Babers knows No. 3 Clemson will be seeking revenge
After upsetting Clemson last year at the Carrier Dome, Syracuse now must make the trip to play the Tigers on Saturday, and coach Dino Babers and his team are well aware of what it will be like to enter “Death Valley.”
Babers used a baseball analogy about a football game but it made sense.
“If you get a home run off of Nolan Ryan,” he said, “what are the chances of you ever hitting another home run against Nolan Ryan?”
No doubt No. 3 Clemson and its fans will be looking for payback after the Orange pulled off the 27-24 upset over the No. 2 Tigers last October.
Babers remembers what it was like at Clemson two years ago when a much younger and inexperienced team came away with an embarrassing 54-0 loss.
“It’s going to be extremely loud,” Babers said. “That’s how it’s supposed to be in a big game when you’re going into somebody’s else place.
“We’ll get the full effect of what that fan base can do.”
If Syracuse can upset Clemson again, it would make the Orange ACC title contenders. For that to happen, Babers said it will take a perfect game.
“You’re going to have physical battles,” he said. “When you play teams like that, a guy can be doing everything exactly right and just lose the physical battle. That’s going to happen sometimes for us, and it’s going to happen sometimes for them.
“The thing you want to make sure is they’re not losing mental battles. Are they too wound up? Are they too hyped up? Do you need to get somebody out of the game, talk to them a little bit and calm them down? Those are the things that are going to get you beat.”
Babers is confident about his team inasmuch as the Orange are unbeaten at 4-0 for the first time since 1991 and his talent is playing as well as can be expected. Three players were recognized by the ACC for their performances in a 51-21 victory against Connecticut last week.
Senior quarterback Eric Dungey was named the conference’s quarterback of the week. Junior defensive end Alton Robinson earned the league’s defensive lineman of the week honor. And junior receiver/return specialist Sean Riley was chosen the ACC’s specialist of the week.
Dungey led the Orange with 363 yards of offense and five touchdowns against the Huskies. His three rushing touchdowns tied the school record for most in a game by a quarterback.
Robinson recorded three sacks, the most for the Orange since Brandon Sharpe recorded four against Pittsburgh in 2012.
Riley had 290 all-purpose yards, including a 69-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter and a 49-yard, catch-and-run touchdown reception in the fourth quarter.