all season. Deshuan Watson has made errant throws at times and wide receivers are having problems with fumbles. Clemson is currently -1 in turnover margin.

Against Florida State, Deshuan Watson’s two interceptions could have been prevented. The Florida State defensive backs were baiting Watson into making bone head throws. The Seminoles were playing high-low coverage against Mike Williams and Tavarus McFadden jumped Deshuan Watson’s pass. On the other throw FSU defensive back, Marquez White two-played one of Clemson’s route combinations and when Watson went to throw the flag route White undercut the pass.

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The Tigers have let teams back into games with their carelessness, i.e. NC State. If Clemson plays a clean 60 minutes of football they should defeat Syracuse convincingly. Based off of Clemson’s performance thus far this season, I expect the Tigers to continue this trend of turnovers. Syracuse head coach Dino Babers has this Orange team believing. I expect Babers to change up some of his looks defensively to try and confuse Watson.

I am okay with an interception here or there, however, fumbling the football is a lazy mistake. I hope that Clemson will make a better effort to protect the football because that will be their Achilles heal going forward.

Momentum

In order for Syracuse to pull off the upset over Clemson, they have to gain momentum early on. When the Cuse upset Virginia Tech in the Carrier Dome, Babers utilized well timed trick plays.

TRICK [PLAY] or TREAT, @CuseFootball? 🍬🍭🍫

#MustSeeACC 🎃 pic.twitter.com/DLKc9O1qaU

— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) October 31, 2016

Forcing Clemson to turn the ball over will also help Syracuse’s cause, however, if Clemson can strike early they may be able to deflate an outmatched Syracuse squad.

I hope Clemson comes into this one focused. Coming off of a very emotional victory over Florida State, the Tigers cannot afford to overlook this Syracuse team.

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