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The Clemson Tigers continue to surpass expectations as they look to get back to the College Football Playoff in order to defend their national title. Last week was a bit of a letdown for the Tigers as they failed to cover the spread against a pesky Wake Forest team, but this week’s showdown looks to be full of fireworks. Clemson will be traveling north to face the Syracuse Orange, one of the most annoying teams in the ACC because of the go-go-go offense that Dino Babers runs.
Watch this regular season Week 7 matchup live on Friday, October 13, 2017, at 7 p.m. ET at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. This game will be broadcast on ESPN.
College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Clemson -13.5
Syracuse +13.5
Odds Analysis
Clemson has covered against each of its ranked opponents, but failed to cover against either Boston College or Wake Forest. This Tigers team seems to conserve itself for big games, and has been great on the road this year. Clemson easily handled Louisville and Virginia Tech in ACC road games this year with great performances on both sides of the ball.
This Syracuse team is feisty. The Orange hung close on the road against North Carolina State and LSU, and gutted out a win against Pittsburgh last week. The defense has been much better than it was last year too, and that has helped Syracuse avoid some of the embarrassing blowouts it suffered last season.
Coaching Angle
Babers has a simple offensive philosophy, run as many plays as possible. The Orange have run the most plays in college football so far this season with 516 total plays through six games. Although the offense doesn’t pick up a bunch of yards per play, their average of 5.5 YPP is in the middle of the pack nationally, it is able to wear out defenses throughout the course of the game because of their fast pace.
Midway through his second season, Babers has this team exactly where he wants them. At both Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green, he had a decent first season and then led the team to double-digit wins in his second season. That’s not feasible in the loaded ACC Atlantic, but it’s clear that this team has made great strides in year two under his watch. The defense has performed better, and the offense is able to better run his system after a year of trial and error.
Matchup to Watch
Every time I preview Clemson, I rave about its defensive line, and I’m about to do so again. The Tigers have the best defensive line in the country and that’s one of the main ingredients to their continued success. Clemson has a great set of tackles in Dexter Lawrence and Christian Wilkins, and they help free up the ends to do work. It’s almost impossible to run into the middle of this defense, and the Orange will have their work cut out for them.
Syracuse isn’t a typical hurry-up team. Rather than eschew the run completely, the Orange keep defenses guessing with a balanced attack. Yet they have only been able to average 3.7 yards per carry on the year.
Free ATS Pick
The health of quarterback Kelly Bryant is something to watch here. Dabo Swinney has already announced that Bryant is expected to play against Syracuse on Friday, but he is going to be limited all week long in practice. Provided he plays, don’t expect for him to run the ball much in this one.
When these two teams met last year, Clemson demolished Syracuse 54-0. The Orange will get on the board this time around, but this team is not equipped to deal with a defense like Clemson’s. The Tigers will force plenty of three and outs and dominate time of possession en route to an easy victory.
College Football Odds: Clemson 41, Syracuse 17
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