Saturday, October 24, 2020, Memorial Stadium, Clemson, South Carolina, noon ET
Orange at Tigers Betting Preview: Orange (+46), Tigers (-46)
Syracuse Orange
Coach Dino Babers knows what his Orange (1-4, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) are facing as they journey to what is not-so-friendly (for visitors) Death Valley to take on the nation’s top-ranked team, the Clemson Tigers.
“You get an opportunity to play the No. 1-ranked team in the country,” Babers said. “Whether you are injury free or not, whether you are playing with all seniors or all freshmen, you get an opportunity to compete.
“No one expects you to win outside the family, and to be able to compete in a situation like that, to measure up and see where you’re at, we’ll see.”
With injuries mounting, Babers is looking at starting three freshmen on offense and four on defense against the Tigers, Among the personnel losses are starting quarterback Tommy DeVito and starting All-ACC safety Andre Cisco, out with season-ending injuries.
Senior Rex Culpepper will get the nod at quarterback. Culpepper is 27 of 59 passing for 324 yards with as many interceptions (four) as touchdown passes.
Clemson Tigers
No. 1 Clemson has it rolling behind quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne. Lawrence has completed 73 percent of his passes with 15 going for touchdowns against a lone interception. He is 29-1 as a starter.
Etienne enters the game needing 129 yards to claim the current conference rushing record of 4,602 yards currently held by former North Carolina State standout Ted Brown since 1978.
The Tigers (4-0, 3-0 ACC) are racing toward a sixth consecutive ACC title and sixth consecutive berth in the playoffs they have won twice in the last five years. They rank third nationally both in scoring at 48.2 points per game and in total defense, surrendering only 264.6 yards per game.
“Based off of those guys winning the national championship two out of the last four years and the facilities that they have compared to everybody else in the conference, I think the entire country is chasing Clemson — Alabama is chasing Clemson, everybody’s chasing Clemson,” Babers said. “And I think it’s fortunate for us that every year we get an opportunity to play them. I don’t look at that as something that’s bad, I look at that as something that’s good.”
Orange at Tigers Betting Pick for October 24 , 2020
The last ACC team to defeat Clemson was Syracuse back in 2017. The Tigers have won 26 consecutive conference games since then, including a pair of wins over the Orange by 27-23 and 41-6 scores. This one won’t be as close as either of those.
Orange at Tigers Betting Pick:
Tigers 59, Orange 7
Orange at Tigers Best Bet for October 24, 2020
Clemson’s offense gets the most attention, but the Tigers have put on a pair of suffocating performances on defense their last two games. Miami came in riding high but managed only 210 yards in total offense and Georgia Tech last week managed only 204. No doubt the Tigers will provide a lot of offense, but a score or two from the Orange would help the total.
Orange at Tigers Best Bet: OVER 61.5
–Field Level Media
