Syracuse coaches and players spoke about the Death Valley environment at length on Tuesday. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney didn’t waste much time alluding to that topic, as well as the overall matchup with the Orange, during the Atlantic Coast Conference coaches’ teleconference Wednesday morning.

“It’s homecoming here at Clemson, always a special time,” Swinney said. “Syracuse is coming in and this is a team that I think just played their best game and seems to be really getting a lot of confidence.”

The No. 21 Tigers (5-2, 4-1 ACC) host Syracuse (3-4, 1-2) at 7 p.m. Saturday in Clemson, South Carolina in another top-flight matchup for the Orange. Clemson caps off a stretch of three ranked opponents in a stretch of five weeks for Syracuse.

Swinney complimented SU freshman quarterback AJ Long, who is coming off his first college win and first rushing touchdown in the Orange’s 30-7 victory at Wake Forest on Saturday.

“He’s kind of a got a gunslinger mentality. Throws a dart. He really does,” Swinney said. “He’s a good thrower on the run, he’s made some plays for them running out of the pocket. Has kind of a coolness to him and a poise that you don’t really see in a lot of freshmen.

“He’s very competitive and the more I watched him the more impressed I was with him. Seems like the guys have kind of rallied around him a little bit and they’re playing very hard.”

On the defensive side, Swinney said he thinks Syracuse is better than it was last season. He added that the Orange’s tendencies are similar, but the personnel is enhanced.

He mentioned SU linebacker Cameron Lynch as one of the top pass rushers in the ACC and name-dropped safety Darius Kelly as a “really good player.”

Syracuse is aggressive in its blitzing schemes, Swinney said, and can bring pressure from anywhere.

“They’re not a passive bunch,” Swinney said. “… This is a team that plays with great effort and again with an aggressive mentality and, from a play-calling standpoint, forces the issue and makes you really be dialed in.

“There’s an opportunity to make plays, but you better have everybody communicating on the same page and you have to make those competitive plays when they present themselves.”

Published on October 22, 2014 at 2:49 pm

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb