Orange Show Fight Against Clemson

Syracuse didn't come away with an upset of No. 1 Clemson on Saturday, but 'Cuse managed to be within six of the unbeaten Tigers late into the third quarter, providing valuable competitive experience for the host of young players thrust into action this season.

Syracuse started four freshmen on defense that held their own against the high-powered Clemson offense, which features a pair of Heisman hopefuls in QB Trevor Lawrence and RB Travis Etienne, for much of the game. A prime example is redshirt-freshman cornerback Garrett Williams. As the Orange pulled closer to the nation's top-ranked team in Death Valley, Williams helped with a 39-yard interception return for a touchdown, two pass breakups and a team-high eight tackles.

Young players like Williams are making the Orange competitive in the present and providing promise for the future.

"They're going to get older, they're going to get bigger and they're going to get better and I'm going to have to take all these lumps until they do," Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said. "But they're coming to a theater near you where they're going to be older and they're going to be better and then hopefully I won't have to take so many lumps."

When Clemson raced out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter, it appeared the Tigers would duplicate their previous week's performance – a 73-7 rout of Georgia Tech.

But Williams' interception and touchdown sparked the Orange and Syracuse outscored Clemson 21-10 for most of the next two quarters to pull within one score, 27-21.

"Even though we didn't finish the job, I think it was a really good thing to come back from (the Liberty game) and it gave us just another jolt to really believe in each other again and realize we can play with anybody when we're playing the right way, playing smart, playing hard and playing aggressive," Williams said.

Williams' touchdown was the third scored by the Orange defense this season and it was the first pick-six of Lawrence's career.

"For (Williams) to make a play like that on a stage like this against a team like that, hopefully he's going to be around here a long, long while," Babers said. "It was very exciting to see."

The final score of 47-21 doesn't tell the whole story of the fight the Orange put up on Saturday. 'Cuse out-gained the Tigers on the ground 150-147 and did so by holding Etienne under the century mark and without freshman Sean Tucker, who gained 63 yards on 10 carries in the first half, who missed the second half due to injury.

"I'm really proud of the effort the guys gave," Babers said. "I really did believe that they were fighting out there, but there was just too much firepower on the other side.

"I think it lets them know that when they're all playing together and they don't care who gets the credit, that they can be a formidable opponent," Babers added. "That doesn't mean they're going to win. Winning is difficult, winning is hard, but if you do things right and care about each other, it gives you a solid chance."

The Orange entered this season with nearly half the roster consisting of freshmen and redshirt freshmen, and a myriad of injuries to several key starters has led the Orange to start 13 players who had never started a collegiate game before this year. That's the second-highest total in the ACC.

On defense, the Orange has started four freshmen in each of the last three games. But as they're gaining experience and confidence.

"I think all of our young players, the confidence is building in each of us," said Williams, who ranks third on the team with 34 tackles behind sophomore linebackers Mikel Jones (44) and Geoff Cantin-Arku (41). "So I think each game you're going to see more and more improvement as the confidence is going up and we get more games under our belt."

Syracuse University Athletics

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Geoff Cantin-Arku

Mikel Jones

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Garrett Williams

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