No. 5 Clemson storms back from halftime deficit, knocks off No. 14 Syracuse 27-21

Clemson found a way to get it done.

In a battle of ACC undefeateds, the fifth-ranked Tigers found themselves trailing No. 14 Syracuse 21-10 at halftime. Nothing was going right for Clemson. The offense kept making mistakes and the defense gave up two long Syracuse touchdown drives.

But things changed in the second half. Clemson shut out the Orange in the final two quarters and stormed back to win 27-21. With the win, Clemson improved to 8-0 on the year, took sole possession of first place in the ACC Atlantic and kept itself firmly in the College Football Playoff hunt.

It was a bumpy route for Clemson to get to 8-0 but the Tigers scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to turn that 21-10 deficit into a 24-21 advantage. That was more than enough for the Clemson defense to seal the door shut. Clemson’s defense kept Syracuse off the scoreboard in the second half, allowing the Tigers to escape with a victory despite a mistake-filled effort from the offense.

Syracuse stormed out to big lead

Clemson actually started the game well. The defense forced a Syracuse turnover on downs and then the offense marched right down the field to take a 7-0 lead.

But on the next two Clemson possessions, quarterback DJ Uiagalelei threw an interception and then fumbled. The fumble came inside the Syracuse 10-yard line and was returned 90 yards for a touchdown, giving the Orange a 14-7 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Clemson thought it could run the ball right through the heart of the Syracuse defense. Instead, the Tigers were stuffed on a fourth-and-short run at the Orange’s 33-yard line. Syracuse then responded with a 68-yard touchdown drive to increase the lead to 21-7.

Clemson would get a field goal before halftime to make it 21-10, but the Tigers appeared to be in serious trouble.

DJ Uiagalelei benched after sloppy performance

And to open the third quarter, Clemson’s sloppiness continued. Clemson’s first three possessions of the third quarter went like this: punt, fumble, interception. However, Syracuse failed to capitalize on any of those miscues by quickly punting the ball back to Clemson all three times.

At that point, with the deficit still 21-10 late in the third, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney decided to make a change. He swapped out Uiagalelei for freshman Cade Klubnik and Klubnik was able to engineer a long touchdown drive. The drive, though, was greatly aided by two 15-yard penalties on the Syracuse defense, including a late hit on a third-and-25 when Clemson would have been forced to punt.

Instead, that penalty kept the drive alive and Clemson eventually scored on a fourth-and-goal run by Phil Mafah, making it 21-16 with 13:46 to play.

After that long, 15-play drive, Syracuse’s offense needed to make something happen to give its exhausted defense a rest, but just could not generate any success. The Orange quickly went three-and-out on a drive that saw a potential late hit out of bounds on Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader go uncalled.

Two plays after the punt, Clemson’s Will Shipley put the Tigers ahead for good when he reeled off a 50-yard touchdown run.

Shipley’s touchdown and the subsequent two-point conversion gave Clemson a 24-21 lead. The Tigers would later add a field goal to make it 27-21 with 1:33 to play.

Syracuse had one final shot on offense and moved the ball into Clemson territory, but R.J. Mickens picked off Shrader to seal the victory for the Tigers.

Swinney: DJ is our quarterback

Despite the uneven performance from Uiagalelei, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney told ABC's Molly McGrath in the postgame on-field interview that Uiagalelei remains the Tigers' starter going forward.

"DJ's our quarterback. There ain't no question about that," Swinney said. "That's our guy. That's our leader. You can write that right now."

Uiagalelei completed 13-of-21 passes for 138 yards with the two interceptions. He also had that fumble near the goal line that went the other way for a Syracuse touchdown.

Once he was put into the game, Klubnik wasn't asked to do much. The five-star freshman completed 2-of-4 throws for 19 yards. He also rushed for 15 yards and had a nice completion on Clemson's successful two-point conversion.

Entering this game, Uiagalelei had been playing quite well. He was one of the worst starters in the ACC in 2021 and many thought it was only a matter of time before Klubnik replaced him in the lineup.

It finally happened on Saturday. But based on Swinney's comments, it doesn't seem like the change will stick moving forward. The Tigers are entering a bye week before returning to the field on Nov. 5 vs. Notre Dame in South Bend.