Clemson football is favored by nearly 50 points of the Syracuse Orange this weekend.
After Clemson football obliterated Georgia Tech last weekend in Atlanta, they are back home in Death Valley, each of the next two weekends and while some may laugh at having to play Syracuse after the Orange got embarrassed by Liberty, they do present a challenge.
We all know that Clemson football’s last regular-season loss was to Syracuse on a weird Friday night kickoff and you can bet Coach Swinney has reminded this team of that loss, even though the roster has nearly turned completely over.
His point will be valid, even as bad as Syracuse is, they still present a challenge and are still capable of pulling the upset of the decade if Clemson does not come ready to play.
All of these players are active on social media and have admitted that see most if not all that is written about them, it is easy for the youngest members of this roster to get caught up and forget about the task at hand.
The toughest opponent that Clemson football has left in the regular season is Clemson football itself.
That sounds cliché and is something that Swinney has preached about for a decade – preparing to a standard instead of preparing for an opponent. However, it is human nature to play down to competition and it happens on every level – pee wee, high school, college, and the NFL. We see it every week.
Syracuse has taken a dramatic turn for the worse since their last win over Clemson football, the Orange have gone just 16-19, despite their recruiting classes improving under head coach Dino Babers. In that same time frame, the Tigers have gone 40-2 and both losses occurred in the College Football Playoffs.
These two teams are headed in opposite directions, which makes the Orange even more dangerous. They have nothing to lose at this point and will throw everything they have at the Tigers. If Clemson isn’t focused at noon on Saturday, it could be a long day in Death Valley.