Clemson Wins Ugly at Syracuse on a Fumble Return
Take away one fumble return and Syracuse wins this game 13-12. That is how thin it was. Clemson beat the Orange 18-13, and the only touchdown the Tigers scored all day was Jahiem Lawson's 22-yard fumble return in the third quarter. The two-point try after it failed, which is why the score reads 18 and not 20.
Everything else Clemson did came off the kicking leg of Nolan Hauser, who made four field goals from 32, 36, 37 and 54 yards. Syracuse answered the first three with two Tripp Woody field goals, from 26 and 46 yards, so the game sat tied twice and Clemson never trailed. Hauser's 54-yarder made it 12-6 at 7:25 of the third, and Lawson's return 46 seconds later made it 18-6. Syracuse did not score again until Steve Angeli found Daunte Bacheyie from 33 yards out with 3:12 left in the fourth. That cut it to 18-13, and it was the last scoring play.
Here is the odd part: Syracuse out-gained Clemson 380 yards to 362. The Orange threw for 263 and ran for 117, Clemson threw for 197 and ran for 165. Both teams lost one fumble and threw one interception, and each sacked the other three times. Syracuse ran 33 times and Clemson 31. Statistically this was a coin flip, and the coin landed on the defensive touchdown.
Clemson moves to 6-3 and Syracuse falls to 4-5. For fantasy, the points were scattered. Bacheyie led everyone with 20.2 on six catches, Bryant Wesco Jr. was next with 17.8 in a game where he somehow also threw a pass (1 for 1, 36 yards), and Angeli finished third even with 18 completions on 40 attempts.