Syracuse loses another nail-biter, 17-14 to Clemson

“I felt like we had momentum based on what was going on,” Babers said. “If I knew what the outcome was I might’ve done something else.”

The outcome, a three point loss to Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers, is the third straight game SU has lost by three points to a conference opponent. Their last win, which ended in a made-kick from Szmyt, was decided by three points as well.

“We’re right there,” Shrader said. “Three games, three points. Every single time. We’re one play away, that’s it.”

Momentum shifted late in the first half when Clemson, who was held to just 314 total yards, successfully completed a fake punt from the Orange 41-yard line with 1:14 to play.

Clemson punter Will Spiers caught the shotgun snap and flung a 17-yard completion down the right sideline to Davis Allen. Babers said he had an idea the Tigers were going to run a fake and kept his regular defense on the field because of it.

“Our punt returner went out, but the rest of our defense was out there,” Babers said. “If our defense couldn’t stop it, our punt return team sure in the heck wouldn’t have stopped it.”

Later in the drive, Kobe Pace plowed in a touchdown from 2-yards out which put the Tigers ahead 14-7. It ended the second quarter where Clemson jumped ahead on a pitch-and-catch from DJ Uiagalelei to Joseph Ngata. Then SU evened the scoreboard on a QB keeper from Shrader followed, by a 39-yard rush from Tucker.

Shrader, who finished with 191-yards on 17 of 37 passing attempts, hit Trebor Pena streaking down the middle of the field for a 62-yard touchdown to pull the Orange within three midway through the fourth quarter.

But even behind 183 all-purpose-yards from Tucker – 163 rushing and 20 receiving – the Orange fell 3-4 on the season and 0-3 in the ACC play. They’ll play the Virginia Tech Hokies on the road next Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

“Offensively, we were very sloppy,” Shrader said. “You look up in the fourth quarter and we’ve got a chance to go down and win it. That’s the silver lining, but there are no moral victories. We gotta get better, period.”