In the Huddle: Clemson

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EDITOR IN CHIEF

Cover photo and poster photo by Max Freund Staff photogarpher

inside Pure passer

Page 4

Erasing Etienne Syracuse’s defense struggled against the run in

Page 6

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max freund staff photographer

UP TO SPEED

By Josh Schafer

senior staff writer

T

How 300-pound linemen keep pace with Dino Babers uptempo offense

he pace of Dino Babers’ offense didn’t hit Ryan Alexander until his second week at fall camp.

After several days of consecutive practices, he felt his legs tightening up. He wasn’t moving as fast.

Sure, he’d played up-tempo at South Alabama for three years, but that wasn’t Syracuse. And Alexander came to camp around 310 pounds, nearly 20 pounds more than his playing weight at South Alabama last fall. The players ran to the line quicker after each play. Then it happened again. And again. When the Week 1 depth chart was released, Alexander was deemed not ready yet.

“The one thing about tempo is we’re only as fast as our slowest offensive lineman,” Babers said on Aug. 26. “And it’s hard for those big guys to get used to the speed...When you haven’t been in this system, you have

to get used to it.”

The same transition period came with Koda Martin last year, who transferred from an up-tempo offense at Texas A&M but still required a Babers timeout to salvage his beet-red face during his first practice. Syracuse (1-1) averaged 84.3 plays per game last season, the second most in the country, and ranked first in the nation in offensive tempo. So how does a position group whose starters average 309.6 pounds keep pace with one of the fastest offenses in college football?

“It’s definitely hard,” said offensive tackle Carlos Vettorello after the first two starts against Liberty and Maryland. “You see it a lot during those hot summer camp days, [with] the up-tempo we try to keep, it’s hard.”

The linemen agree the most difficult part of being a big man in the Babers offense is the period of adjustment. When Babers’ staff first arrived in 2016, Syracuse had been running one of the slowest offenses in the country under former head coach Scott Shafer. Babers brought

see linemen page 7

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Despite improvement, Syracuse’s passing game is still a

WORK IN PROGRESS

TOMMY DEVITO struggled against Liberty, throwing a pair of picks in the season-opener. But against Maryland, the first-year starter tossed three touchdowns and had over 300 yards in the 63-20 loss. max freund staff photographer

By Andrew Graham senior staff writer

T

ommy DeVito wants to be a passer. His arm is what made him a coveted four-star quarterback recruit out of high school. He wants it to be why he’s successful in college.

But his line through two games as Syracuse’s fulltime starter — 506 yards on 60.8 percent completions, three touchdowns, as many interceptions and fumbles — leaves a lot to be desired.

“We moved the ball a little bit better on offense,” DeVito said after SU’s drubbing at the hands of Maryland, “but we need to be able to execute more in the red zone and I’ll take the blame for that.”

Syracuse’s (1-1) passing offense has been a shell of previous iterations two games into the 2019 season.

DeVito is a stylistic departure from what Eric Dungey brought to the position, and while DeVito and his wideouts adjust to each other, SU’s passing attack has stalled at times. DeVito and his wide receivers are confident they’re inching closer to the second-nature comfort level they seek with their schemes, but slight improvements might not be enough to match up with No. 1 Clemson (2-0) on Saturday night.

“The passing game was definitely better from Week 1 to Week 2,” DeVito said.

Syracuse’s passing game is delicate. It’s carefully orchestrated, made to get at least one person open in space and prompt chaos defensively. Developing route-running consistency takes time and constant repetition. And if any aspect is off — a route run to the wrong depth, a receiver breaking at the wrong time, or the offensive line lapsing — it can blow up a

whole play. In the first three years of Dino Babers’ tenure at SU, the Orange eclipsed 3,000 yards passing with ease every season, averaging nearly 300 yards per game.

Against Liberty, DeVito looked completely out of sync with his receivers. On one play, he tried throwing a corner fade to Taj Harris in the end zone, requiring a lofted ball deep into Harris’ hands.

Instead, DeVito threw it short and shallow, and all Harris could do was spin wildly, deflecting the ball incomplete with a jutted-out hand.

DeVito also pitched two interceptions against the Flames — the first an underthrown deep route to Nykeim Johnson in the end zone and then a ball he tried muscling in to Harris while scrambling.

On both, communication broke down between DeVito and receivers during a scramble drill. When the quarterback is flushed from the pocket, receivers should work back to the ball as the quarterback weighs passing, scrambling or throwing it away. In SU’s first two games, DeVito and his receivers weren’t in lockstep about where he wanted them to go and how long they should expect to keep fighting to get open.

“We watched film on it and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Johnson, DeVito’s intended target at Maryland, said.

Besides bolstering the connection between DeVito and his receivers, the Orange’s offensive line can help improve the passing game. DeVito’s been sacked six times in two games. Even when he’s not been sacked, he’s had to leave the pocket while under duress, often disrupting the looks he expects to get.

Through the spring, summer and fall camp, the Orange spend days repping its passing schemes, cre-

ating a blueprint. But that blueprint’s been bent, broken and sometimes thrown out entirely this season.

DeVito and his wide receivers struggle to overcome the disruption of timing and spacing is at the crux of Syracuse’s problems.

“It’s different when a live defense is out there because the pictures change, defense reacts different ways,” DeVito said. “So it’s better to go against a live defense that doesn’t know what’s coming.”

Some of it is solved through film, identifying situational preferences for DeVito and the pass catchers so they know what to do in the future. The rest is rapport.

DeVito and his wideouts don’t have the same connection Dungey developed with his at the end of his senior season. Some targets like Harris, Johnson and Trishton Jackson are still relative newcomers.

Senior Sean Riley has only played with DeVito sparingly in his two starts this season and spot action in 2018. They all say it’s a matter of repetition and time to start clicking.

Johnson, who is close friends with DeVito, noted that their connection is beginning to manifest. He and DeVito can communicate checks by looking each other in the eyes at the line of scrimmage, he said.

“Tommy gives us signals that you can’t see on TV,” Johnson said. “He directs traffic with his eyes.

With his feet. Sometimes we just connect in the game. That’s all it’s about.”

The Orange looked better connected against Maryland, but a one-game sample is nothing certain. SU’s offensive may keep improving on its current arc, but it’ll need a massive leap to have a chance at beating Clemson. aegraham@syr.edu | @A_E_Graham

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UPHILL BATTLE

Against Travis Etienne, SU looks to fix run defense

By Eric Black

senior staff writer

B

y the time Syracuse safety Evan Foster realized his mistake, it was too late.

Maryland running back Javon Leake zoomed past him, streaking upfield. Foster stumbled backward in an attempt to get back into the play but wound up falling to his stomach. Fifty-five yards in front of him, Leake breezed into the end zone, untouched, for the Terps’ seventh touchdown of the game.

The play came right after the halftime break, one in which the Orange defense likely spent talking about how Maryland had just torn through it, specifically on the ground.

Any adjustments SU made before the start of the third quarter were unapparent, as Leake’s run was reminiscent of SU’s struggles against the run all game.

By the end of the 63-20 massacre, Syracuse (1-1) had allowed the Terrapins to run for 354 yards, the most the Orange have allowed since 2017. On Saturday, No. 1 Clemson (2-0) comes to the Carrier Dome, along with its star running back, Travis Etienne. Considered a Heisman candidate by many, Etienne led the Tigers to a comeback win over Syracuse last season, scorching the Orange for 203 yards and three touchdowns in the process. “[Etienne is] big, he’s fast, he’s smart, he’s a really good blocker, he’s a really good receiver,” Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said on Monday. “He’s an NFL player in college football.”

When Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence went down during last season’s matchup and Syracuse took control of the game, the Tigers turned to Etienne down 23-13 early in the fourth quarter. On Clemson’s first possession of the quarter, Etienne took three carries for 44 yards and capped off the drive with a

TRAVIS ETIENNE rushed for 203 yards against Syracuse last season, scoring three touchdowns in the four-point Clemson win. daily orange file photo

26-yard touchdown.

He carried the ball five more times on the Tigers’ final possession, eventually finishing off a 13-play, 94-yard drive with another touchdown that gave Clemson the lead with 41 seconds left.

Etienne ultimately finished with 27 carries, 10 of which came during the fourth quarter.

“They just kept handing him the ball,” Babers said of Etienne following the contest.

“We knew what they were going to do, but we couldn’t slow him down.”

One of the reasons Syracuse struggled to contain him was missed tackles, similar to their issues last week against Maryland. Often times against the Tigers in 2018, SU defenders

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would put themselves in the right positions but couldn’t complete the play.

Versus the Terrapins, the Orange lacked in both aspects. Poor reads on RPOs and blocking schemes led to poor positioning while taking defenders out of plays before they even developed. Maryland’s running backs were able to extend plays and gain extra yardage, which specifically hurt Syracuse in third down situations.

“The biggest issues are the tiny mistakes,” said Mikel Jones, a true freshman. “If we don’t make those mistakes at the beginning of the play, we’ll be able to get lined up and put ourselves in better positions to make those tackles so we don’t have to reach and have arm tackles.”

There were numerous instances on Saturday in which Jones and his fellow linebackers guessed wrong on a read, leading to poor positioning and the potential for a big play. Other times, it was the defenders risk-taking during the plays that led to long gains, as the Terps had five runs for 20 yards or more. Etienne is known for his ability to break off long runs, with carries of 75, 70 and 62 yards last season.

In Clemson’s opener, Etienne tied the Clemson record with a 90-yard run against Georgia Tech. The same issues that plagued Syracuse against Maryland doomed the Yellow Jackets on the play, as a false step by a GT defensive lineman and a missed tackle allowed Etienne to break loose.

“When there is a big play or an explosive play, it’s because somebody wasn’t doing their job,” SU defensive end Kendall Coleman said last week.

Jones attributed some of the struggles to not staying calm enough during the course of the game despite being prepared. Babers explained on Monday that while there was no problem with his defense’s effort against the Terrapins, too often players just wound up “in the wrong place.”

On Saturday, Syracuse’s defense can’t afford the mental mistakes and errors that it committed against Maryland. The costly misreads. The missed arm tackles. They won’t hold up against players of Etienne’s caliber.

Against Clemson, the Orange need to tighten up the holes in their defense. Sometimes, it’s as simple as going right at them.

“We just gotta hit ‘em in the mouth,” SU linebacker Lakiem Williams said. “There’s really nothing else to say to it. When the game comes and we have Clemson, we’re just gonna do what we do.” erblack@syr.edu | @esblack34

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football

A look at the Carrier Dome’s new concession locations

By Michael McCleary senior staff writer

S

yracuse Athletics introduced 12 concessions locations to the Carrier Dome for the first unveiling of the proposed Carrier Dome renovations. Among the new vendors are The Tomato Wheel, Salt City Popcorn and Loud House Grill.

Here’s a full rundown of the options.

The Tomato Wheel

Associate athletic director for business development Anthony Di Fino joked that pizza vendor The Tomato Wheel was successful in its “tryout” for the Dome’s new selection.

It was popular among students after being added to SU’s Schine Student Center. In addition to the nachos grande, hot dogs and jumbo pretzels found at a number of other vendors, the location serves specialty pizza for $5.50 a slice.

Salt City Popcorn

One of the new vendors in the Dome, Salt City Popcorn will offer traditional buttered popcorn as well as specialty flavors. Di Fino said SU Athletics will get fan feedback to determine what new flavors to add to the mix. They will collect the data from surveys sent out to all ticket-buyers after games. Di Fino said fan feedback will determine a lot of things regarding the food, including specialty slices at The Tomato Wheel.

Super Nachos

The nacho vendor is a walking taco concept

where Di Fino said fans will have the ability to customize their order. Nachos grande, which had been sold at the Dome previously, is also sold at Super Nachos.

Loud House Grill

Drawing inspiration from the Dome’s nickname, “The Loud House,” Loud House Grill is the stop for tradition stadium food such as hot dogs, sausage sandwiches, burgers and more. Chicken fingers are sold at the location adjacent to Gate B, and the Gate E location replaces the side of fries with kettle cooked potato chips.

Dome Dogs

Dome Dogs, other than snacks, treats and items sold at most concessions stops, sells little else than traditional hot dogs. A hot dog is $4.25 and a 1/2 pound beef dog is $5.50. Fans can add sauerkraut for an extra $1.50.

Beverage Express

The Carrier Dome is one of the few college sports venues that serves alcohol in concessions. In addition to Loud House Grill, Beverage Express, next to The Tomato Wheel locations, is where fans would find alcoholic drinks, including wine slushies.

Orange Express

This kiosk-style vendor is a result of fan surveys that said the Dome’s concessions lacked healthy food options, Di Fino said. SU Food Services wraps, salads and a number of other snacks are available. mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary

Syracuse Athletics introduced 12 new dining options at the Carrier Dome, including Salt City Popcorn and the Loud House Grill. michael mccleary senior staff writer

football

Opponent preview: What to know before Syracuse-Clemson

By Eric Black

senior staff writer

The last time No. 1 Clemson came to the Carrier Dome, Syracuse took down the Tigers in one of the biggest upsets in school history.

Nearly two years later, a lot has changed.

That same Orange team went on to finish the season with five straight losses, while Clemson lost to Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinals. Last season, with true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence at the helm, the Tigers went 15-0, including a 27-23 home win over Syracuse and a convincing victory over Alabama in the national championship.

But the two teams still head into Saturday’s game trending in opposite directions. Syracuse, ranked in the preseason Top 25 for the first time in two decades, shut out Liberty in its season opener before getting blown out, 63-20, against Maryland last week. On the other hand, the Tigers are still No. 1 and still undefeated.

Here’s what to know about Clemson leading up to its primetime matchup with the Orange.

All-time series: Clemson leads, 5-2

Last time they met: The then-No. 3 Tigers escaped Death Valley with a win against the Orange, who led 23-13 in the fourth quarter before Travis Etienne brought a Clemson comeback. Lawrence was knocked out of the game late in the first half when he was hit on the side of the head during a violent collision with Evan Foster and was replaced by redshirt freshman Chase Brice. from page 3

linemen speed to a new system, but as redshirt senior Evan Adams said, “It was just a taste.”

The offense started running 110 snaps a practice. Then 120. 130. Eventually reaching 140, 75% more snaps than the 80 SU hopes to reach in a game.

That grace period Babers allowed before is over now though, and this year three players — Vettorello, Alexander and Dakota Davis — are rotating into starting roles. With redshirt junior Sam Heckel out and Airon Servais moving from tackle to center, the opportunity for Alexander and Vettorello to split duties has vanished, forcing Alexander into regular playing time less than a month since he started

At first it looked like SU, which was undefeated at the time, was primed to upset the Tigers and vault atop the Atlantic Coast Conference, but Etienne blew up the Orange defense for 203 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning score with just 41 seconds left. After going up by 10 points early in the last period, SU never made it past the Clemson 48-yard line.

its first two opponents to just three touchdowns combined so far, including then-No. 12 Texas A&M to just 10 points last week.

How Syracuse beats Clemson

The Tigers feature arguably the three best offensive players in the ACC in Lawrence, Etienne and wide receiver Tee Higgins.

Lawrence, a potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, threw for 30 touchdowns and over 3,000 yards last season as a true freshman.

He’s looked mortal this year, however, having thrown for three interceptions and just two touchdowns in a pair of Clemson wins thus far.

Etienne, meanwhile, is 10th in the country in rushing yards, including a 12-carry, 205yard effort against Georgia Tech in the Tigers’ season opener. In his two career games against the Orange, Etienne’s rushed for 271 yards and four touchdowns. The final piece of Clemson’s three-headed monster is Higgins, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound receiver who’s projected to be an early pick in the 2020 NFL draft. The junior was held in check by the Orange, who held him to just 53 yards.

Clemson still boasts one of the best defenses in the country, headlined by linebacker Isaiah Simmons and cornerback A.J. Terrell.

Together, the duo has helped the Tigers hold

In order to beat the Tigers, the Orange need to play a near-perfect game and get a little bit lucky.

First and foremost, Syracuse needs to figure out who its defense really is. The seasonopener version that shutout Liberty? Or the overpowered, lost version that let Maryland rack up 650 yards?

One thing that will help SU is the fact that for the first time all season, it’ll have film to prepare its game plan off of. There won’t be surprises and mid-game adjustments that the Terrapins threw at Syracuse last week — instead, the Orange will have a pretty good idea of what the Tigers will be throwing at them. It’s just a matter of stopping them.

Containing Etienne will be key to any hope SU has of slowing down the Clemson offense.

Syracuse has to continue to give Lawrence issues, create turnovers and do anything it can to prevent Etienne from running wild on it like he did last year.

Offensively, the Orange need to stop being one-dimensional. While the running game carried the offense in Week 1, it was passing that paced the offense last week. SU needs some consistency on offense, and it needs it this week. That partially stems from the offensive line, which is still a work in progress through two weeks, but won’t be facing the

practicing with the Orange.

Alexander’s trying to adjust his new body weight, which floats around 305 pounds, hoping to get leaner since he arrived at Syracuse.

That was the case for Adams who’s gained about 20 pounds — he currently weighs 352 — and Servais who dropped approximately 20 pounds between this season and last.

Their goal is to be lean, which is different than linemen in other college offenses.

Wisconsin’s offensive line has an average weight of 319, 10 pounds more than Syracuse. No lineman on the Badgers first or second team weighs under 300 pounds, but in 2018 they ran 15 less plays than Syracuse on average.

For SU’s big men, maintaining their body weight even while sweating a lot is specific

for each player. Alexander shoots for 3,000 to 4,000 calories a day. Adams has pretty much cut out fast food, though he’s still interested in Popeyes’ new chicken sandwich. Vettorello was loyal to large portions of grilled chicken, broccoli and brown rice while Servais claims he can eat whatever he wants since his metabolism is so fast.

“If I eat good before I go out to practice I’ll be fine,” Alexander said. “It only hits you when you don’t do the proper things to fuel your body to get you through practice.”

Part of the linemen’s ability to lug around the field for more than 80 plays is created from assistant athletics director for athletic performance Sean Edinger, Servais said. They lift heavy but also have days where they lower the weight and emphasize

The Clemson report

likes of Clelin Ferrell, Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence this season.

To beat Clemson, Syracuse needs to piece together the best aspects of its two games this season and then some. It won’t be easy, but it has been done before.

Stat to know: 1

The combined score differential of the past two Clemson-Syracuse games.

Two years ago was the major upset, 27-24 in the Carrier Dome. Last year at Clemson it was 27-23, Tigers. It may not make any sense, but there’s something about playing Clemson that makes Syracuse buckle down and play its best football. The spread for Saturday’s game is currently 27.5 in favor of the Tigers as of Wednesday, but that’s not much different than last year’s (24.5) or 2017’s (23.5). A lot of people expect Clemson to blow the Orange out, but recent matchups suggest otherwise.

Player to watch: Trevor Lawrence, quarterback, No. 16

One of the most feared players in college football, Lawrence capped off his true freshman season last year with arguably his two best games — 327 yards and three touchdowns versus No. 3 Notre Dame, and 347 yards and three touchdowns against No. 1 Alabama. While he hasn’t played up to that potential so far this season, that time is coming for Lawrence. And Syracuse better hope it doesn’t come Saturday. erblack@syr.edu | @esblack34

exploding out of a squat while sitting on a box. Servais credited some of the conditioning runs as well, noting they’re designed to “make the offense go,” but doesn’t want to reveal their specifics.

Regardless, after ballooning to more than 300 pounds a few seasons ago, Servais is now at 273 and has added six inches to his vertical.

He estimates he’d run his 40-yard dash .3 seconds faster. The mix, strong yet nimble, may not work in other offensive systems predicated on a power run scheme.

But this is Syracuse, and the Orange want to be the new fast.

“We just got to be able to run,” Servais said.

“And you just got to be able to handle the load that we take.” jlschafe@syr.edu | @Schafer_44

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Beat writers predict Syracuse to lose by multiple touchdowns

By The Daily Orange Sports Staff

Chase Brice’s 4th-and-6 completion and Clemson’s game-winning touchdown drive in the final minute of last season’s meeting propelled the Tigers past Syracuse, 27-23. The Orange upset Clemson in the Carrier Dome in 2017, and nearly pulled off a second consecutive upset last year at Clemson.

This season, Clemson is No. 1, and the Orange were just pummeled, 63-20, against Maryland.

Here’s what our beat writers predict will happen when No. 1 Clemson visits Syracuse on Saturday night:

Eric Black (1-1) Orange Paper Tigers Clemson 38, Syracuse 24

After last week’s embarrassing loss to Maryland, SU head coach Dino Babers said he knew his defense wasn’t as bad as it appeared versus the Terps, but also wasn’t as good as it looked in the season opener.

Rather, the Syracuse defense is somewhere in between and still, Babers hopes, one of the strengths of the team. It’ll need to play up to its potential against the Tigers, and even then, that may not be enough for the Orange to pull off the upset. That’s not to say it won’t be close, though. There’s something about playing Clemson that prompts SU to play its best football, as evidenced by the last two matchups. I think we’ll see more of the same through the first two or three quarters but between the talent disparity and Syracuse not playing great football right now, the Tigers should pull away late.

Andrew Graham (1-1) Regression No. 1 Clemson 38, Syracuse 17

For two-straight seasons, Syracuse punched way above its weight class, beating and then almost upsetting again, the Clemson Tigers when the two met on the football field. Of

course, we all know the last time Clemson played in the Carrier Dome, the Orange pulled a stunning upset. We saw them last season almost do the same in Death Valley.

But this year, it seems unlikely, almost impossible, that SU gives the Tigers a third close game. Will it be a 54-0 drubbing like 2016, when Eric Dungey got knocked out?

Doubt it. (An aside: The last three matchups, one team has lost its starting quarterback for the remainder of the game every time.)

But there’s a reality to be addressed here.

While Syracuse has grown in leaps and bounds, we saw last weekend how there’s still a ways to go. And Clemson looks as dominant as ever. While the Orange won’t get blown out, they won’t make it particularly close. It’s a regression to the mean.

Josh Schafer (1-1) Outmatched Clemson 41 Syracuse 20

Last year Syracuse stayed with Clemson for three quarters, even leading by 10 points in the final frame, but couldn’t hang with the Tigers in the fourth quarter. This season, as Clemson rolls out a two-deep full of fourand five-star recruits, could be remarkably similar. Clemson doesn’t have the defensive line it’s had in the past, but what it returns on offense in two potential Heisman candidates at quarterback and running back is just as lethal. Running back Travis Etienne exposed a new group of Syracuse linebackers last season to the tune of 203 rushing yards, and with 258 through two games, Saturday could be a repeat of last year. After 63 points allowed against Maryland, the likes of Trevor Lawrence and Etienne are a tough transition for the Orange. Syracuse’s offense showed glimpses of promise last week. With the largest crowd the Orange have had in years, Syracuse can stay with Clemson early, but as the game wears on, the Tigers just have too much top level talent for SU to hang on.

The last time Clemson played in the Carrier Dome, the then-No. 2 team lost to the Orange. Last season, Syracuse lost in the final minutes. daily orange file photo

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Adult Tap Dance Class Classes led by professional teacher and choreographer Barry Shulman.

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September 17, 24 october 15, 22, 29 November 5, 12, 19, 26 December 3, 10

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9. 13. 19 2-5PM MUSIC | GIVEAWAYS | FOOD 505 WALNUT AVE SYRACUSE NY 13210

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