The college football season is off to the races, with the Clemson Tigers being one of the biggest losers out of the opening gates. They will look to right the ship in a Week 4 matchup against the Syracuse Orange. Clemson enters with a 1-2 record and has dropped out of the AP Top 25 completely. Syracuse holds a 2-1 record on the season, with their lone loss coming against 15th-ranked Tennessee.
This matchup will take place in Clemson and can be viewed on ESPN. These programs have faced off 12 times in their history, with Clemson winning 10 of these matchups. Syracuse last produced a 27-24 victory in 2017, but the Tigers have won each of the past six games between these two sides. This ACC conference battle comes with a bit more urgency for Clemson than was expected to be the case at this stage of the season.
Looking at the odds, Clemson enters as 16.5-point favorites and holds -750 odds on the Moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook. Syracuse holds +525 odds of getting the outright victory, with the game total set at 54.5.
This article will take a brief preview of both teams and a pick for the Week 4 ACC matchup.
Syracuse vs. Clemson prediction, preview
Syracuse Preview
The Orange were tested right out of the gates this season, taking on the Tennessee Volunteers in their opening game. Tennessee produced a 45-26 victory and has climbed from 24th to 15th in the AP Poll since. Syracuse bounced back with a 27-20 overtime victory against UConn and then blew out Colgate 66-24 this past week.
Quarterback Steve Angeli leads the ACC with 125 pass attempts, 1,072 passing yards, and 357.3 passing yards per game. The Notre Dame transfer has thrown for eight touchdowns and two interceptions while adding a touchdown on the ground. Yasin Willis and Will Nixon have each taken 30+ carries and rushed for 130+ yards through the first three games. Willis has punched in four rushing touchdowns while Nixon has just one, but has added 76 receiving yards as well. Darrell Gill Jr. leads the wide receiver group with 12 receptions for 269 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the season. Justus Ross-Simmons has a team-high three receiving touchdowns and joins Dan Villari and Johntay Cook II as the other members of the team to eclipse 100 receiving yards already.
It is still early in the season, but Syracuse has checked quite a few boxes already. They showed some fight against a team much more talented than they are in their matchup against Tennessee. The Orange also won a gutsy overtime victory over a solid UConn squad, which it secured with 14 fourth-quarter points and overtime. Most recently, they proved they can blow out inferior competition by laying 66 points on Colgate.
Clemson Preview
Clemson has also proven quite a bit to start the season, but none of it in the direction they hoped. After entering the season ranked 4th in the AP Poll, they hold a record of 1-2 and are out of the Top 25 completely. The Tigers suffered a 17-10 loss to LSU in the opening week. Panic had not set in yet, and Clemson bounced back with a 27-16 victory over Troy. But they then were handed a 24-21 victory to Haynes Kings and Georgia Tech last week, in which the Yellow Jackets held control throughout.
Cade Klubnik was tied with Garrett Nussmeier as the Heisman Trophy co-favorites at +700 on DraftKings Sportsbook heading into their opening week matchup. Flash forward to Week 4, and Klubnik now holds +8000 odds of winning the Heisman, which is tied for the 37th-best odds in the country. The senior quarterback has completed 59.1% of his pass attempts for 633 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions so far this season, and added just 59 rushing yards and a touchdown with his legs. He has had an interception in all three games thus far. So much of the optimism surrounding Clemson was built upon Klubnik being one of the best quarterbacks in college football. To this point, he has not played to this level or been all that close to the conversation.
Beyond the quarterback production, Adam Randall leads the rushing attack with 208 rushing yards and three touchdowns this season. Bryant Wesco Jr. headlines the wide receiver production with 18 receptions for 310 yards and three touchdowns through the opening three games. No other member of the roster has rushed for more than 60 rushing yards or had more than 95 receiving yards to this point. Will Heldt leads the team with a pair of sacks, and Clemson has forced three interceptions already as a unit.
Syracuse vs. Clemson pick, best bet
Based on what has been seen so far this season, Clemson does not deserve to be 16.5-point favorites against just about anyone. Their lone win was an 11-point victory over Troy, of which they entered that matchup as 31.5-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook.
This is a Syracuse team that went 10-3 last year and climbed to 20th in the AP Poll. While plenty of credit was given to Kyle McCord for elevating the program, Steven Angeli has opened some eyes in the early weeks this season. There is a legitimate chance that Angeli directly outplays Klubnik in this matchup, which is not something I ever thought I would believe coming into the season. Syracuse is averaging nearly 40 points per game and has shown some dangerous vertical explosive ability.
There are some fair concerns with the Orange defense, but can Clemson be trusted to capitalize on this? They have produced scoring outputs of 10 against LSU, 27 against Troy, and 21 against Georgia Tech. None of these are up to the expected standard, nor will they put the team in a strong position to cover a spread this notable. Clemson ranks 112th in scoring offense and 95th in red zone efficiency.
Expect Syracuse to keep this game competitive and for the matchup to remain within the 16.5-point spread. The Orange plays with some spirit, and Clemson has yet to prove it can put together a complete football game. Don’t be surprised if Klubnik’s turnover issues come to the surface and for Clemson to lack the firepower to cover this significant a spread. I can’t quite talk myself into the +525 odds of Syracuse winning outright, but feel comfortable with the Orange keeping it competitive throughout and covering the 16.5-point number.
