Syracuse football upset of Clemson among gems in Friday’s takeover

Syracuse football sent shockwaves throughout collegiate athletics when it stunned No. 2 Clemson in 2017. Orange fans can relive that moment on Friday.

Syracuse football and other Orange sports are taking over the ACC Network this Friday, so grab your ‘Cuse gear, some popcorn and a spot on the couch to savor a dozen memorable contests that transpired in recent years.

The university’s athletics department has revealed the various Syracuse games that will headline the Orange’s ACC Network takeover on April 24. The full slate is below, and a handful of these encounters are beauties.

The ‘Cuse football team knocked off No. 2 and perennial powerhouse Clemson inside the Carrier Dome, 27-24, on Oct. 13, 2017. An airing of that battle will come at 7 pm, and Syracuse proved the last squad to beat the Tigers in a regular-season meeting.

Per the cuse.com press release, head coach Dino Babers, quarterback Eric Dungey and others will provide commentary on that epic night as part of a pre-game show beginning at 6 pm on the Syracuse Athletics Facebook page. Pretty cool stuff.

But there’s plenty more in store on Friday, including Orange basketball, lacrosse, and soccer. On the men’s basketball side, the ACC Network is showing two ‘Cuse buzzer-beating wins. One occurred on the Hill in 2017, when graduate transfer John Gillon banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to best No. 10 Duke.

Three years earlier, in Syracuse’s first stanza as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Orange jolted out to a 25-0 start. Part of that record-setting beginning for the program came when the ‘Cuse escaped No. 25 Pittsburgh on the road, 58-56, after freshman phenom Tyler Ennis connected on a 35-footer right before the final horn sounded.

Syracuse’s pasting of North Carolina in last month’s ACC Tournament is bittersweet. The Orange absolutely dominated the Tar Heels, 81-53, snapping a nine-affair skid to UNC. That’s the positive. The negative is that, the day after this result, college basketball canceled its conference tournaments, as well as March Madness.

Perhaps the most-thrilling duel that this author has seen in-person happened in early February of 2014 in Central New York. The No. 2 ‘Cuse outlasted the No. 17 Blue Devils, 91-89 in overtime, before a then-NCAA record crowd of 35,446. The Carrier Dome never felt more energetic.

Syracuse women’s basketball notched a tremendous overtime upset of No. 8 Florida State, 90-89, when sophomore Emily Engstler hit on the deciding lay-up at the buzzer inside the Dome on January 2 of this year. The amazing aspect here is that the Seminoles had gone ahead by one point with .6 seconds left.

In men’s lacrosse, the No. 1 Orange pushed its record to 5-0 with a 15-9 throttling of Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. The ‘Cuse finished No. 1 in the major polls, after the season got shut down due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Enjoy this day of Orange Nation in the spotlight!

Syracuse’s ACC Network Takeover Schedule
12:00 am – 2020 Men’s Lacrosse vs. Johns Hopkins
2:00 am – 2019 Football vs. Duke
4:30 am – 2019 Women’s Soccer vs. Colgate
6:30 am – 2020 Men’s Basketball vs. Notre Dame
8:00 am – 2020 Men’s Basketball vs. North Carolina (ACC Tournament)
9:30 am – 2019 Men’s Soccer vs. North Carolina
11:30 am – 2017 Men’s Basketball vs. Duke
1:30 pm – 2014 Men’s Basketball vs. Pittsburgh
3:00 pm – 2015 Men’s Lacrosse vs. Duke (ACC Championship)
5:00 pm – 2020 Women’s Basketball vs. Florida State
7:00 pm – 2017 Football vs. Clemson
10:00 pm – 2014 Men’s Basketball vs. Duke