CLEMSON, S.C. — Syracuse (3-5, 1-3 Atlantic Coast) couldn’t keep up in a 16-6 loss to No. 21 Clemson (6-2, 5-1) at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night. The game was, in a word, sloppy, and here’s why the Orange ultimately fell behind.

1. Empty-handed

The Syracuse offense gave freshman kicker Cole Murphy a chance to show off his range in the first half, and he responded with two field goals to give the Orange a halftime lead. But SU couldn’t ride Murphy’s leg all night — he also missed a 42-yarder with the Orange barely holding on — and not scoring a touchdown turned into a game-defining problem.

Neither team had a touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter but Cole Stoudt found Stanton Seckinger a step behind Cameron Lynch to give the Tigers a 10-point lead that would hold for the rest of the contest. The SU offense, led by freshman quarterback AJ Long, had no answer. Clemson’s relentless pass rush made sure of that.

2. Bending, bending, breaking

Syracuse’s defense held up its end of the bargain for most of the game — with Seckinger beating Lynch as the lasting blemish on its final line.

Other than that, Syracuse was able to get to Stoudt and despite a handful of spurts by running back Wayne Gallman, was able to hold Clemson’s running attack in check. The Orange had an impressive stop on its own 2 toward the end of the third quarter and forced another field goal a possession later, but finally broke for Seckinger’s game-sealing touchdown catch.

3. Too friendly

Stoudt threw a pass right to SU safety Darius Kelly and it gave the Orange momentum in the third quarter, but Long gave the ball right back on the very next play. Syracuse scored all six of its points off Clemson turnovers, but the three times it turned the ball over hampered quality chances at scoring a touchdown.

That touchdown never came, and keeping the ball just a little bit longer couldn’t have gotten the Orange any further away from the goal line.

Published on October 25, 2014 at 11:36 pm