Why Clemson football game vs Syracuse might be bad timing for Dabo Swinney, Tigers

CLEMSON — Clemson football and coach Dabo Swinney weren't shy about their aspirations in the lead-up to this season. They intended to make it to the College Football Playoff and, ideally, win it.

Now just a third of the way into the season Clemson is 2-2, and that championship dream is essentially over. Winning even a conference title is also in serious question, as the Tigers have started 0-2 in ACC play for the first time since 2010.

With the playoff chances likely out the window, Swinney said Clemson has to "get a new dream." His players have changed their tone to say the best they can do now is go 10-2, and that's the new dream. The road to that goal starts Saturday (noon ET, ABC) at Syracuse.

The Orange (4-0, 0-0 ACC) might not seem like a big challenge at first. They haven't had a winning record in conference play since 2018, and they haven't beaten Clemson since 2017.

But the Tigers have had some scares against Syracuse, including in each of the past two seasons. In 2022, Clemson won by six after scoring 17 unanswered in the fourth quarter to overcome an 11-point deficit. In 2021, the Tigers won by a field goal on the road.

Now, Clemson is back on the road to face the same quarterback in Garrett Shrader and coach in Dino Babers that it did in those narrow wins. This time, the Tigers are coming off an emotional overtime loss to Florida State that crushed plenty of their dreams, and they're having to re-frame what they're playing for. Syracuse could be catching them at a bad time for the Tigers and a good time for the Orange.

Shrader called his shot back at ACC media days in July: "This year, I think it's our year to take them down," he said. "Hopefully."

Syracuse has given Clemson close games when the Tigers were ahead of where they are now. The Orange are unbeaten, although the only Power Five team they've played is 1-3 Purdue. Their 44.6 points per game is sixth-best nationally, and their 10.8 points per game allowed is tied for seventh-best.

Clemson should score much more than 10 points against Syracuse, and the Tiger defense is one of the best the Orange will face all season. But the foundation is there for an experienced Syracuse team that Swinney described as "confident."

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Clemson should its first ACC victory of the season. But as we've learned with this Clemson team so far, "should" doesn't always mean "will." The Tigers can't afford a let-down game coming off a well-played yet heartbreaking loss to third-ranked Florida State — one that they "should" have won after outgaining the Seminoles, holding them under 50 rushing yards and not allowing an offensive touchdown in the second half of regulation.

"What a great opportunity we have to grow something," Swinney said. "Something good comes from everything, so let's just see if we can win a game this week. That's what we need to do, and we can worry about whatever after that. Let's just dream about beating Syracuse this week."

Christina Long covers the Clemson Tigers for the Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. You can follow her on Twitter @christinalong00 or email her at clong@greenvillenews.com.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football: Syracuse game chance for Dabo Swinney, Tigers recovery