Upset Bid Falls Short at Clemson

Saturday, October 25

Clemson, S.C.

7 pm

Syracuse University

Clemson

Photo by: Charles Wainwright

10/25/2014 10:50:00 PM | Football

Box Score

'Cuse led 6-3 at halftime, but the Tigers scored 13 unanswered in the second half

CLEMSON, S.C. -- Syracuse forced four turnovers and held No. 21/20 Clemson to 16 points, but it wasn't enough to take down the Tigers (6-2, 5-1 ACC) at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night. The Orange fell, 16-6, dropping its first road game of the season and is now 3-5 overall and 1-3 in ACC play.

Prince-Tyson Gulley led the Orange offense, rushing for 77 yards on 17 carries. Wide receiver Ashton Broyld hauled in four passes for 49 yards in his first game back after missing the last four contests due to injury.

Linebacker Cameron Lynch paced the Orange in tackles for the sixth time this season. He had 10 stops, two of which went for losses, to record his second double-digit tackle game of the year.

The Tigers' defense held SU to 170 yards of total offense, while Clemson racked up 375 yards of offense and possessed the ball for nearly 35 minutes.

'Cuse took a 3-0 lead after Cole Murphy's 43-yard field goal capped a 61-yard drive near the end of the first quarter, which was set up by a Brandon Reddish interception. It was one of two times Syracuse picked off Clemson quarterback Cole Stoudt. Darius Kelly intercepted another Stoudt pass in the third quarter.

After a Tigers' field goal evened the score at three with just over four minutes remaining in the half, the Orange again turned a takeaway into points. Dyshawn Davis stripped Stoudt with 1:12 to go before intermission, which set up Murphy for a career-long field goal attempt of 50 yards, which he hit to give the Orange a 6-3 lead at the intermission.

In the third quarter, turnovers on back-to-back plays by both teams resulted in Clemson driving inside the Orange 10-yard line. However, SU's defense stiffened as Lynch stuffed Wayne Gallman on third-and-goal from the 2-yard line and the Tigers settled for an 18-yard Ammon Lakip field goal that tied the score at 6-6.

A little more than three minutes later, Lakip connected on his third field goal of the night to give the Tigers their first lead (9-6) with 3:24 to go in the third quarter.

Clemson upped its margin to 10 on the second play of the fourth quarter. Stoudt hit Stanton Seckinger on a 19-yard pass for the game's first touchdown and a 16-6 advantage.

Two possessions later, Murphy missed a 42-yard field goal attempt that would have made it a one-score game. After the Murphy miss, Clemson turned to its running game, led by Gallman's 101 yards on 28 carries, to use up the remaining 8:17 and win its seventh consecutive game at Memorial Stadium.

The Orange looks to rebound when it returns to the Carrier Dome for the first time in three weeks to host NC State Saturday, Nov. 1. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. on RSN.