Syracuse (3-6, 1-4 Atlantic Coast) is coming off a 41-17 loss at Louisville on Saturday and is riding a six-game losing streak, its longest since 2005. The Orange has allowed more than 40 points in four of its last five games and will host No. 1 Clemson (9-0, 6-0) in the Carrier Dome on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on ABC or ESPN2.

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The Challenge Ahead

Syracuse is 0-9 against ranked teams in Scott Shafer’s nearly three seasons as head coach. Clemson, meanwhile, is the nation’s top team and most recently defeated Florida State 23-13, a team that beat the Orange the prior week 45-21. In two seasons in the ACC, SU has lost twice to the Tigers by a combined score of 65-20.

Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson leads the conference in total offense with 2,322 yards. Running back Wayne Gallman is fifth in the ACC in all-purpose yards with 115.1 yards per game while wide receiver Artavis Scott is eighth with 102.9. The Tigers also have the fifth best defense in the country allowing just 287.3 yards per game.

Standstill

Syracuse’s two-deep depth chart had no changes for the second consecutive week. After being a starter for the first seven games of the season, senior cornerback Julian Whigham remains listed as a backup. He did not play against Louisville on Saturday and was not listed on the team’s injury report.

Injury report

Freshman quarterback Eric Dungey suffered a head injury with 4:21 left in the fourth quarter against Louisville and left the game. It’s unknown whether or not he’ll play against Clemson and Shafer said on Monday, “We’ll take it one day at a time,” in his weekly Cuse.com video.

Four players — cornerback Corey Winfield (lower body), linebacker Parris Bennett (upper body), defensive end Luke Arciniega (upper body) and wide receiver Sean Avant (lower body) — missed the Louisville game due to injury. Their statuses going forward is unknown

Published on November 9, 2015 at 5:51 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds