Syracuse Football Report Card: Here’s how SU performed vs Clemson

The Syracuse football team got the biggest win in the 21st century. ITLH breaks down how the team performed on their weekly report card here.

The Syracuse football team pulled off the unthinkable Friday night in the Dome upsetting another blue-blood ACC power program and defending national champions in the Clemson Tigers. Eric Dungey was everywhere Friday night making plays with his arm and his feet.

The play that really told me that Syracuse was going to be in this game until the end, came when Dungey scrambled for 45-yards down the sideline on the Orange’s second drive of the quarter, after Clemson had tied the game at 17. This was a huge play and returned whatever momentum that had been lost after Clemson tied the game. Two plays after the run, Dungey showed off his arm and hit Steve Ishmael for a 30-yard TD on a perfectly placed ball and the Orange regained the lead.

Dungey threw for two more touchdowns to Dontae Strickland and Ervin Philips, and was involved in all seven of Syracuse’s plays of over more than 20 yards. Ravian Pierce once again had a good game at tight end catching four passes for 68 yards and Jamal Custis returned from injury to catch a pass for 15 yards.

The story of the game really was all about third down efficiency for Syracuse on both offense and defense. The Orange converted on third down 8 times out of 19. Conversely on defense held Clemson to just 2 conversions on 11 tries. On fourth down Syracuse once again was excellent converting on their only two tries and stopping Clemson the one time they tried to convert.

This is a marquee win that will hopefully lead to the Syracuse getting commits from the athletes necessary in order to become a successful team in the ACC. I’m also very happy for the seniors who never experienced a bowl game or that much success in their time here. Guys like Zaire Franklin, Parris Bennett, Steve Ishmael, Jamar McGloster, and Erv Philips all have had great individual careers but not much success to show for it in the win and loss column.

Syracuse’s upset was a combination of great coaching and great on the field play. Dino Babers and his staff had the team ready and prepared. Let’s see what players stepped up for Syracuse and propelled the Orange to their biggest upset since 1984.

Strickland’s time spent at running back over the past two seasons certainly has come with quite a bit of criticism. The New Jersey native has really struggled to get much going on the ground over the past two seasons.

Last year Strickland had just one game where he rushed for more than 100 yards and up to this point this year he still has not eclipsed that 100 yard mark. With that being said, last week against Pittsburgh, Strickland rushed for 80 yards and against Clemson he racked up 79 tough yards on the ground. Strickland carried the ball 19 times good for about four yards per carry.

I was one of the people who has been critical of Strickland in the past, but this year I am starting to see definite improvements in both him and the Syracuse offensive line. Last year and in the beginning part of this season Strickland certainly has not had big holes to run through, but he often times was doing too much dancing.

Over the past two games, the New Jersey native has run with purpose, putting his head down and running people over when he hits a hole. This is a massive improvement for Strickland who hopefully now realizes that running hard can earn you an extra two or three yards a run.

I think we are starting to see what Dino Babers wants out of his running game. They just need to be a threat, to keep the opposing defense honest and allow Syracuse’s passing game to make plays. The powerful running back is also a threat in the passing game and has been his whole career here.

His big play against Clemson came in the first quarter when Strickland caught a screen pass, broke the tackle of Clemson corner Mark Fields and turned up field taking it to the house for a 23-yard touchdown. This play came on the opening drive of the game and really set the tone that Syracuse was going to give Clemson a battle all night.

Give Strickland a ton of credit, the kid is battling and if he can make the opposing defense respect the Syracuse run game, the offense will be really fun to watch.

Two weeks ago I said that Dungey needed to step up, find a way to score points early on in the games so Syracuse could get off to a lead. Well, Dungey certainly has responded in a big way. He led Syracuse right down the field and connected with Strickland to score on the Orange’s opening drive.

Throughout the entire game Dungey was in total control, making great decisions and leading a Syracuse offense that gained 440 yards of total offense. He would also find Philips and Ishmael for touchdowns of 66 yards and 30 yards respectively.

On the day, Dungey finished 20 of 32 for 278 yards and three touchdowns. This is a great performance through the air, and then couple that with no turnovers and 61 big rush yards, Dungey had a great performance. In terms of overall offense at the quarterback position, there aren’t many better than Dungey at the division one level.

Just take a moment to think about this:

The Oregon native is up there with college football’s elite quarterbacks in terms of total yards, touchdowns, and turnovers over his last 12 full games. Sam Darnold and Mason Rudolph and both supposed to be taken early in this year’s upcoming draft and it just goes to show how great of a playmaker Dungey really is.

Arguably the biggest play of the game occurred on third and eight with 1:40 left to go. Syracuse needed a first down or it would give the ball back to Clemson, and give them a chance to tie the game with a field goal. Dungey got the snap and hesitated just enough to make it seem like he was going to throw, then he took off on a quarterback draw gaining extending the ball past the first down marker, securing a Syracuse win. This is a play that winners make and after that it is was jubilation in the Dome.

Chris Slayton has developed into quite a nice defensive front player for Syracuse. He is definitely the best defensive lineman on Syracuse and projects to play on Sundays in the future. But let’s

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cherish Slayton while we have him.

Slayton demands a double team from opposing teams up front. He is a combination of quick, as he was recruited as a defensive end initially, and strong, as he is a well documented freak in the weight room. This is a guy that gets two ACC offensive linemen blocking him almost every single play allowing for other defensive linemen and blitzing linebackers to get to the quarterback or running back creating those tackles for loss.

The Illinois native had been relatively quiet up until now this season. Syracuse needed a lot of their better players to really step up in order to beat Clemson and Slayton was one that did. The 315-pound big man had three big tackles, one sack for a loss of four yards, and delivered the knockout blow to Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant.

Although Slayton only recorded the one sack, he tackled Bryant once more early on in the game on a third down situation where Bryant was scrambling out of the pocket. On the season now, Slayton has recorded 4.5 tackles for loss and a total of 18 yards lost. He has 17 tackles on the season but his presence up front means much more for Syracuse than his actual stats.

This guy will be a huge key for Syracuse in games to come. He is a guy that clogs lanes and does all the dirty work that allows guys like Zaire Franklin and Parris Bennett to shoot gaps and makes plays in the backfield.

I don’t know how voters will be able to keep Bennett off of the first team All-ACC squad. The senior is by far the best player on Syracuse’s defense and his progression at Syracuse has been a pleasure to watch.

Over the past few seasons, Syracuse has had some great linebackers like Cam Lynch, Doug Hogue, Derrell Smith, among others. In my personal opinion, Bennett is having the best single season out of all of those guys. He now has 65 total tackles on the season, good for third most in the ACC. In addition to all the tackles he leads Syracuse in tackles for loss at 6.5 for 21 total yards lost.

Bennett is an excellent blitzing linebacker and although he only has one sack on the season, he has five quarterback hurries, by far the most on the team. The three-year starter had nine tackles against Clemson breaking his streak of having more than 10 tackles or more in three straight games. In addition to the tackles, Bennett had a sack for a loss of eight yards in a situation where Syracuse’s defense needed a big stop.

Bennett’s ability to pursue the run relentlessly in addition to his ability to cover tight ends and running backs in the slot are what makes him so valuable for Syracuse. He made a really nice open field tackle on a third and 10 situation against Clemson’s Trevion Thompson. The next play Clemson’s kicker Alex Spencer missed the first of two field goals on the day.

Next: Syracuse Football: Clemson win is more than just a W on schedule

Zaire Franklin is the unquestioned leader of the Syracuse defense but there’s no doubt who Robin to his Batman is. Bennett is probably a better overall player than Franklin and I really would like to see the leading tackler on Syracuse get rewarded for his play.