00:00We'll turn our attention to the battle in Death Valley, Clemson and Syracuse.
00:05Clemson opened up as a 17.5 point home favorite.
00:08We talked about the dominance in recent years for the Clemson Tigers.
00:13I've only lost six home games dating back to 2015.
00:18They've won six straight over Syracuse coach in the series.
00:22Last four games have been decided by a total of 13 points per game.
00:26They didn't play last year, but played back in 2023.
00:30With Clemson winning that matchup on the road, 31 to 14.
00:35Steve Angelian, that offense can chuck it.
00:37He leads all the FBS with 1,083 passing yards.
00:42Can Clemson respond with a win, but more importantly, a potential cover against the Orange on Saturday?
00:49Yeah, I'm not going to buy the cover now.
00:5217.5.
00:52I've got Syracuse, but I think Clemson can respond.
00:57They have to respond.
00:58A loss here or really an ugly game would really suggest a slot in this football program because right now, you've already got Dabo Sweeney kind of on the – he's backed up against the wall.
01:13He's having to defend himself with his fans.
01:15And, you know, hey, fire me if you want to.
01:17I'll go coach somewhere else kind of stuff.
01:20Well, the point is they just need to play better.
01:23Kate Klebnick has to break out and play like he can play.
01:27They've got to run the ball better when you need to run, and they've got to get the other team off the field.
01:33They haven't been able to get Georgia Tech or other teams off the field.
01:36Those are the things they've got to do.
01:39They've got to play better football.
01:41And if you're going to talk to your fans before the season or during the season that this is a championship caliber team, then it's time to go show it.
01:50And right now against Syracuse, now this is not only a team that leads the nation in passing their quarterbacks number one, but their quarterback last year was number one.
01:59Fran Brown knows what he's doing, and they're a team that can put points on the board.
02:03Absolutely, and a couple of things when we break this game down.
02:07To your point about the Clemson rushing attack, they're only averaging 3.7 yards per carry, but more importantly, coach, only 108 rushing yards per game.
02:17Why is that important heading into this matchup?
02:19You just look at the body of work out of Clemson last year.
02:22They averaged 173 rushing yards per game.
02:26Last year, Kate Klebnick had a fantastic season.
02:28He completed over 60% of his passes, 36 touchdowns, only six interceptions.
02:34He's only completing 59% of his passes this year, only three touchdowns and three interceptions.
02:40He needs the rushing attack to at least stay in manageable third-down situations.
02:45The other factor, coach, going up against Angeli, how affected or how important is this secondary?
02:52Because they're giving up 69% to opposing quarterbacks in completion percentage.
02:58They need a much better effort to not just win, but cover this large number on Saturday.
03:03They sure do, but the defensive secondary cannot do it alone.
03:06They have a very, very talented defensive front.
03:11They have got to shut down the run, so Syracuse is passing in long-yarded situations, and they've got to put pressure on that quarterback.
03:18I really think the defensive front, which was supposed to be the strength of the football team, is who's got to come through and put the secondary in a better situation.
03:28You know, when you don't know if they're going to run or pass, that problem is on the secondary.
03:32But when the defensive front shuts down the running game, puts pressure on the quarterback, now the defensive back can sit back and cover good and make the big play.
03:43And that's what they need to do on defense.
03:45Absolutely. We'll see how that game plays out.
03:49I actually think, Coach, in this type of situation, knowing that they're a home again, they've had lackluster efforts against LSU, where they lost as a four-and-a-half-point home favorite,
04:00lost the game outright, and then did not cover the following week against Troy.
04:04In fact, they trailed 17-0 in the first half of that matchup, won, but didn't cover the 31-and-a-half-point number.
04:12I've got to believe that Clemson gives it its best effort.
04:15It could be a high-scoring affair.
04:17I like over the total, but I would lay it with the Clemson Tigers in this matchup.
04:21Yeah, you and I have talked about that.
04:23I mean, I think Clemson's going to come back and they're going to win,
04:26but they haven't scored over three touchdowns in a game so far this year.
04:30I have yet to see that they have that type of offense, that they are doing the things that they used to do.
04:37I was back at Clemson as an analyst in 2019, and it was kind of like, how many points do we want to score this game?
04:43It was every time I was there.
04:45I mean, we would go there and just, it was like, let's go for 50.
04:47Let's go for 55.
04:49Of course, you had Trevor Lawrence and Etienne, Travis Etienne, but there was a confidence there of how much we were going to score.
04:56As I watched Clemson this year, I'm thinking three touchdowns per game, they've got to improve on that offensive situation.
05:03So, yes, I think they'll come and respond, and then that will allow them a chance to get better every game.
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