Ingles Tailgate Show #42 - Clemson vs Syracuse 9-30-2023 - The Ingles Tailgate Show on 92.5 WESC

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Ninety two point five E s EAM and FM Greenville, Spartanburg Anderson.
We're talking Clemson Tigers and get youready for a college football Saturday. And
the sun Ingles Tailgate Show is broughtto you by Ingles Markets, Blow Prices,
Love the Savings, Blue Ridge ElectricCooperative, Harley Davidson of Greenville,

(00:20):
Career Flooring Center, the Surgery Centerat Pellham McKee Heating, an Air and
Palmetto State Armory. Now Here areyour hosts, John Ellis and Richmond Weavers,
and it is a wonderful morning toyou as we have college football Richmond
Weaver here as you're listening to theIngles Tailgate Show right here on ninety two

(00:45):
point five w ees C. Andmister John Ellis is a little bit under
the weather, so I'll be flyingsomewhat solo, but I do have my
trusted cohort, mister Trey Falco Producerextraordinaire, who is behind the board and
behind the mic as always on oursister station one of four nine Fox Sports
Upstate. And make sure that youlisten to the Richmond Weaver Show weekdays from

(01:07):
three to four pm and also GameOn with John Ellis from four to six
pm each weekday. But we areexcited to be here this morning. Yes,
hopefully everybody has their coffee and gettingready for another taste of college football.
And can the Clemson Tigers trey that'sthe question. Can the Clemson Tigers
rebound from a stellar performance? Yeah, when you looked at just exactly what

(01:33):
Clemson was able to do last Saturday, another noon kickoff there in the Valley
against the number four ranked team inthe country, Florida State Seminoles. But
ultimately it was a few key playsthat were the demise of the Tigers that
led to that thirty one to twentyfour loss in overtime. Well, and

(01:53):
that's football in general, right,just a sew key plays that can make
or break a game. And unfortunatelyfor the Tigers, those key plays it
just broke the game for them.Not by much, right, because they
took it all the way up toovertime, overtime and even had a few
great plays there in overtime, justcouldn't convert for that first done and couldn't

(02:15):
make it into the end zone.And looking at the first half there,
the Tigers score first and it wasa field goal from Jonathan White's and this
is the guy who was basically calledoff the beach to come and the Tigers.
Yes, gotten his truck, Andthis is what's crazy. And I
don't think it was emphasized enough forthis broadcast on Saturday, and they did

(02:40):
mention it briefly. But there's acclamationrules in college football in terms of when
you can start practicing and then withinthat practice, when you can actually start
putting pads on. So you haveto be on campus for X number of
days and you have to start participatingin physical activities and practice for X number

(03:02):
of days before you can actually putpads on and practice and pads. Yes,
again, it's trying to get youacclimated, get your body you adjusted,
rather than jumping straight into it.And so for Jonathan White's based on
when he got the phone call fromDabo Sweeney that week and then getting to
campus and letting his letting his futureemployer know that, hey, I've got

(03:25):
this opportunity. I can't come toNew York in a couple of weeks because
I've been asked to go back becauseI still technically have a year of eligibility
to kick for the Tigers. Becausehe was doing an online master's degree,
and so when he gets to campus, based on the acclamation rules, he

(03:46):
can't put pads on until game day. Until Saturday, that's the first time
he can actually put pads on.So he's pads to field goal and like
a couple of hours exactly, yes, because it's a noon kickoff and Clemson
has the opportunity, they get boggeddown there in Florida State territory and Jonathan

(04:09):
is able to kick the field goalthat gives the Tigers a three nothing lead,
and that's how the first quarter wouldend, and then ultimately the Tigers
would be up seventeen to seven therein the first half and a ten point
lead. And typically when Clemson hasa ten point lead, that's a good
sign for Tiger fans because Clemson isbeing able to close out games once they
have a double digit lead. ButFlorida State scored right there before halftime,

(04:33):
and that seemed to be one ofthose momentum changers there in the game.
Not that it was a backbreaker,but it was something that obviously impacted the
rest of the game. Well,I mean, you're up ten points going
into the half, so you thinkand yeah, of course a big score
right there to kind of close outthe half. That's obviously going to carry

(04:56):
over into the second half, notonly for this Clemson Tigers, you know,
offense and defense, because oh man, we were holding them at bay
and now now they've got to score. How do we come out in the
second half. But I mean,it's a huge momentum shift for this Florida
State team because now they're like,okay, all right, well we were
going to be down ten, nowwe're down three at the half. Let's
let's go. Let's get it.Oh that's right. And they were getting
the ball back exactly in the secondhalf, so you score. And that's

(05:19):
one of the key things that youlook at again, it's that eight minute
stretch, the last four minutes ofthe first half and the first four minutes
of the second half, and howimportant that is in Florida State was able
to capitalize on that. And thenobviously there in the third quarter, I
mean it was the sack on cadeclub Nick, the fumble, the scoop

(05:43):
and score. And this is what'scrazy is when you look at those type
of particular plays and this is whatseems to be right now for the Clemson
Tigers, somewhat snake bitten because what'sthe probability that Cade club gets hit like
that? And it's I get it, he didn't see the guy coming,

(06:04):
so it's hard to hold onto theball because he got tagged pretty hard.
But then the probability that the ballbounces off the fumble and just right into
a Florida State defender and he canrun fifty six yards to pay dirt and
score a touchdown. I mean,I need sports science to let me know

(06:26):
what the probability is in those scenarios, because say that is still a fumble,
but Florida State they can't pick itup and they just have to fall
on it. Yeah, it couldbe a completely different game. It's just
how that ball bounced just ever soslightly that allowed Florida State to score a

(06:46):
touchdown. I mean, the probabilityhas to be so small it might not
happen in two hundred times, onein a thousand times. I was gonna
say, it has to be astronomicallylow, first of all. And second,
it's just it kind of seems tobe like you said, the snake
button. It just it sums upthis Clemson offense this year, just kind

(07:06):
of the luck that they've had onthese turnovers because we have seen time and
time again it's it's not just theturnovers, but it's how these other teams
have been able to capitalize on theseturnovers. And yeah, fortunately for Florida
Satan, unfortunately for Clemson fans,it just happened to bounce the right way
and they were able to just takeit and stride and write down to the

(07:28):
end zone. That's right, yes, And that obviously was a momentum changer
and potentially a backbreaker there for theClemson Tigers because you did see a scenario
there where the stadium seemed to bedeflated, and obviously so because it's one
of those things where it's, oh, here we go again. It's that

(07:49):
type of scenario that was playing outfor the Tigers that you've got to be
kidding me, how does that happen? And just like you can go back
to the Duke game where Clemson's gettingready to punch it in for a touchdown
there, but it's the fumble andit's not like Duke could fall that.
They didn't just fall on it rightthere. It was also a scoop and

(08:09):
they ran it back to you knowwhatever, the thirty yard line. So
again, how different would that gamehave played out if Clemson fumbles right there
but Duke just falls on it andthey get the ball at like the three
yard line, and you know,then Clemson has them pin back in their
own end zone and maybe Clemson getsanother defensive stop there and forces them to

(08:31):
punt. And it's completely different game, It really is. And I have
to think too that maybe maybe thisFlorida State game would have been a little
bit different had had Clemson not beenplagued by turnovers several games prior to this,
because that energy from the crowd thatoh no, not again, all
right, here we go again,that trickles down the place. Start thinking

(08:54):
about it. Yes, because wealso the Charleston Southern Game Club Nick with
the pick six and also the fumblethat gets returned to the two yard line.
I mean, all of these thingsare just adding up for the Clemson
Tigers in a negative way that arenot only impacting the game out on the
field, but is it impacting theplayers from a mental standpoint, Because you

(09:15):
get to a point you're like,all right, man, enough's enough.
Are you kidding me? How arewe in this scenario? It doesn't make
sense, And especially when you startlooking at the numbers, and you know,
I'm stat nerd. I love allthese numbers. But sometimes as much
as we love these numbers, whenyou look at them, you have to
be careful because you just look atit on paper and you make conclusions,

(09:39):
Oh, okay, well, thenI know how this game turned out.
Clemson had more first downs to FloridaState twenty five to sixteen. Clemson almost
identical passing two eighty three to twoeighty nine. They're rushing Clemson one hundred
and forty six yards rushing. FloridaState was limited to twenty two yards rushing.

(10:00):
There, Clemson held the ball foralmost thirty five minutes. Florida State
had it for twenty five minutes.So if you looked at those numbers,
you easily say, oh, Clemsonwon that game, and it really minus
the one glaring stat that is onthat line, the turnover, they really
did dominate and win that game.And you take away you take away that

(10:22):
touchdown from that turnovers, and Clipsonwon that game. They won by seven
points. But that just shows thepower of just turning over the ball and
what that can do for your team, what that can do for the other
team, and where it shows thatyou can be playing a phenomenal team and
rightfully so dominate the other team.But it just comes down to just a

(10:43):
couple of key moments, like we'veseen a few key moments, and then
obviously Florida State was able to capitalizethere in overtime as Jordan Travis showcases the
veteran type of quarterback that he isand is able to connect with Kean Coleman
there in the end zone, andit was a fantastic throw and catch there

(11:03):
and overtime. I don't even knowhow he caught it. It was yes,
I mean you, Jan Lucas dideverything he could. He was there
and obviously didn't have Nate Wiggins therebased on the injury that he had right
there at the end of regulation.But from my perspective watching Clemson and knowing
that this was a game where wewere going to see we were going to

(11:26):
have a better understanding of Florida Stateand Clemson's right in this game too evenly
matched teams and this is the bestthat I've seen Clemson play in two years
now. I know the turnover hurtyou big time there, and maybe it
was a misassignment with film offa shouldhave picked up that blitz, whatever it

(11:46):
might be. But the Tigers competed. They were able to stop Jordan Travis
and the Florida State rushing attack,so they limited them. They forced them
into some difficult plays in Florida Statedid make some key plays when they had
to, but overall, Clemson playeda really good game. It's just those
margins are so razor thin when youhave evenly matched teams like that. So

(12:11):
I take it as a big positivefor Clemson that it was at Florida State
coming in there and blowing out theTigers, and that there was going to
be some referendum that oh, look, Florida State has all these transfers and
that's why you know they're dominating Clemson. And Clemson's reluctance to go to the
transfer portal to fill some of thevoids that they might have are these perceived

(12:35):
voids. But Clemson talent wise,they showcase that they can still compete.
And I do believe that Florida Stateis one of the best teams in the
country. You just look at theirresume what they've been able to do.
Not saying that they're going to wina national championship, but there's no question
that Florida State can compete for anational championship and at minimum get to the
College Football Playoff well. And Ithink the biggest sort of question that was

(12:58):
answered in this game too was Clemson'soffense. So we're coming into this and
that seemed to be more of theU I guess their weak point because we
know that Clemson defense is solid.We've we've seen we know it's incredible,
but got cade Clubnet. We've gotnew coordinator Garrett Riley, and we're like,
okay, we've seen what they cando. We kind of saw the

(13:18):
Duke game, we saw you know, obviously Florida Atlantic, Charleston Southern,
but we want to see how theystack up against kind of an opponents to
their tier, when you know,in their punching range. And it was
great to see this offense come outand really be able to stand toe to
toe with these blows kind of againstthis Florida State and it's like, Okay,

(13:39):
this is what we've come to expectfrom a Clemson offense. Granted it's
not you know, what we've seenin the past with the likes of Travis
Etn Deshaun Watson that it's not goingto t Higgins justin Ross. I mean,
remember offensively they were stacked. Yeah, so this is a number of
years. This is a different Clempsonoffense. It is still a good offense,

(14:00):
but you know, we've just cometo expect this just greatness from the
players that we've seen, and it'sjust not going to be that way this
year. No, I agree,And I would have to say also that
Kade he looked poised, he lookedin the pocket, he looked like he
was in command of the offense andwas able to capitalize on some key runs.

(14:24):
And now there's still things that he'sprobably learning from, and there's questions
there and overtime, should he havethrown that pass or handed it off to
Will Shipley on third and one?Sure, and a lot of speculation.
He's also young, Yes, he'snineteen years old exactly. Yeah. So,
and he's going up against Jordan Traviswho is twenty three years old,
and so Jordan Travis has seen alot. And obviously it was Florida State

(14:46):
Seminoles being able to break that sevengame losing streak there against the Tigers.
But a lot of positive there forthe Clemson Tigers now it's turned the page,
though, he's got to flush thatmove on and now on the road
in the JMA Wireless Dome, asit's no longer the Carrier Dome. So

(15:07):
it's hard for me to say thatit's no longer the Carrier Dome as they
have a new sponsor. But theClemson Tigers taking on the Syracuse Orange at
noon kickoff there on ABC, andyou can also listen to it right here
on ninety two point five w SC, and we will continue the Ingles Tailgate
Show right after this. This isthe Ingalls Tailgate Show on ninety two point

(15:33):
five w e s C. Nowhere are your hosts, John Ellis and
Richmond Weaver, so Eagle Stelle GateShow right here on ninety two point five

(16:07):
WeSC continues this Saturday morning. Yes, the sun is coming up and it
is a beautiful day. Richmond Weaverhere, John Ellis is under the weather
right now. So John, hopefullyyou are going to get better, So
rest up. And I've got misterTrey Falco behind the board and behind the
mic as always helping out this morning. Does a fantastic job producing the show

(16:30):
and also producing our sister station oneto four nine Fox Sports Upstate and you
can listen to the Richmond Weaver Showweekdays from three to four pm and also
Game On with John Ellis from fourto six pm each weekday, weekday,
weekday. Let me get this outhere early in the morning. Okay,
this coffee is needed, right,yes, but we are wanting to make

(16:51):
sure that you know that on oursister station one to four nine Fox Sports
Upstate, you can listen to somelocal sports talk programming here in the Upstate.
And the beautiful thing is make sureyou check out the iHeart Radio app
because you can download that through theApp Store or on Google Play. And
once you do that, just searchone oh four nine Fox Sports and you'll

(17:12):
be able to find the station oreven find ninety two point five WSC and
you can listen whenever and wherever youwant to. So make sure you download
the iHeart Radio app. As weare continuing getting ready for the Tigers traveling
up to upstate New York. They'rein Syracuse at the j m A Wireless

(17:34):
Dome, and again I've mentioned it, it's hard for me to get used
to saying the JMA Wireless Dome becauseeven as a basketball guy, miss the
carrier Dome. Yeah, you justget used to saying thing, Yes,
that's it. I mean, that'swhat we've known. I mean, I've
known the Carrier Dome for twenty fivethirty years. That's just the reality of
it. So to have JMA WirelessDome, it's a little bit different,

(17:57):
but it's still a tough place toplay, and this will be a tough
task for Clemson. We do knowthat Syracuse has played them well, but
I do believe that this is goingto be an inspired Clemson team. And
how crazy is it that we're lookingat the month of September right now and

(18:18):
Clemson still does not have an ACCvictory. Oh I didn't together. That's
a good point in the ACC.Nobody would have thought Clemson would be sitting
at O and two. No,I figured you know that scenario. Yeah,
Florida State was kind of that.Okay, can we this is the

(18:38):
challenge, this is the obvious obstacle, all right? Can we make it
past this? That would be youknow, two and oh for the ACC,
but one and one was kind ofmaybe we'll see that's right, And
knowing that you had a disappointing lossobviously there to open the season at Duke
and then obviously the disappointing gut Richingloss and over time to Florida State.

(19:00):
But now you have an opportunity toget back in the swing of things and
get your first victory in the ACCand on the road against Syracuse. And
right now when you're looking at theACC, this is what's interesting too,
is that, I mean there's teamsthat I think are surprising some people right
now, and especially when you're lookingat the scenario that there's no divisions in

(19:23):
the ACC anymore. So now it'sjust going to be the top two teams
record wise that will meet in Charlottein December for the a SEC Championship.
And there was a lot of speculationthat even if Clemson lost to Florida State
or Florida State lost to Clemson,could we see a rematch of those two

(19:44):
teams, because those are the quoteunquote best teams heading in to the season.
But this is where we get backto that point. Hey, it
all matters what happens out on thefield. And right now, do Blue
Devils are sitting there as one ino the ACC because they beat Clemson.
Now they've got Notre Dame today,that's not an ACC game. So we'll

(20:07):
see what happens for Duke heading downthe next month and a half to see
how they play with some stiffer competitionin the ACC relative to the schedule that
they had last year where they wereable to to win nine games. But
it's the Louisville Cardinals right now thatare leading the ACC with their victory last

(20:29):
night against NC State thirteen to ten, ugly game. But Louisville three and
ozo in the ACC and five andOHO overall right now, now going into
this season, would would Louisville Cardinalsbeing three and oh in the ACCB on
your bingo card? Would that would? Would you have not even close?
Not even close? And that's whatsurprising, And nobody would have said that

(20:51):
Louisville would be five and OHO either, just from that perspective. And then
you've got Florida State sitting there attwo and oh in the conference and they
have a buy this week. Andas I just mentioned Duke, there one
in oh North Carolina one to ohNC State now one on one and Georgia
Tech one and one. And thereare several teams that have not played an

(21:11):
ACC game yet, but they will. That's even Syracuse has not played an
ACC game yet, the Hurricanes downin Miami have not played an ACC game
yet, and then also Virginia Techhas not played an ACC game yet.
But all of that will be changinghere on this Saturday, because we have
a lot of action and college football. So this is going to be a

(21:36):
time now where we start seeing someseparation and how things are going to play
out for some of these teams,and especially when you start having some of
these head to head matchups. AndI think there's some teams that are also
disappointing right now in the ACC.When you see the Pittsburgh Panthers there oh
and one, but they're one inthree overall, and they just have no

(22:00):
offense whatsoever. And it's a toughone for Tony Elliott and the Virginia Cavaliers
owen four right now, and obviouslythey're still reeling from obviously the tragedy last
year in Charlottesville, losing some playersthere in that shooting. And so this
is an area though where I continueto see Virginia they compete, though you're

(22:23):
going to get with Virginia's and that'swhere like Pittsburgh, you don't know what
you're going to get. I don'tknow how to measure Pittsburgh right now just
because they're so inconsistent. But withVirginia at least you know what you're going
to get. They just don't havethe roster as of yet. And you
know, as long as you cangive Tony Elliott some time, and I

(22:45):
think he will obviously get it basedon the scenario. But I think that's
a big part of just allowing thesecoaches. And I'm not just singling out
Tony Ellott, I'm just singing singlingout just coaching in general. Yeah,
you give some of these guys time. That's the reality of it right now.
I mean, we're, you know, wanting this microwave type of mentality

(23:07):
of got to win now, gotto win at all costs, whatever it
might be. But establish some foundationalprinciples at these programs. And I think
what you were able to see atClemson where Dabo Sweeney was afforded some time,
and that made a huge difference.And now, obviously I think from
a standpoint that, yes, Clemsonis not playing up to some of the

(23:30):
expectations that we've had in the previousyears, in the previous seasons, but
Clemson's not going away just overnight,because the foundation is still there and it
was all because they allowed Dabo Sweeneyto build that foundation well. And because
that foundation is there, it makesyou feel a little more comfortable, right

(23:51):
in the sense of you're gonna havesome lean years. There are gonna be
some years here and there where it'slike, Okay, this Clemson team is
just not playing up to the standthat we thought they would and what we've
seen in years past. And that'snot just a Clemson thing. That isn't
across the board. That just happensin sports in general. You see it
in the NFL, you see itin college football, and especially in college

(24:11):
football, which just players coming inand out because they're graduating. And now
you've got the transfer portal, andwe talk about the transport portal. These
other teams, they just there's somuch more. We talked about it on
your show. There's so much moreparody in college football now because you can
bring these other players around from differentlocations and it just makes for a much

(24:36):
more solid team. Yes, itdefinitely does. And that's one of the
things that I'm open to the transferportal, and I think it's ultimately going
to be good for college football.I think we're starting to see that because
it does disperse some of the talentacross multiple brands, and some of these
brands that haven't been in the limelight, so to speak, over the past

(24:59):
ten years, but now are comingback. The Texas, the Florida States,
the Organs, the Notre Dames.Because it's the teams that have typically
been the top of college football,they can't hoard all of the talent,
and you know, you have anopportunity where you have guys going to some
of these other programs and sometimes itonly takes two or three guys to make

(25:22):
a program, and especially if youcan get a quarterback that can all of
a sudden put your program in adifferent stratosphere or so to speak. And
I'll use the term elevate because wecan say that. But it does have
that opportunity where now you can bea contender pretty quickly, and then if

(25:45):
you can utilize the transfer portal butthen also continue recruiting, that's going to
be a key aspect. And that'swhy again I equate it to the NFL.
Yes, you're going to utilize freeagency, but NFL teams, the
good ones, the great ones,they build through the draft. It's just
the reality of it because they buildthat foundation and then when they have some

(26:07):
holes, that's when they can goto free agency and bring guys in.
And it's no different with college football. High school high school recruiting is still
going to be paramount. You haveto continue having that funnel of players coming
into your program, those high schoolplayers because you can't just live and die
off of the transfer portal. Nowwe're seeing what Colorado is doing with Dion

(26:32):
an outlier. That's an outlier.I do believe that is truly an outlier
just from a foundational principle. Butyou look at Florida State, they've been
able to have some success bringing someguys in. But also if you look
at what they've been able to doon the recruiting scope of things, they're
out there crushing it recruiting as well, and so that's a big part of

(26:53):
again building those foundations. So again, we'll see how things are going to
play out in the ACS se as. We may or may not have some
rematches. Is Louisville are they goingto maybe surprise some people and maybe they
don't get to the ACC Championship,But could they be a spoiler, Oh,

(27:14):
I would could they be a teamthat knocks somebody off that is unexpected,
and that is something that could definitelyhappen. And there's obviously some other
teams that are out there that mightbe able to do the same thing,
like Miami Hurricanes. So the ACCis still up for grabs, and we
have a lot of football left,and we also have a lot more of

(27:34):
the Ingles Tailgate Show right here onninety two point five w s C.
Much more right after this. Thisis the Engles Tailgate Show on ninety two
point five w E s C.It is a beautiful Saturday morning here in

(28:04):
Greenville as the Cumpson Tigers getting readyto take on the Syracuse Orange right here
on ninety two point five w SC. Yes, mister Don Munson and Tim
Burrey and Reggie Merryweather will be onthe call and you can listen to it
right here on ninety two point fiveWSC as we are continuing the Ingles Tailgate

(28:25):
Show. Richmond Weaver here with youand mister Trey Falco joining me as John
Ellis is a little bit under theweather, so again, John, we
hope you start to feel a littlebit better, but we do have college
football kicking off in just a fewhours, and so hopefully everybody's waking up
to this beautiful sunshine and it's goingto be a fantastic day for college football.

(28:48):
And if you haven't already gotten allyour tailgating or house skating options,
just make sure you go to yourlocal Ingles here in the Upstate. They've
got everything that you need, notonly for what you need for tailgating or
housegating, whatever it might be,but also just your groceries and get your
Ingles Advantage card so you can savemoney inside the store and also at the

(29:11):
gas pump Engles low prices. Lovethe savings now. Also, the game
is on ABC. That's obviously abig audience. And Tom Lugan Bill of
ESPN is the field analyst and isa good friend. I've had him on
my podcast and also on my show, The Richmond Weaver Show on our sister

(29:32):
station one O four nine Fox SportsUpstate, and so he was gracious enough
to allow me to spend some timeas he is probably one of the hardest
working men in all of college football. There's a low question from that standpoint,
but this was my opportunity to catchup with Tom Lugan, Bill,
what is it like Game week foryou in preparation getting ready for a broadcast

(29:56):
and the travel associated with everything,and then especially for a kickoff. Well,
it's a really good question, andyou know, for me, I
co host with Barrett Slee on SeriousXM channel eighty four every Sunday from nine
am to twelve pm Eastern Time torecap the whole entire weekend. Now,
the reason why I bring that upis because depending upon when my game is,

(30:21):
I'm generally on the ABC or theESPN noon or three thirty kick I
may or may not be able toget home on a Saturday night, which
means I have to stay in thehotel everybody else is left. I do
my radio show from the hotel room. Then I go catch a flight and
come home. So if I canget home Saturday night, it really helps
my prep because then I have therest of Sunday after the show to start

(30:42):
getting moving on film study. Butif I don't, then I kind of
get behind because my entire Sunday spenttravel. So Monday basically is several radio
hits. It could range from tenminutes to twenty minutes. I do a
one hour podcast Monday morning, andthen it's recruiting, film study, and
then preparing one of the teams inmy upcoming matchup. Tuesday's essentially the exact

(31:04):
same schedule, and then I joinMark Packer for ACCPM on the ACC Network
every afternoon on Tuesdays. Wednesday isgenerally another podcast College Football Live for television,
and then moving on to the otherteam in our in our contest.

(31:25):
Thursday's travel. Then day like Fridaywould be get up. I do ACC
in the morning for radio, andwe have our coaches meetings for either one
or both of the teams. Saturday, we kicked the ball off and then
you press the reset button, youdo it all over again. That's right.
Well, and I imagine you've gotthe private jet though, so you
can fly in and out whenever youdo. Not well, I do wish

(31:48):
I did, but I do notbecause you know what I've found, you
know, over the years, especiallyon that Sunday, is like I started
to realize that for whatever reason,flight schedules, not many flights take off
between like one in four, Solike if you don't catch that flight that's
at eleven fifteen or eleven thirty ornoon, you're gonna have to wait before
you can actually get out of there, which is a killer for me because

(32:12):
it's just another three four hours oftime that's lost, no question. All
right, So switch into this gameas the Tigers getting ready to take on
the Syracuse Orange. What makes theSyracuse team such a tough out? They
play so hard, they're really wellcoached. For the most part, they
don't beat themselves, which is somethingClemson has done throughout the entirety of this

(32:34):
first month of the season. Thequarterback Garrett Strader has really started to settle
in. He stayed healthy, that'sthe big key. He got injured a
year ago. They're pretty dynamic,even though they've lost some of their top
players, including Ronde Gass. Inthe tight end, Damian Alfred's come right
in and he's another six foot sixguy, and he's kind of plugged right
in there. He had seventeen catchesall last year. He's already got thirteen

(32:58):
now, so he's kind become abit of a go to guy. They
just they're a thorn in your sidebecause they play hard on defense and the
quarterbacks of dynamic runners. So you'vegot to corral him and to figure out
a way to slow him down.But it'll be interesting because this is going
to be the first real test forSyracuse and the schedule to this point has
not been overly difficult. They've donewhat they had to do to come away

(33:20):
with wins, but it comes fromthe different animal. Yes, And that's
one of the things that I wantedto ask you. What have you seen
from your film study, from obviouslyseeing Clemson in that first game where you
were the field analysts there against Daketo where we are now after that game
against Florida State, what have youseen from a progression standpoint for Clemson.
I've seen Clemson outplay each one oftheir opponents in all four of those games,

(33:46):
including two losses. The difference isthey've made so many mistakes, whether
it be turnovers, whether it bepenalties, that the talent is not enough
to overcome it. I thought theycompletely outclassed Florida State. And it's interesting
because you know, you can havea turnover, right, you can have

(34:06):
a penalty, but not all turnoversare created equal. So for example,
like if you have a turnover thatgets scooped and scored, that's different than
having a turnover if somebody falls onit on a fifty yard nine and your
defense goes on the fields. That'sdifferent. That type of stuff's happened in
Clemson against Duke. You're in thereon the two yard line, turnover pops

(34:28):
off, pops out right. Well, if the balls they fall in the
ball right there, the offense hasto go ninety nine yards. Instead it
gets scooped and run to the thirtyeight yard line. It's these types of
things that have happened. It's beensome of its luck. Some of it's
a lack of execution, maybe alack of focus, but they've played good
enough football to win in all fourof their games except for a handful of

(34:52):
players like that. Just from anumbers perspective, how about how about this
one Through fourteen games last year,this was a team that had twenty two
turnovers and thirty five points were scoredoff of those turnovers against Clemson. In
the first four games of this year, they've had only seven turnovers, but
thirty six points in four games havecome off of those turnovers. And that's

(35:14):
the difference. It's bottom line,that is definitely the difference. And help
me then with the headline here,Clemson can get their first ACC victory of
the season by doing what protecting thefootball. It's really the only difference between
them being undefeated and them being twoand two right now. And they've got
their play has gotten better if youwatch the Florida Stick and you watch the

(35:37):
entirety of the game the week beforeversus FAU when they jumped out and got
off to a fast start, whichthey had not done in the previous two
weeks. They've improved each and everyweek. If they just protect the ball,
they're going to be fine. Yes, protecting the ball will be paramount
for the Tigers today. And Tom, we can't thank you enough for your
time. You betman, thanks forhaving me. And that was ESPN analyst

(35:57):
Tom Lucan Bill. The Engles tailgate continues right after this. This is
the Ingalls Tailgate Show on ninety twopoint five w e s C. Now
Here are your hosts, John Ellisand Richmond Weaver live from the Camper Down

(36:29):
Plaza in downtown Greenville. Yes,it is a beautiful Saturday morning and is
a beautiful day for some college footballas the Clemson Tigers get ready to take
on Syracuse Orange in Syracuse, NewYork, kickoff at noon on ABC.
But you can also listen to itright here on ninety two point five w

(36:51):
EESC, part of the Clemson AthleticNetwork. Richmond Weaver here with you on
at the Ingalls Tailgate Show, andmister John Ellis is out being a little
bit under the weather right now,but we know he's going to get better,
So best of health for you,mister John Ellison. Got Trey Falco
back at studio helping out behind theboard and behind the mic as always as

(37:15):
we had opportunity, as you heardlast segment to talk with Tom Lucan bill
Field analyst for ESPN and does afantastic job, and he talked about it
that we've seen Clemson. They've progressed, They've been able to come out and
play much better over the past severalgames. And obviously you can take a
look at Charleston Southern, take alook at Florida Atlantic and how much you

(37:37):
can gain off of that, butmore importantly how they looked against Florida State.
There's obviously a lot of opportunity therefor Clemson in terms of again showcasing
back to the nation the narrative thatClemson is still here, they're not going
away now. Obviously it was atough loss from that perspective, and you've

(37:58):
got to flush that and be ableto move on. Because they're in the
JMA Wireless Dome, it is alittle bit hard to play. We've seen
it in the past, but thisis a great opportunity for Clemson to get
there first ACC victory. And again, this is what's crazy. I can't
believe We're almost at the end ofSeptember. This is the last day of
September and Clemson does not have anACC victory this season, so we'll see

(38:23):
if that can change today. Allright. We also have Top twenty five
action. As we saw last night, Oregon State getting a big win against
Utah. They're in Corvallis. Dj Uley Lay had a maybe somewhat of

(38:43):
a pedestrian type of game, butmade the plays when he had to two
hundred and four yards passing there.But had a big play on fourth down
where it looked like he was goingto have a quarterback sneak, but then
it was able to pitch it andOregon State have a forty five yard touchdown
run as they were able to sealthe deal against Utah. So Oregon State
is a sneaky team out there rightnow. Obviously a tough loss that they

(39:06):
had last week against Washington State,but the PAC twelve, they just right
now seem to be the conference thatis much more in the limelight than what
we would typically see. Obviously,the SEC is going to have the stall
worse we get at the Alabama's,the Georgia's. I understand all of that.
And then LSU, are they ateam that is for real? Can

(39:30):
they be the best team in thein the SEC? And I do believe
that LSU can. And I knowthat might be blasphemous for any of those
Georgia Bulldog fans out there, butI'm telling you they've got a quarterback,
they can do some special things.They do have a test today against Ole
Miss and we'll see how that playsout. But we do have a lot

(39:52):
of top twenty five action and thisis where we're starting to get to separation
in terms of the teams that wesee in each conference. But it's the
PAC twelve with a big showcase todayat noon Southern Cow in Colorado. It's
primetime. It's Dion Sanders and howwill Dion and the boys, how will

(40:13):
they respond after that beat down theyhad against Oregon. In Oregon, they're
forty two to six, and itcould have been a lot worse, and
Oregon pulled back in terms of takingtheir the foot off the gas, so
to speak, as they just seemedto be dominating Colorado from every facet of

(40:37):
the game and from opening kickoff.But I think that was part of what
we expected, to be honest withyou, that this was somewhat going to
be a let down situation for Colorado, and not to say that this is
going to be a let down forthe rest of the season, but there
was so much hype going into Coloradoand obviously that Colorado Colorado State game and

(40:59):
then trying to replicate that same typeof magic where they won in double overtime
out on the road against Oregon.And we know Oregon is a much better
team when you look at overall rosterperspective and just how much better they are
in the trenches than Colorado State,and so will That's why it was going
to be a very, very difficulttask for the Colorado Buffaloes. But I

(41:21):
would have to say this is oneof the things that is great about college
football right now. We've talked aboutit that Dion He's good for college football.
Really, this is just bringing moreopportunities for people to watch college football,
the excitement of college football. Weknow we've got traditions, and we
love those traditions, but what's wrongwith having some disruption here and having an

(41:46):
opportunity where Colorado and primetime that's nota team that you would typically think that
could come and make a splash inthe top twenty five in the world of
college football. And that's why Ido like the aspect of we're seeing many
more viewers for college football, upfourteen percent viewership from last year. And

(42:08):
so this thought that college football isgoing to be hurt by the transfer portal,
nil by conference realignment, all ofthat that is not happening in college
football right now. We're continuing tosee record numbers. And this is what's
interesting coming out of ESPN excluding RivalryWeek because obviously we know a lot of

(42:34):
viewership during Rivalry Week at the endof the season, but excluding that week,
last Saturday was the most watch collegefootball and viewership terms in history.
And now that is impressive when youthink about that, over twelve billion minutes
were watched there from viewership standpoint,So just think about those time type of

(43:00):
numbers that again, yes, youcan say the Deon effect, that is
definitely part of it. But Ido believe it's parody in college football because
we see that in the NFL,and that's what drives a lot of viewership
in the NFL is because there istrue parity in the NFL, and due
to the transfer portal, we're seeingthat parody in college football and it's a
good thing. And I think it'sparody within some of the mega brands that

(43:23):
were used to seeing the Texas ofthe world, Notre Dame coming back,
Oregon coming back, Florida State,Penn State, that those type of teams
that we're used to seeing are nowmaking splashes and they were able to do
that because the transfer portal has helped. And again, now I think the
Colorado scenario, like we talked about, that's an outlier just in terms of

(43:45):
what Dion has been able to doand with the talent that he brought in
and basically clean house and brought inhis own repertoire of players. But this
is a scenario that where you canhave an opportunity now of filling some voids,
filling some holes, but also continuing, can you utilize the transfer portal

(44:08):
to help that foundation that you're buildingthrough high school recruiting, because that is
paramount. And I know we've talkedabout it, but there are a lot
more action in the top twenty fiveand we'll take a look at that as
we continue the Ingles Tailgate Show righthere on ninety two point five WeSC.
And also we know it's Clemson Tigerstaken on the Syracuse Orange, and we'll

(44:30):
take a look at some of theseries history with this matchup where they haven't
played a whole lot, but there'sbeen some tough games within that series.
And also we'll take a look backat remembering that two thousand and eighteen game
there in Death Valley where the Tigersescaped with that victory led by Chase Bryce.

(44:51):
Much more of the Ingles Tailgate Showright here on ninety two point five
WeSC. Back right after this ninetytwo point fe eese AM and FM Greenville,
Spartanburg Anderson. We're talking Clemson Tigersand get you ready for a college
football Saturday in the side. InglesTailgate Show is brought to you by Ingles

(45:13):
Markets, Low Prices, Love theSavings, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative Harley Davidson
of Greenville Career Flooring Center, theSurgery Center at Pellham McKee Heating an Air,
and Palmetto State Armory Reddy. NowHere are your hosts, John Ellis
and Richmond Weaver, and here wego our two of the Ingles tailgate show

(45:37):
right here on ninety two point fiveWeSC as we are broadcasting live from Camperdown
Plaza. Make sure you come checkus out. It is a beautiful Saturday
morning. Richmond Weaver here and misterJohn Ellis is under the weather, but
he will be back, so feelbetter, mister Ellison. We have Trey
Falco, producer extraordinaire, behind theboard and behind the mike, helping us

(46:00):
out here on this wonderful Saturday asthe Clemson Tigers get ready to take on
the Syracuse Orange at noon kickoff onABC. But if you're not able to
watch, how about just listening righthere on ninety two point five WSC part
of the Clemson Athletic Network. MisterDon Munson, timber Ay, and Reggie
Merriweather will be on the call asthe Tigers looking for their first ACC victory

(46:24):
for this twenty twenty three season.And who would have ever thought that Clemson
sitting at oh and two in theACC, but I saw a lot of
positive things in that game against FloridaState, and I think the Tigers are
going to be able to carry oversome of that momentum, even though it
was a tough loss. But Ithink there's a thirst, there's a hunger

(46:46):
for these Clemson Tigers to go outand showcase that this is not a team
that's going to fall apart just becausethey're sitting at oh and two in the
ACC. There's still a lot ofseason left, So I think this is
going to be something that the ClemsonTigers if they can do some certain things,
and part of that is a rungame, which we know they have

(47:07):
the horses to be able to dothat, and also kN Kay club Nick
use his legs in this game.It could be a big factor as far
as why the Tigers I think canwin this game and how they might do
that. But we'll break all ofthat down in just a little bit as
we're continuing here on the Eagles TailgateShow. And so obviously we know that

(47:29):
it is the last day in themonth of September and we're questioning where in
the world did the year ago.And also we're already a quarter of the
way through the season, four gamesinto it. A third of the season.
Now, it's absolutely crazy. Soone of my favorite things to do
though on this date. So let'swalk back in a little bit of history,

(47:52):
Clemson football history that is here onSeptember thirtieth, the Delorian. Time
to take a trip down memory.Last Well, we're going we don't leave
road. It's odd on this dayand Clemson football history. Here's Richmond Weaver.

(48:13):
All right, September thirtieth. Yes, how about we go back to
eighteen ninety six. Yes, we'regoing way back in the DeLorean here eighteen
ninety six, and this is aspecial day in Clemson football history. As
a small crowd would gather in oneof the barracks rooms and they started to

(48:34):
discuss the advisability of organizing a footballassociation and coming up with some means of
getting a head coach. And sothe organization known as the Clemson College Football
Association was formed by President Frank Tompkins, Secretary and Treasury Charlie, Gentry Manager

(48:55):
tr Vogel, and temporary Captain ReubenHamilton. And this committee was appointed to
consult Professor Walter Riggs. Yes,you might know that name, Walter Riggs
as to the management of a footballteam and ask his aid as far as
finding a head coach. So yes, on this date, that's when Clemson

(49:16):
football the genesis would begin with thatcommittee. So that's a very special day.
And how about this in nineteen ofour, Yes, Clemson would begin
practice under new head coach Shack Sheeley, who played varsity ball for six years,
four at Clemson and two at IowaState. And he is still the
only Clemson graduate to serve as headcoach of the Tiger football team. Very

(49:40):
special coach right there. And innineteen fifty Clemson would beat the other Tigers
from Columbia Columbia Missouri, that isas they would beat the Missouri Tigers thirty
four to zero in the second gameof the season, and three Tiger running
backs rushed or at least one hundredyards and it was the second straight game

(50:02):
that Frank Howard's team produced three onehundred yard rushers. That's pretty impressive to
have three running backs rush for eachover one hundred yards. And in two
thousand and on September thirtieth, BobBradley worked his five hundred consecutive Clemson football
game on this state, a fiftytwo to twenty two win at Duke and

(50:24):
Bob Bradley served as Clemson sid orSID emeritus for forty five years. Absolutely
crazy. And Clemson has had onlythree football communication director since nineteen fifty five.
And can you name the other two? Yes, mister Tim Barey,
who did it for a long timeand who will be on the call.

(50:44):
And now we also have Ross Taylor. Fantastic job all the way around for
all three of those guys. Andin September thirty, two, thousand and
seventeen, Clemson would defeat number twelveVirginia Tech thirty one to seventeen on the
road. And with that victory,Clemson became the first school in the history
of the Ape Pole to beat threetop fifteen teams in the month of September,

(51:07):
Yes, three in the month ofSeptember, and Dorian O'Daniel keyed the
defense with a twenty two yard interceptionreturn for a touchdown and was named National
Defensive Player of the Week. Andso overall on this date, September thirtieth,
Clemson is seven and eight all timeand has won its last four games

(51:28):
on this date since nineteen ninety five, So can the Tigers get another victory
here on September the thirtieth, Soyes, that is OTD on this date
for Clemson football history, as theTigers getting ready to take on the Syracuse
Orange there at the JMA Wireless Dome. And it's not the Carrier Dome anymore.

(51:51):
I know, I've said it severaltimes, but it's still hard for
me to wrap my arms around thatit's not the Carrier Dome. But it's
still the Dome, a tough placeto play. And when you look at
this series history against Syracuse, todaywill represent the twelfth meeting clean between Clemson
and the Orange all time, andthe eleventh and regular season play. And

(52:12):
remember the Orange won the very firstmeeting at the nineteen ninety six Gator Bowl
in Jacksonville following that nineteen ninety fiveseason, and it was not a good
game for the Clemson Tigers. Theywere shut out forty one to zero.
And yes, that was a toughone, but Clemson does hold the overall
edge in this series, and lookingat it from those eleven games, Clemson

(52:36):
leads the series nine to two,and at home Clemson is five and oh
and on the road, Clemson leadsthat series four to one and a neutral
site, which obviously that was thatgame in Jacksonville. Clemson is oo and
one and the last meeting. Clemsonwas able to secure that victory last year
twenty seven to twenty one after theywere trailing in that game, and it

(52:57):
was Kade Clubneck coming in and beingable to showcase, hey, there might
be a future here with that quarterbackfrom Austin, Texas, mister Kate club
Nick. But one of the specialgames also that I know Tiger fans will
remember two thousand and eighteen, andthis was a crazy game when you looked
at it from the perspective of youhad Kelly Bryant deciding to transfer after Trevor

(53:24):
Lawrence was being named the starter,and then you had Trevor Lawrence being knocked
out of the game, and thenChase Bryce having to come in that game
and Clemson just looked like they hadno life until it was a fourth down
play Chase Bryce was able to findte Higgins and then Travis Etn continued showcasing

(53:45):
his stellar running opportunities there as Clemsonwould get the victory and I had the
opportunity to help produce Clemson's Greatest Games, which was a docuseries that highlighted some
of the best twelve regular games underheadcoach Dabo Sweeney and had that opportunity and
were very fortunate that it did earnan Emmy, but it was able to

(54:07):
showcase retrospectively looking back at some ofthese fantastic games. And one of them
is that twenty eighteen game. Andso I want to share with you just
a little bit of Clemson's greatest games. And here's some of the audio and
retelling that story. How that gamehappened and how the Tigers were able to

(54:29):
get that victory against Syracuse in DeathValley, which ultimately led them to an
undefeated season fifteen and Ozero and anational championship with Trevor Lawrence. But it
was Chase Bryce was saving the day. Here's Clemson's Greatest Games in two and
eighteen versus Syracuse. This was oneof Clemson's greatest games because there were two

(54:51):
storylines. The quarterback situation between KellyBrian and Trevor Lawrence was one storyline.
The second storyline, which got lostin the shuffle a little bit. This
was a venge game for Clemson.Syracuse had beaten them the year before.
So Monday, I actually go tothe team meeting. That's one of the
thing great things that coach Sweeney allowsme to do is I go to the
team meeting. Now, Monday's isa late team meeting because they practice in

(55:12):
the evening on Monday night. SoI'll walk out in the practice field,
you know, and kind of everything. Then all of a sudden, you
just hear there's like this buzz isgoing around and then you look around and
you figure out Kelly Bryant's not here. Well, boy, the buzz is
out there all over the Clemson communitywith this new where bat. Kelly Bryant
found out he was no longer goingto be starting for Clemson. He announced
Tuesday morning he would be taking histalents elsewhere. Dabo Sweeney decided to make

(55:37):
a change from the starting quarterback positionand elevate Trevor Lawrence into that position and
put Kelly Briant as the second stringer, even though he had not lost a
game he was sixteen and two asa starter for his career. I can
tell you, as a public relationsprofessional, probably the worst time for your
phone to die and to need toget a new phone is right whenever your

(56:00):
previous starting quarterback is apparently not atpractice that evening. Yeah, that week
on campus when Kelly decided to transfer, he didn't show up to practice.
Nobody really heard from him, sowe just thought he was taking time for
himself, which is which is justfine considering what was going on. But
as a team, we just reallydidn't know, so nobody was really asking
questions. Nobody really wanted to aska question because we didn't want some money

(56:22):
to blow up on us. Butinside the locker room, I think we
hated that that situation happened. Wehated it for Kelly, but we had
a game to win, and soTrevior's our quarterback. We're about woker behind
him percent. The fan base wasa little bit divided. I mean,
you had people that love Kelly Bryantand thought he should remain the starter.
You had people that loved Trevor Lawrenceand kind of saw what he could be.

(56:42):
I think from a Clemson fan basedperspective, when they heard the news
that Kelly Bryant wasn't at practice andwas he still with the team, it
was more of a feeling of Okay, he was just gonna collect his thoughts
and gather himself, knowing that hewas just demoted to a second string.
But I think everybody thought he's goingto become back, but that didn't happen.
When we walked into the team meetingroom for Syracuse Week, Sweeney already

(57:06):
had all the videos pulled up,all the clips from last year, the
bad plays. He kind of setin tone for the week, just kind
of getting guys that chip on theirshoulder, just you know, you feel
uncomfortable when you watched that, Yousay, how did we lose the Syracuse
last year? The intrigue of notlya matchup of two hundred feet teams in
late September in the year of twentyeighteen with Syracuse and Clemson, But how
are the Tigers going to respond withTrevor Lawrence at quarterback against the Orange.

(57:30):
It was one of the most interestingweeks leading into a game that I could
ever remember. Challenging week to bea Clemson fan. With all the adversity
going on everything leading up to thisball game, Clemson fans were just ready
to go sit in death Valley watchClemson get an easy win. Little did
they know the biggest adversity was yetto come. Now. People forget how

(57:55):
good Syracuse was this season. Goinginto the game. They were not ranked,
but they were four no and they'reaveraging forty nine points per game.
Syracuse got off to a fairly quickstart. In the game, they're up
six nothing, Clemson comes back,takes a seven six league. People are
feeling pretty good about things, andthen you know, second quarter happens and
on the key third down, TrevorLawrence he rolls out to his left and

(58:19):
he's fighting for extra yards because he'sa competitor. He's not just going to
run out of bounds. And sureenough, as he's trying to fight for
those extra yards, a Syracuse defendercomes over and you know a collision is
going to happen, and sure enoughit does, and it's a loud thought.
You could hear it in the standsand Trevor Lawrence hits the ground,
rolls over and you could tell hewas hurt. And at that point,

(58:42):
death Valley was quiet. Hurt,got hit and name down look at says
it stands. You can sense itin the whole stadium, the energy kind
of people just holding their breath.And at that particular time, that non

(59:07):
was Lawrence out of the game.But Syracuse had done a pretty nice job.
They kind of controlled the first halfof a game that quite frankly,
I thought Thompson would roll in.All of a sudden, there's no Kelly
Bryant, there's no Trevor Lawrence.And you looked up at the scoreboard at
halftime and Syracuse as the league.Meanwhile, you know, you have the
ABC broadcast crew in town. Seanmcdonoh, Todd Blacklige, and hollyrow were

(59:30):
calling the game, and obviously thehuge storyline going into this game, and
what they talked about all the firsthalf is Kelly Bryant's no longer with the
program. Trevor Lawrence is your starter, and that's kind of the end of
the story. And if he goesdown, well we won't really worry about
that. And sure enough here comesChase Price. Is nerve racking. You
got a lot dependent on you,trying to keep your season alive, and

(59:51):
like, if we don't, youknow, if we don't win, like
we don't go to the HC Championship. Yeah, the team had a cons
of comtists in Chase. We'd nevernever lost doubt in him because we knew
what he was doing during practice allthrough camp, and just his preparation,
we knew we could really count onhim. He makes us throws every day
in practice. Clempson is still downtwenty three to twenty and there's only six

(01:00:15):
minutes left in the game. Theyhave the ball at their own six yard
line, staring down ninety four yardsbetween them and the opportunity to finally take
the lead. Dtn had been thehot guy throughout the fourth quarter and he
runs the ball, but he's justone yard short. So it sets up
a fourth and one, and atthis point coach Sweeney, you know,

(01:00:37):
decides that he wants to go forit, so he goes to the line
of scrimmagers to call a play,and Appenalty has called on Clempson to make
it fourth and sixth instead of fourthand one. Big difference, probably the
difference between call and a running playand a passing play for your inexperienced quarterback,
you know, the one play thatyou will look back at the twenty

(01:00:57):
eighteen season and circle there's a tonof them to do it. But when
Chase Brice on fourth and six,games on the line, either make the
play or it's a loss. Helooked like he had the composure of a
guy that's been doing it for ahundred years. It's fourth and six and
the twenty eighteenth season is riding onthe fourth and six because if they don't
get it, we lose the game. And we knew we can't lose the
secuse twice in a row. Idon't think we can bounce back from that

(01:01:20):
and somehow end up in the playoffs. So I'm continuing to kind of walk
slash jog around the stadium to gohandle my postgame responsibilities, and I can't
see what's happening, and I justhear a huge collective roar, and I
was in the hands of Death Valleyto tell me what had happened. And
then sure enough I hear past completeto Tee Higgins first down, Clemson.

(01:01:40):
I feel the ball and I'm like, oh, hey, I mean it
felt good, it came out nice. He might catch this some stride and
so likely, you know, ithit him right there and he touched it
boom, first down. And afterwardsit was just like energy, like I
felt the energy within the stadium.Dabbo told everybody, Hey, I can
win with Chase Brice, and Iknow a lot of folks said, ah,

(01:02:02):
you know, it's old Dabbo justgiving me a coach speak. Well,
man alive? Was it ever puton the big screen for Chase Brice
and the Tigers on that fourth andsix. So now Clemson finally has the
lead, but there's still forty oneseconds to go in the game, and
all eyes are on Eric Dungee.And there's one thing we know about him.
He has a lot of confidence.But as he steps back and looks

(01:02:23):
to his left on that first downplay, he has no idea that Xavier
Thomas is coming around the edge andhas him in his sights. When you
put somebody on the ground as hardas he did, it really throws somebody
off their game. Dungee ways ashot to snap. Also that wire Hash
takes a snap. Here comes part. Make sure that he hit him blush.

(01:02:52):
You can hear the crunch from theimpact and into the ground when he
put him in the ground pretty good. And you get a big guy like
Dungeia that'll knock the bath that hehit you back like Kep And the game
ends with the Clemson winning by almostthe same score. Syracuse had defeated the
Tigers of previous year after that sack. Everybody in Death Valley knew that that
game was over. It just seemedto be an exclamation point to signify not

(01:03:16):
only all of the adversity that thatteam had faced that week, the roller
coaster ride of emotions, but justunderstanding how that team was able to pull
together and find a way to win. What a memory there back in two

(01:03:37):
eighteen as the Tigers get that victoryand had an opportunity to help produce that
along with Mark Childress and we hadKendall, Joseph there Ross Taylor, Don
Munson, Mark Packer, Tanner Musereliving some of those memories, Timbrey and
also we did hear from Chase Bryceas he talked about that throw and that

(01:03:58):
catch and ultily allowing the Tigers tocontinue their magical season going fifteen and oh
and I still believe one of thegreatest teams in all of college football history
based on what they were able todo. Obviously, you have roller coaster
rides. You have games, andI've talked about it several times where you
might have different versions of your teamthroughout the season, and through a twelve

(01:04:24):
fifteen game season, you might havefifteen different versions of your team, and
that was one of those where theTigers had to utilize everything that they could
and also even utilizing the crowd atDeath Valley help them get that victory against
Syracuse and again propel them to anational championship. There Trevor Lawrences freshman year,

(01:04:46):
but it was Chase Brice who helpedsave the day with that fourth and
six. And we will talk aboutfourth and sixteen obviously against LSU, but
how about that fourth and six againstSyracuse. Absolutely fantastic. And we will
continue the Ingles Tailgate Show right hereon ninety two point five w SC right
after this. This is the InglesTailgate Show on ninety two point five w

(01:05:12):
e s C. Now Here areyour hosts, John Ellis and Richmond Weaver
live from the Camperdown Plaza in downtownGreenville. It is a beautiful Saturday morning,

(01:05:36):
and hopefully everybody is out there andjoin this early morning and maybe you
were able to already get out fora little bit of a walk or have
your coffee right now and getting readyfor some fantastic college football as the Clemson
Tigers taking on the Syracuse Orange kickoffat noon on ABC, or you can
just listen to it right here onninety two point five w SC, part

(01:05:59):
of the Clemson Athletic Network. DonMunson, timber Ray, and Reggie Merryweather
will be on the call. Somake sure you just keep it tuned in
right here and you can listen toit anywhere that you want, just through
the iHeart Radio app. Just makesure you download that through the app store
or on Google Play. And onceyou do that, just search ninety two
point five and you'll be able tofind this station WeSC and then you can

(01:06:23):
listen whenever and wherever you need to. And knowing that we also at this
time want to take an opportunity tobring in our good friend mister Will Van
der Voort of the Clemson Insider,the senior writer for Clemson Insider Inside.
Look as the Tiger's getting ready totake on the Orange and Will, so,
can you set the scene right nowyou're Saturday morning and how things are

(01:06:46):
playing out for you my friend?Yeah, right now, it's just sitting
by myself, breaking a cup ofcoffee, get ready for the game,
just kind of taking it easy alittle bit, as I'm sure the Tie
are right now as well as they'reprobably probably going through their morning meeting,
I'm sure, or just finishing uptheir morning meeting. There. Day actually

(01:07:06):
begins way earlier than ours. Brigally, they'll get up around six o'clock in
the morning and you know, andstart having team meetings and stuff like that.
So breakfast and a team meeting andthey'll go through they'll go through some
things and then they'll get all thebuses and head on over. I think
they're gonna be at the stadium aroundten o'clock. There's about another hour and
a half they'll be able at thedome getting ready for that game. So

(01:07:29):
yeah, so that's that's my morning. Nothing exciting, that's for sure.
Oh well, what's your what's yourpregame meal? Will before these noon kickoffs?
My pregame meal generally, if it'sa game like this, they'll have
they'll have bacon and eggs and stufflike that in the press box show and
maybe donuts and so that's my freegame meal. It's not the very healthiest
in the world, but that's lifeof the sportswriter. Yes it is.

(01:07:51):
It depends on the time the kickoff. What my pregame meal is? That
is right, all right? Asyou're there in Syracuse, will you're from
your perspective and being able to watchgames there. What makes the Dome such
a challenging place. And we knowit's no longer the Carrier Dome, it's
the JMA Wireless Dome, but it'sstill the Dome. What makes it such

(01:08:13):
a challenge. Yeah. The thingthat's interesting about it is the depth perception
is very interesting. I mean,you know, it's different than most domes,
you know, because I want tosay the Carrier Dome most I know
the dome. The dome, itsits right on top of you. So
it's not like you know, ifyou go to like the old Georgia Dome

(01:08:38):
or anything like that, where thefield is you know, the sidelines are
bigger, they got more space,and so here that space isn't there.
And so the depth perception for thequarterback is I always say it's almost like
playing in Arena league football. It'slike the player. The sidelines are right
on top of the field, sothey're right there. The fans are right

(01:08:58):
on top of you. It getsIt can get loud. It doesn't have
to have that many people get loud. It doesn't gonna be a sellout,
you know, to get loud.It gets and that's not like, don't
get me wrong, it's not likeDeath Valley loud, but it's loud enough
and it can become a aggravation forthe opposing team's offense. The noise can,
especially if it's a tight game.So it's just because it's sitting right

(01:09:20):
on top of you. It's justit's really hard to explain if you've never
been there before. But it's it'snot the way you see it on TV.
It's pretty much high. I seeit in the press box. I
mean it's because of the camera andthe TV is right next to us in
the press box. I mean literallyit is in the press box. I
mean it's it's not a huge place, so you know, everybody's right on

(01:09:41):
top of each other, and soit's kind of hard to explain. But
it's definitely a different environment. It'snot it's like Davo is good for.
One of the things they do wellis they go over there the day before
do a walk through, so theplayers can kind of get a feel for
it a little bit, especially somebodyk Plublic has never been there, the
freshmen that have never been there,because it's just a different kind of game.
And Richard here's another thing. Whenyou get up there, it's like

(01:10:04):
going to a basketball game. It'snot like going to a football game because
there's no tailgating hardly there at anyof that. Everybody just kind of shows
up like right before kickoff, likethey would do if it was the basketball
game. They show it right fortipoff, right, So it's it's just
a little different kind of atmosphere andenvironment than it is here in Clemson.
So that's why I think some reasonwhy Clemson, you know, has it

(01:10:26):
struggles up there. Now. Idon't know why they struggle here in Clemson
against them, but that's why theystruggle up there. Yeah, that's right.
Well, and it obviously is atough place to play when you talk
about football, but even from thebasketball side, we know how difficult it
is from a basketball perspective. Also, so the Dome it has its own
unique challenges and that's what makes itsuch a great opportunity for home field advantage

(01:10:49):
for the Orange there. But nowrewinding just a little bit, as we're
talking with Will Vanderford, senior writerfor The Clemson Insider and also co host
of The Belief and Clemson Football podcastalong with Levon Kirkland. So rewinding to
last week, and obviously we knowyou've got to turn the page and tough
loss there in overtime against Florida State. But from your perspective, will,

(01:11:13):
what did you see that you sawbreaking things down that gives you this,
you know, renewed sense that aClemson is still Clemson. It might not
be the Clemson that we've seen,you know, in this past several seasons,
you know, being a national championshipcontender, but Clemson is still talented

(01:11:34):
team and they can compete with anybody. Yeah, I mean they You know,
when I watched that game last week, I mean Clemson was the better
team. There's no doubt in mymind. I would love to see and
I think the chances of that aslim, especially with Louisville staying underfead play,
but you know, I think theI would love to see another Clemson

(01:11:58):
four state rematch because I think Clemsonwould beat them because I think by the
time they get to that point,Clemson's going to be a better team.
Of course, Florida State will betoo. But when you dominate the lines
of scrimmage the way Clemson did tome, that always tells you who the
better team is now, it doesn'tmean you're always going to win the game.
And that's what we saw last week. I think the better team did
not win the game Florida State.You give them credit. They made place

(01:12:20):
when they had to and they founda way to win. But if you're
Clemson, you know you can lookat that and say, Okay, we're
close to being where we need tobe, but they have to show up.
These little things, and these littlethings are making our turning are really
big things, as the turnovers andkey moments. Guy just not you know,

(01:12:41):
doing his job and blocking when heneeds to. Because of that strip,
sack, fumble, scoop and scoreand then of course missing a kick
the field goal continues to be anissue for Clemson and maybe they'll get showed
up as they continue to go withthe veteran guy and Jonathan Whites, maybe
that'll get or he seems even withthe miss kick last week, he was

(01:13:02):
very mature the way he handled itand all. And I had no doubt
that he'll be able to, youknow, come back and bounce back from
that. But you know, we'llfind out. And so see, that's
that's what the day is Richmond today, is like, Okay, you saw
some good stuff last week. Wellmaybe Clemson. I think a lot of
Clemson people came out of that gamefeeling better about Clemson because they just bought
four or State was gonna just beathim up and down the field, and

(01:13:25):
then what they saw is Clemson wasbetter. And so I think that gives
people hope. But what you gottado is you gotta follow that up today.
You gotta go on the road andfollow that up and find a way
to get a road win today.I don't care how you do it.
You need to figure it out.And you know, so maybe the table
turns now because remember Clemson their timethey've seen to play Syracuse, they turned
the ball over four or five timesand allow Syracuse to either win the game

(01:13:46):
or be right there at it.You know, maybe the worm turns this
time and Clemson forces to turnovers andthen they get out of they go out
on the road and get a bigwin when they need one desperately. So,
you know, I'm sure you've mentionedthis, but Slimson is trying to
avoid being oz and three in theACC for the first time since nineteen ninety
eight. We were both young menthen Richmond So that's the while. Yes,

(01:14:10):
that has been a while, andit's hard to even fathom that Clemson
is sitting here at the end ofSeptember and has not won an ACC game
as of yet. But I dobelieve watching last week does show that we're
starting to see some progress from Clemson. That yes, again, just that

(01:14:30):
turnover, and I still don't evenunderstand these statistics that have to go into
that from a probability standpoint. Imean, what's the probability of at that
particular moment you have the blitz andyou miss the assignment and you have the
fumble, but it bounces just perfectlyto Florida State and they run it back
for a touchdown. I it goeshow different would that game of Ben Will

(01:14:51):
if Clemson fumbles but Florida State itjust only falls on the ball, And
it's a completely different type of scenariofrom that standpoint. So it's all those
little things that have obviously added up. But help me with the headline will
right here, Clemson gets this victoryand their first victory of this twenty twenty

(01:15:12):
three season in the ACC by doingwhat today by it sounds clichet, man,
but you just talked about it.You know, it's just like Clemson's
they're sort of snake bit with theseturnovers. But by taking care of the
football one that's on the on theoffensive side, they gotta play a clean
game. Again, they gotta winthe turnover battle. Clemson wins if they

(01:15:32):
win the turnover battle. That's that'sa fact. We know that in the
case because they don't when they don't. So it's pretty simple. And then,
you know, I think the nextkey is also, you know,
Clemson limits. I would say abig head line could be Clemson limits Strader.
Garret Strader is a talented young manat quarterback. He could do a

(01:15:55):
lot of different things. He's youknow, he's so he's so able to
escape out of the pocket and gethis team in situations where they're time ways
to make well. He finds waysto make plays down the field. Dabo
talked about at the other days.And he's so good at that. So
they've got to keep him contained.They can't over rush him. And they

(01:16:15):
got one thing, Richmond, They'vegot to have a spy on him.
I mean, they've got to havesomebody spying him constantly, you know what
I'm saying, and giving him agiving him a good look, because if
you take your eyes off him andhe gets out of the pocket, generally
good things happen for Syracuse when thathappens. Yes, and we have seen
Garrett Schrader, and it seems likethese Syracuse Orange quarterbacks they're almost prototypes of

(01:16:38):
each other through an Eric Dungee tonow Garrett Schrader. I mean, they
play very similarly from that perspective,and so it will be a tall task
for the Clemson Tigers. But WillVandervoort, we always thank you for your
time, So best of luck foryou for travels safely back to this part
of the country, and hopefully you'llget your bacon and eggs there press box,

(01:17:00):
my friend. Yeah, man,I appreciate it. And you guys
be careful too, and you know, maybe next week we'll be like talking
about a win. Yes, sir, that is Will Van der Voort of
the Clemson Insider, senior writer thereand he joins us each week for an
inside look as the Clemson Tigers gettingready to take on the Syracuse Orange.
They're in Syracuse at the j mA Wireless Dome, Yes, JMA Wireless

(01:17:25):
Dome, not the Carrier Dome.Anymore. All right, we will continue
the Ingles Tailgate Show right here onninety two point five w E s C
looking at some of the key matchupsin this game against the Syracuse Orange.
Much more right after this. Thisis the Engles Tailgate Show on ninety two
point five w E s C.The Eagles Tailgate Show right here on ninety

(01:18:08):
two point five WSC continues live fromCamperdown Plaza here in downtown Greenville. It
is a fantastic Saturday morning, andthis is what I'm talking about, fall
weather here college football getting ready tokick off in just a few hours as
the Clemson Tigers in Syracuse, NewYork at the JMA Wireless Dome getting ready

(01:18:30):
to take on the Syracuse Orange.Geckoff is at noon and you can watch
that on ABC or just listen toit right here on ninety two point five
WeSC. Part of the Clemson AthleticNetwork, Mister Don Munson, Timberrey,
and Reggie Merriweather will be on thecall as the Clemson Tigers trying to secure

(01:18:51):
their first ACC victory of this twentytwenty three season. As we just had
Will Vandervoort from the Clemson Inside ontalking about that Clemson has not started oh
and three in the ACC since nineteenninety eight. Yes, that is a
long time for the Tigers to besitting there winless in the ACC. And

(01:19:13):
obviously we know how important it is. This year, there's no divisions in
the ACC. So it will takesome things that are outside of Clemson's control
for Clemson to be able to getto Charlotte to have an opportunity to compete
for an ACC championship this season.So yes, probability the statistics are not
in Clemson's favor. But the firstthing they have to do, you have

(01:19:38):
to get this victory on the roadagainst Syracuse and we'll see how that plays
out in just a few hours.But let's take a look at the tail
of the tape between the Orange andthe Clemson Tigers. When you look at
how Syracuse is right now four andoh and obviously four and o that's impressive,
they're undefeated right now, but youalso have to look at who they

(01:20:00):
have played. So they beat Coalgateto open the season sixty five to zero,
and so yes, they did beatToothpaste, and you definitely do not
want to lose to Toothpaste. Andthen also follow that up with a win
versus Western Michigan forty eight to seven. They did beat Purdue at Purdue thirty
five to twenty and then beat Armytwenty nine to sixteen. And so in

(01:20:20):
all reality, the one game,yes, you can say Army at home,
that's a nice win. Army isa competitive team, but then on
the road at Purdue. Anytime youcan go on the road and it win
against a Power five opponent, thatis significant there. But outside of that,
Syracuse has not played a difficult scheduleand not to the likes of what

(01:20:43):
Clemson has played so far. Now, obviously Clemson had Charleston Southern and Florida
Atlantic there, but the book endso far has been the game against Duke.
Duke is a much better team thansome people think. And then also
obviously Florida State, and we knowFlorida State with their talented roster, and
also what they were able to doagainst LSU. It's a difficult matchup with

(01:21:08):
Florida State. So right now,even though Clemson is winless in the ACC,
I do believe they obviously played atougher schedule than Sarrascuse. So when
you look at the tail of thetape from a scoring offensive perspective, Syracuse
is averaging forty four points per game, Clemson thirty six points per game.
And the scoring defense, this iswhat's interesting. Syracuse is only giving up

(01:21:31):
eleven points per game, actually tenpoint eight, and Clemson is giving up
twenty two point five. And againyou have to look at it though,
from a perspective just who has Clemsonplayed and who has Syracuse played, and
that's the difference that we're looking fromthat perspective. Then you look at it
from a rushing perspective, rushing offensefor Syracuse over two hundred and thirteen yards

(01:21:57):
rushing average and Clemson just under twohundred at one ninety nine. And a
big part of Syracuse their rushing attack, now, if they don't have Randre
Gadson is Garrett Schrader the quarterback,and he is able to beat people with
his legs and that's what makes himso dangerous. And we've talked about Jordan
Travis and how he can have anopportunity of extending plays with his legs.

(01:22:21):
Now, I do believe against Clemsonhe probably wasn't one hundred percent with the
shoulder injury that he suffered against BostonCollege and maybe that limited his ability to
get out and run, and maybethey were wanting him not to get out
and run just to make sure hedidn't take some of those extra hits.
But Clemson did such a great jobshutting down the rushing attack from Florida State

(01:22:45):
overall, and so I do believethat's going to be a big part of
Clemson being able to slow down thisrushing attack of Syracuse, and a lot
of it has to do with GarrettSchrader the quarterback and how he can use
his legs. And now, froma rushing defensive perspective, Clemson's holding teams
to seventy nine yards rushing and Syracuseholding teams to eighty nine yards rushing.

(01:23:08):
And then from a passing perspective,Syracuse is averaging almost three hundred yards passing
per game, Clemson at two seventyfive. And then from a passing defensive
perspective, it's almost identical. Bothteams are giving up basically one hundred and
eighty five yards there from the air. And then now, this is what's
interesting though, when you look atSyracuse where they have had success and being

(01:23:30):
able to go on the road againstits red zone offense and right now they're
converting eighty percent of their trips inthe red zone to scores, where Clemson
is at sixty eight percent, andthat's been a big factor in terms of
why Clemson didn't get that victory againstDuke. Multiple trips into the red zone
there and we're not able to securethat victory just based on giving up the

(01:23:56):
ball. And you've got to beable to score in the red zone and
Sarah has been able to do thatthis season so far. That a lot
of it still has to do withthe fact that has Syracuse played the level
of opponents that Clemson has, atleast with Duke in Florida State. It's
still early, obviously in the season, so there's going to be much more
opportunities for these teams to play stiffercompetition. But we do know red zone

(01:24:23):
offense is a big factor as faras why teams can win and why teams
struggle at times, and that's abig part of it right now that Clemson
is not being able to execute insome of those scenarios. And it's one
thing to get field goals, it'sanother that you have to score touchdowns,
and obviously, with Clemson's kicking situation, right now. It's going to be

(01:24:43):
very important for the Tigers to beable to convert points with touchdowns when they
get to the red zone and nothave to rely on Jonathan White's and being
able to score field goals. Goesagain at the end of the day,
especially when you're on the road,you have to score touchdowns and I think
that's going to be a big partof Clemson's success. Can they get into

(01:25:03):
the red zone and convert those tripsto the red zone into scoring opportunities and
again obviously scoring touchdowns and how importantthat's going to be. And then time
of possession. This is another thingthat I think Tiger fans need to look
at. Almost thirty two minutes pergame for Clemson twenty nine for Syracuse,

(01:25:25):
so very close there. But Ithink from an opportunity, can Clemson establish
the run and be able to utilizethe effectiveness of Will Shipley and Filmfa control
the clock, and then Kade Clubnikuse his legs also to be able to
help the rushing attack for Clemson.Can you have this three headed monster,

(01:25:45):
so to speak? And I thinkthat's what we saw against Florida State.
Kade made some good decisions by beingable to not try to force things,
take what the defense can give you, get a few yards with his legs,
extend plays from that perspective, andcontinuing to hold onto the ball and
run the clock and keep it inyour side. And that's going to be

(01:26:06):
a big part for Clemson Tigers today. Can they control some of the clock
by keeping the ball with their rushingattack, Because if there's a weakness for
Syracuse, it's their rush defense,and I do believe that Tigers can take
advantage of that based on the talentthat they have. All Right, when
we come back, though, we'llgive you our final thoughts and maybe even

(01:26:28):
a score prediction right here on theIngles Tailgate Show ninety two point five WSC.
Much more right after this. Thisis the Engles Tailgate Show on ninety
two point five w e s C. Now Here are your hosts, John
Ellis and Richmond Weaver live from CamperdownPlaza in downtown Greenville. It is a

(01:27:09):
beautiful Saturday morning getting ready for ourcollege football. This is the fall weather
that I'm talking about, a littlebit crisp in the morning, but we
do have the sunshine and it doeswarm up a little bit, so it
is a fantastic day for college football. We have a lot of action to
get to, but obviously we arerunning out of time as we will be
handing things off to the Clemson AthleticNetwork, where you can listen to right

(01:27:32):
here on ninety two point five WSC. Mister Mark Childers will be hosting the
Ingles Tiger Tailgate Show presented by UpCountry Fiber. So make sure you stay
tuned as we will continue breaking downall of this action. But right now,
let's take a look at just interms of how things might play out
here for Clemson traveling to Syracuse withkickoff at noon on ABC, but again

(01:27:56):
you can listen to it right hereon ninety two point fives, part of
the Clemson Athletic Network. And sothis comes down to a fact that I
think Clemson they're hungry, They've gotan appetite for a victory, they want
to get their first ACC win.And I know there's been a lot of
talk that, hey, this isa scenario where Clemson struggles against Syracuse or
Syracuse plays Clemson really tough, andI understand that, but when you look

(01:28:19):
at it, Clemson five trips tothe Dome there, they've averaged thirty three
points versus Syracuse averaging thirteen points.So I think this is going to be
an opportunity where Clemson's actually going tocome out and show the muscle that they
have, and I'm saying the Tigersare going to cover that spread. They're
going to win twenty seven to thirteena day and get back on track get

(01:28:42):
their first ACC victory here in twentytwenty three. But we appreciate you listening
here to the Ingles Tailgate Show righthere on ninety two point five w SC
and get ready for Clemson Tigers takenon the Syracuse Orange at noon. Talk
to you next Saturday

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Ingles Tailgate Show #42 - Clemson vs Syracuse 9-30-2023

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Ingles Tailgate Show #42 - Clemson vs Syracuse 9-30-2023