Belief Without Evidence

By: Matt Michael

Belief without evidence.

That's what Syracuse Orange head coach Dino Babers preached when he was hired in December 2015, and that's what he's preaching now as the injury-riddled Orange take a 1-4 record (1-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) into Saturday's 12 p.m. matchup against the No. 1 Clemson Tigers (5-0) at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, S.C. (ACC Network).

"There's a lot of hope, but what we preach is faith," wide receiver Anthony Queeley said. "We all have faith in each other, we have faith in the program, we have faith in our coaches. What Coach Babers preaches is faith, belief without evidence, and everybody falls behind that and they support that."

This time, though, Babers has a track record. In 2016, the 2-4 Orange upset No. 17 Virginia Tech at the Carrier Dome. In 2017, 3-3 Syracuse shocked No. 2 Clemson 27-24 in the Dome.

And in 2018, the Orange led No. 3 Clemson 23-20 at "Death Valley" in Clemson before the Tigers scored with 41 seconds remaining to secure a 27-23 win in a season that would end with a national championship. Syracuse, meanwhile, finished 10-3 with a Camping World Bowl victory over West Virginia and the No. 15 ranking in the nation.

It can be done because it has been done.

"I tell (the fans) that, 'Hey, we've got a lot of young people playing and it's going to have to get better,' " Babers said. "But that same fan base saw guys beat Virginia Tech when they weren't supposed to be very good. That same fan base saw what we did with Clemson when we weren't supposed to be very good.

"That same fan base saw we were six minutes and 45 seconds from winning the conference (in 2018 against Clemson)," he continued. "I expect them to have faith and I expect them to know that we're going to right it. But right now, we've got a bunch of young guys playing and a bunch of old guys hurt and that's the way it's going to be until we start getting some cats back (from injuries) and guys start getting better."

The Orange opened this season with back-to-back losses on the road to top-25 teams North Carolina and Pittsburgh. After Syracuse stomped Georgia Tech 37-20 in the first game at the renovated stadium, the injuries started to take their toll and the Orange have dropped back-to-back home games against Duke and Liberty.

"We're all competitive in that room and we all understand that what we just saw is not good enough," Babers said following the Liberty game. "And it really doesn't matter who the next opponent is, it doesn't matter who we're playing next, we need to decide if we're going to go out there and play."

Redshirt senior quarterback Rex Culpepper, making his second career start in place of injured starter Tommy DeVito, tossed three touchdown passes against Liberty and linebacker Mikel Jones recovered a fumble, his second of the season to go along with three interceptions and a forced fumble. Still, the Orange's young and depleted defense couldn't overcome Liberty's dual-threat quarterback Malik Willis and a rushing attack that gained 338 yards.

"We're going into a big matchup next week, when we face Clemson, and the positive thing about today's game is that we're still together as a team," said Queeley, a redshirt sophomore from Orlando, Fla, who caught his first career touchdown against Liberty. "We all want to win, we all want the same thing, and we're just going to focus on the mistakes we had today and correct them throughout (this) week."

In its five wins this year, including a victory over No. 7 Miami, Clemson has outscored its opponents 242-60. The Tigers have won 37 consecutive regular-season games, the third-longest streak in the AP Poll era dating back to Oct. 13, 2017, when they lost to . . . the Orange.

Belief without evidence.

"I feel like these challenges bring out the best in people," Queeley said. "I know me for a fact, I look forward to these types of challenges. No. 1 team in the country, let's go down and make an upset."

Syracuse University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Rex Culpepper

Tommy DeVito

Mikel Jones

Anthony Queeley

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