Roughly 15 minutes before Dino Babers’ weekly press conference on Monday morning, Clemson announced freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence will make his first career start this Saturday against Syracuse.

Babers said he didn’t know about the switch until hearing about it at the press conference.

“(Lawrence) seems like he’s a very polished thrower,” Babers said. “Obviously he’s young. It will be interesting to see how he does. I would imagine they still play both quarterbacks knowing Dabo, but I mean, it’s his football team.”

Through four games Clemson has split reps for its two quarterbacks with Kelly Bryant throwing six fewer passes than Lawrence. Bryant has completed passes at a higher percentage (36-54 for 461 yards and 2 TD), while Lawrence has thrown for more yards and touchdowns (39-60 for 600 yards and 9 TD).

Whether it’s been Bryant or Lawrence under center, Clemson’s offense has been lethal. The Tigers have scored 28 points or more in each game and average 504.8 yards per game, 20th in the nation.

“They’re really, really good,” Babers said.  “It’s going to take an almost spotless game on our part.”

A year ago, Syracuse defeated Clemson 27-24 in front of 42,475 fans in the Carrier Dome. As the game flipped on then-No. 2 Clemson and the then-starter Bryant left the game early, SU fans lived up to the Loud House nickname of the Dome. After the game, they stormed the field in celebration. On Saturday that won’t be possible, and the opposing environment provides a new challenge for the Orange.

“The biggest difference is that, A, they’re going to be ready to go,” Babers said,” And we’re not going to have our home crowd with us…Two years ago when we went down there we had a lot of difficulties, couldn’t hear. It’s going  to be extremely loud but that’s how it’s supposed to be in a big game when you’re going into somebody’s else’s place.”

Through four games, Clemson is tied for second in the country with 16 sacks. Redshirt junior Clelin Ferrell leads the way for the Tigers with five sacks while Austin Bryant has three and Christian Wilkins has two. Ferrell, Bryant, Wilkins and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence all started for Clemson last year and took up all four spots on the All-ACC preseason team voted on by the media in July.

“It’s going to be difficult,” Babers said.”They’re extremely talented. Their entire front four is going to get drafted, never seen a front four like that before.”

Other notes from the press conference:

• After an apparent left knee injury in Saturday’s win over UConn, Babers said he expects safety Evan Foster “to be ready to go” against Clemson.
• With Ravian Pierce sidelined for the foreseeable future due to an upper body injury, Babers stated that sophomore Aaron Hackett is the second tight end, behind Chris Elmore, with freshman Gabe Horan third. Horan’s lone catch against UConn was a touchdown.
• Babers on Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney: “When you meet him he is exactly what you see on TV.  I think he’s a really cool guy. I think he’s a guy I could hang out with. I think that a lot of our values, I think, are a little bit the same and I have fun watching his team when his team is not playing my team.”

Published on September 24, 2018 at 2:18 pm

Contact Josh: jlschafe@syr.edu | @Schafer_44