--- title: "How Clemson Beat Syracuse: Late-Game Worries, Rough Playcalling Overcome by Toughness" description: Clemson football won Saturday at Syracuse, but it wasn't pretty and our latest podcast episode gets into analysis of the top reasons why. image: https://clemsonkickoff.com/hubfs/clemson-syracuse-recap-THUMB-2026-tigers-football-podcast.png --- [Skip to content](https://clemsonkickoff.com/news/how-clemson-beat-syracuse-late-game-worries-rough-playcalling-overcome-by-toughness#main-content) [![Death Valley Intro Outline 2](https://clemsonkickoff.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Death%20Valley%20Intro%20Outline%202.png?width=600&height=209&name=Death%20Valley%20Intro%20Outline%202.png)](https://clemsonkickoff.com/) - [Recent Episodes](https://clemsonkickoff.com/news/tag/reign-supreme-alway-podcast) - [Tiger Trends](https://clemsonkickoff.com/news/tag/tiger-trends) - [Get Alerts](https://clemsonkickoff.com/news-alerts-clemson-sports) - [Podcast](https://goodpods.com/podcasts/reign-supreme-alway-sports-in-clemson-240902) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Recent Episodes](https://clemsonkickoff.com/news/tag/reign-supreme-alway-podcast) - [Tiger Trends](https://clemsonkickoff.com/news/tag/tiger-trends) - [Get Alerts](https://clemsonkickoff.com/news-alerts-clemson-sports) - [Podcast](https://goodpods.com/podcasts/reign-supreme-alway-sports-in-clemson-240902) - [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/clemsonkickoff) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/clemsonkickoff) # What time is Clemson kickoff?  **• Clemson vs. Georgia Tech, Saturday, Nov. 14, 12:30 p.m., CW • Clemson at Duke, Friday, Nov. 20, 7:30 p.m., ESPN** **• Clemson vs. South Carolina, Saturday, Nov. 28, TBD** November 8, 2026 | 9:19 PM # How Clemson Beat Syracuse: Late-Game Worries, Rough Playcalling Overcome by Toughness [Staff Report](https://clemsonkickoff.com/news/author/staff-report) Share: [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://clemsonkickoff.com/news/how-clemson-beat-syracuse-late-game-worries-rough-playcalling-overcome-by-toughness) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://clemsonkickoff.com/news/how-clemson-beat-syracuse-late-game-worries-rough-playcalling-overcome-by-toughness) [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://clemsonkickoff.com/news/how-clemson-beat-syracuse-late-game-worries-rough-playcalling-overcome-by-toughness) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://clemsonkickoff.com/news/how-clemson-beat-syracuse-late-game-worries-rough-playcalling-overcome-by-toughness) Hey college football fans, the Clemson Tigers clawed their way to an 18-13 win at Syracuse on Saturday and boosted their record to 6-3, but it wasn’t pretty. The offense didn’t find the end zone, didn’t throw for 200 yards, didn’t run for 200 either, as Chad Morris’ attack with true freshman Tait Reynolds at QB remains stuck in makeshift mode. Our Clemson football analysis also looks at the Tigers defense and Jaheim Lawson, who scooped up a loose ball from Syracuse QB Steve Angeli and ran it into the end zone himself. Clemson under defensive coordinator Tom Allen continues taking opposing QBs out of their comfort zone and forcing them into bad decisions, poor execution, and costly turnovers. We get into the latest ACC football analysis as Dabo Swinney hits the final fourth of his team’s season. We're glad you found us -- y'all be sure to watch on [YouTube.com/ClemsonKickoff](http://youtube.com/clemsonkickoff) so you can share your reactions in the comments, and find us on social media @ClemsonKickoff! ## [Click here for our free Substack newsletter](https://clemsonkickoff.substack.com/subscribe?next=https%3A%2F%2Fclemsonkickoff.substack.com%2F&utm_source=profile-page&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile&just_signed_up=true) ▫️See bonus analysis that isn't in our podcast    ▫️Get alerts whenever we post new episodes ![2026 schedule horizontal (5)](https://clemsonkickoff.com/hs-fs/hubfs/2026%20schedule%20horizontal%20(5).png?width=960&height=282&name=2026%20schedule%20horizontal%20(5).png)   [Reign Supreme Alway podcast](https://clemsonkickoff.com/news/tag/reign-supreme-alway-podcast) [Follow us on Facebook](https://youtube.com/clemsonkickoff) [X Twitter icon](https://www.x.com/clemsonkickoff) [linkedin-in icon](https://www.linkedin.com/company/clemsonkickoff) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/clemsonkickoff) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.instagram.com/clemsonkickoff) - [Recent Episodes](https://clemsonkickoff.com/news/tag/reign-supreme-alway-podcast) - [Tiger Trends](https://clemsonkickoff.com/news/tag/tiger-trends) - [Get Alerts](https://clemsonkickoff.com/news-alerts-clemson-sports) - [Podcast](https://goodpods.com/podcasts/reign-supreme-alway-sports-in-clemson-240902) --- [![](https://clemsonkickoff.com/hs-fs/hubfs/No-Szn%20Logo%20Std%20Gray.png?width=500&height=500&name=No-Szn%20Logo%20Std%20Gray.png)](https://clemsonkickoff.com) Copyright © 2026, Clemson Kickoff ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Staff Report", "url" : "https://clemsonkickoff.com/news/author/staff-report" }, "dateModified" : "2026-11-09T02:20:06.184Z", "datePublished" : "2026-11-09T02:19:54.000Z", "headline" : "How Clemson Beat Syracuse: Late-Game Worries, Rough Playcalling Overcome by Toughness", "image" : [ "https://clemsonkickoff.com/hubfs/clemson-syracuse-recap-THUMB-2026-tigers-football-podcast.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://clemsonkickoff.com/news/how-clemson-beat-syracuse-late-game-worries-rough-playcalling-overcome-by-toughness", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://clemsonkickoff.com/hubfs/No-Szn%20Logo%20Std%20Gray.png" } } } ```