Saturday, October 5, 2013
Syracuse, New York
JMA Wireless Dome
"And we are here in New York to see the game in which the Clemson Tigers team visits the JMA Wireless Dome to play against the Syracuse Orange," the voice of Sean McDonough said while the cameras gave views around the stadium in the moments before the game kicked off.
In one particular part of the stands, the camera focused on a girl holding a sign that read, "Orange looks better on us," and upon seeing herself along with the sign appear on the stadium screens, her mood became more lively, just like the spectators around her.
"I'll say, Sean. Let's remember that the last time these two teams faced each other was in 1996," Chris Spielman said once the camera returned to the upper part of the stadium, where the two commentators had a view of the field in the background.
"41-0 was the score of that game, with Syracuse being the author of that slaughter," Sean finished informing. "If I'm not mistaken, at that time you were still active, right, Chris?" Sean continued conversing with a smile on his face.
"Yep, at that time I had just transferred to Buffalo," Chris said, unable to prevent a nostalgic smile from settling on his face as he remembered his years as a professional player. "But well, let's move on to what's important." Shaking his head, Chris decided to set nostalgia aside to concentrate on what mattered.
"I'll say. After all, this time Syracuse's victory won't be as easy as it was last century," Sean said while a breakdown of both teams' statistics so far this season was displayed on the screen.
"The Clemson Tigers come in maintaining a streak of 4 straight victories with Wyatt Sterling at the helm of the offense following the tragic injury suffered by Tajh Boyd in week 3," Sean kept informing with his gaze fixed toward the camera.
"With a style of play very oriented toward the professional realm, while on the other hand, Syracuse's offense leans more toward the ground game with a great defense," Sean finished explaining, for Chris to then resume the conversation.
"We also cannot forget that the Syracuse team is under the command of coach Scott Shafer, who was previously the defensive coordinator before taking control of the team this season following the resignation of Doug Marrone, who was hired to coach the Buffalo Bills," Chris explained, giving a summary of the latest events that had occurred around the Syracuse University football program.
Following that explanation, the camera shifted to show the final moments of preparation, in which both teams found themselves performing their last warm-ups before the game began in a few minutes.
"And on the other side, we have the veteran Dabo Swinney at the helm of the Tigers team," while Sean's voice was heard on the screen, the cameras pointed to a specific corner of the field where Dabo was next to Chad, discussing something in a low voice with his mouth covered by the clipboard.
"And the commander of the team's entire offense is Wyatt Sterling, who has demonstrated being up to the expectations we have for him," Chris added while the camera shifted to show a close-up of Wyatt.
On the field, Wyatt was with a ball in his hands before throwing a simple pass in the direction of Laquon, before one of the team assistants passed him another ball and he practiced throwing another pass, finishing warming up before the game.
After that, both teams headed toward the players' tunnel, ready for the coaches to give the final instructions before the game officially began.
Once inside the visitors' locker room, the players took their seats in front of their lockers while Coach Swinney walked until placing himself in the middle of the room, drawing the attention of everyone present toward him.
"I'm not going to say anything I haven't said before. We have practiced, and we have studied our rivals," Dabo began with his speech, while his hands gestured quickly, motivating his players.
"So go out there and show all those fans that orange only belongs to one team, and that one is ours!!" Dabo shouted the last phrase, causing the players' morale to rise and they began to roar in response.
"Let's go for the win!!" Sammy shouted, standing up with his voice resonating through the entire locker room.
"Win! Win!" the players shouted, echoing the sentiments of all the players present, who began to march in the direction of the exit toward the playing field, disposed to defeat the Syracuse team.
Leaving the locker room, the Tigers team encountered the Syracuse team, who were already in position, ready to take the field.
All of them had a serious look, since they knew that this would be the most difficult game they were going to face so far this season, because up until now, the rivals they had faced could not compare to the Clemson team.
Coach Shafer had stressed several times that defense would be very important in this game, especially in the passing game, on which most of the Tigers team's plays were based.
With both teams taking the field, the referee of this matchup, Pat Garvey, called Wyatt to the front for the coin toss, which would decide whether they would start on offense or on defense.
"Tails," Wyatt said as soon as he was in front of the referee, not wanting to waste any more time, being received by the nod of the referee's head as he flipped the coin.
As if time stood still, Wyatt saw how the coin spun slowly in the air until it hit the ground, being received by the reverse side of the coin.
"Defer," Wyatt said, receiving the nod of the referee's head while Wyatt nodded and returned to his side of the field, giving entry to Clemson's special teams for the opening kickoff.
With that decision already made, the game officially kicked off, with the Tigers team's kicker kicking the ball with force toward the other half of the field, where it was caught by one of the Syracuse players, who began running in the direction of the other half of the field where the Tigers team began running, seeking to bring him down.
Finally, the Syracuse player was brought down at the 38-yard line of his own field, the place where the offense would begin with their 1st and 10, having Clemson's defense ahead of them.
Terrell Hunt took position behind his offensive line, facing the Clemson defense, who had firm looks as they prepared to be able to bring him down as quickly as possible.
Taking a deep breath, Terrell sought to calm himself, to then stand firm and flex his knees, ready to be able to begin with the team's offense. "Set Hut!" he shouted, to immediately receive the ball between his hands.
With the offensive line controlling Clemson's defense, Terrell wasted no time and passed the ball toward the team's star running back, Tyson Gulley, who the moment the ball was between his hands, secured it against his chest before beginning to run straight toward the line of scrimmage.
Running straight toward a corner, the offensive line granted him enough time for Tyson to cross the line of scrimmage without any problem and continue with his run before one of the cornerbacks got in front of him, seeking to close his path and bring him down.
Nonetheless, Tyson, with his experience, immediately extended his free hand to be able to stiff-arm the cornerback and thus allow himself to keep running freely, leaving him slightly behind.
But while it's true he could pass the first defense, Coach Brent Venables was already prepared for a situation like that, which was why he had rehearsed similar situations during the week.
Reason why as soon as Tyson passed the cornerback, he did not have as much luck against the linebacker who had approached, ending up brought down after a run of 11 yards, ending with him being tackled out of bounds.
"And with that run, Tyson Gulley grants them a new 1st and 10 for the Syracuse team," the voice of Sean could be heard, narrating the last play while in the editing booth they began to show the play in slow motion to all the viewers and spectators through the large screens that the venue had.
"It has to be said, Syracuse's ground game is one of the best in recent weeks, something the Tigers will have to deal with quickly if they want to come out with the victory from here," Chris said while referee Pat Garvey picked up the ball and put it directly on the 49-yard line of Syracuse's own field for them to begin with their new 1st and 10.
"Good," Coach Scott Shafer could not help but murmur, seeing how things so far were going according to his plans.
He more than anyone knew the weaknesses in the passing game that the Syracuse team had since his days as defensive coordinator, which was why he had focused completely on the ground game, trusting entirely in Tyson's abilities to gain yards.
Bringing his hand directly toward the earpiece he had in his ear, Coach Scott began to give instructions to Terrell. "Hunt, keep it up, this time let's move to the 2nd strategy we have planned," he said, to then be received by Terrell's thumbs-up, confirming that he had caught the instructions.
"2nd formation! 2nd formation!!" Terrell shouted, his voice resonating across the entire field, causing slight changes in the team's formation, with one of the receivers shifting to the other side and the running back going deeper.
"Set Hut!" he shouted, to then receive the ball while the offensive line ran straight to intercept Clemson's defensive line, who executed a blitz, seeking to take the offensive line by surprise with the sole objective of being able to break through them and be able to get hold of the ball.
Terrell, seeing that, hesitated for a moment before sticking to the plan and beginning to run straight toward the line of scrimmage, hoping his teammates could hold off the defense even if briefly.
Although taken by surprise, Syracuse's offensive line stood firm and tried with all their strength to hold off the Clemson players, who were pushing with all their might, seeking to prevent them from advancing.
Holding the ball with more force against his chest and tucking his head slightly, Terrell began to increase his speed, charging recklessly against Clemson's entire defense.
Despite having been able to break through the tackles, the prepared linemen managed to stop him after he had crossed only 3 yards, for a 2nd and 7.
On third down, he finally attempted a 15-yard pass, which ended up being incomplete thanks to the interference of cornerback Martin Jenkins, wasting Syracuse's second opportunity.
With 7 yards remaining for a new set of downs and being 51 yards away from the end zone, Terrell knew that a field goal from that distance was something almost impossible, so he could only trust in Tyson's personal ability to get them out of this trouble.
That was how on 4th down, Terrell granted the ball to Tyson while watching how the latter charged bravely straight toward the line of scrimmage, directly facing Clemson's entire defense.
But on this occasion, the defense was more prepared after Coach Venables made the necessary adjustments along with Dabo, thus preventing Tyson from gaining a new opportunity and thus ending Syracuse's first offensive series.
"And it seems that the Syracuse team goes away empty-handed in this round," Sean said, seeing how both teams withdrew and the Tigers' offense entered straight onto the field with Wyatt being at the front of everyone.
"I'll say, and now we will see if the Tigers, under the orders of Sterling, manage to get points or if they also go away empty-handed in their first offensive series," Chris finished saying while the cameras from the entire stadium pointed toward the field, in which the players were already taking their positions.
Authors thought's
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