Clemson wants Syracuse offense to 'hurry up' and get off the field
Offensive coordinator Chad Morris introduced Clemson to his high-speed up-tempo offense back in 2011 when he worked for the Tigers.
Now that he’s coaching at SMU, Clemson still uses the same type of philosophy that he brought to the offense, just in a different way.
Morris’ offense was built for the big play while co-offensive coordinators Jeff Scott and Tony Elliott have designed the offense to take what the defense gives them. This offense is built to get the first down.
Morris’ offense was fast, but Dino Babers’ offense at Syracuse is faster.
“They’re lightning fast,” Dabo Swinney said on Syracuse’s up-tempo style. “We like to go at a good tempo, and then we’ve got to kind of pick our spots where we might speed it up a little more or slow it down. But they’re blazing.”
Syracuse averages 86 plays per game, which is third most in the country, while Clemson averages 79 plays per game on offense. Syracuse is very aggressive on offense and has gone for it 21 times on fourth down already this season.
The speed game can be a killer for opponents facing Syracuse as they try to force defenses to keep up with the tempo. The offense attempts to wear defenses down and tries to make them have to catch their breath after every play.
The up-tempo style can be an advantage for a 3-3 Syracuse team with an experienced quarterback and great wide receivers. Swinney was very high on their receivers and compared one of them to a recent Clemson great.
“They’ve got the two best receivers we’ll probably play,” Swinney said. “Them two cats right there, No. 3 and No. 8, they’re the real deal. When I got done watching the tape, I was like, ‘Dang. I thought Mike Williams was in San Diego.’ That No. 8 catches everything. I mean guys hanging on him, falling out of bounds, 50-50 balls. He catches just about everything.”
Quarterback Eric Dungey gets the ball out very quickly for the offense, which could make life tough for Clemson’s defensive line so that they can’t get much pressure on him.
However, the up-tempo, hurry-up offense can be a disadvantage for an attack if they are unable to move the ball.
If Clemson can get Syracuse off the field early and often, then the offense can slowly squeeze the Orange and grind the game out.
“Hopefully, they are hurrying up and getting off the field and putting our offense back on there,” Swinney said Wednesday after practice. “I think that frustrates a tempo offense more than anything when they can’t really get in rhythm. So now you are playing really fast to punt, and that’d be a great thing.”
The Syracuse offense has played “really fast to punt” a number of times this season. The Orange have had 16 three-and-outs in six games.
The average time of possession in those three-and-outs has been one minute and 22 seconds. There was one outlier though when one possession against Pittsburgh lasted four minutes and 12 seconds in three plays. Without that, their average is one minute and just 11 seconds.
On the other side of the ball, Clemson’s defense has done an excellent job of keeping opponents from getting a first down once they get the ball.
The Tigers defense has faced 79 possessions so far this season, and 30 of them have resulted in a three-and-out. 37.97 percent of the time, Clemson’s offense is getting the ball back in just three plays.
Of those 30 three-and-outs, the Tigers offense took the ensuing possession down the field for points 15 times, 13 resulted in a touchdown.
“You want a three-and-out,” Swinney said. “You don’t want to allow any rhythm. You don’t want to allow them to get any type of balance in what they are doing.
Also, Clemson’s defense has helped the offense get off to a fast start this season. In six games, Clemson’s defense has forced opposing offenses into a three-and-out on their first possession four times.
Clemson has scored points on their next drive after those four three-and-outs to get on the board early. The only games where that did not happen were Auburn and Wake Forest.
Defensive coordinator Brent Venables has been trained to face this type of offense. In fact, Swinney said he hired Venables because of his Big 12 experience.
It began all the way back in his early days at Oklahoma where everyday practice always challenged him as a coordinator.
"You’ve got to remember now, he practiced against Mike Leach every day. He practiced against Kevin Wilson every day. He practiced against the air raid every day, which we're a lot different than that, but he loved that. He loved the challenge that it presented him as a defensive coach.
Syracuse can go hurry-up all it wants, but it must tread lightly. Clemson’s defense has proven already that it does a terrific job of getting opponents off the field in a hurry.
Speed kills.