Syracuse football coach says penalties ‘really shaped the game’ in loss to Clemson

On the fourth offensive snap of Saturday’s Clemson-Syracuse football game, momentum shifted for good with a big hit and a penalty review.

And Dino Babers was less than thrilled.

Speaking after the Tigers’ 31-14 road win against the Orange, Babers, the Syracuse football coach, spoke carefully yet clearly while discussing a critical first-quarter play involving Clemson defensive end Justin Mascoll and Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader.

Four plays into the game, Shrader scrambled 19 yards for a first down before Mascoll hit him hard from his left side and forced a fumble. Clemson defensive tackle Payton Page recovered the ball at midfield, and the Tigers promptly took a 7-0 lead they’d never lose Saturday on a Cade Klubnik touchdown pass to Troy Stellato.

Before that, though, referees initiated a targeting review to see if Mascoll had led with the crown of his helmet while tackling Shrader on a play that gave Clemson an immediate boost in what wound up as the team’s first ACC win of the season.

A chorus of boos rained down from JMA Wireless Stadium as officials announced there was no foul for targeting, which would’ve given Syracuse the ball back at Clemson’s 45-yard line.

Babers, who critiqued the officiating following Clemson’s 27-21 win over Syracuse in Death Valley last season, addressed the moment in his postgame news conference.

Did Shrader get evaluated for a concussion after the hit?

“Yes, he did.”

What did refs tell him about the call of no targeting?

“They did not explain that in great detail to me.”

Did Babers feel like it was a targeting call?

“I’m not allowed to say stuff like that. But I remain in favor of keeping it the way it was called and giving us the ball.”

A closer look at the calls

That was one of the more prominent penalties (or lack thereof) in Clemson’s 17-point win, which helped the Tigers right the ship after an 0-2 ACC start and keep their conference championship hopes alive.

Klubnik, Clemson’s sophomore quarterback, was interception-free for a third straight game and had 263 yards and two touchdown passes. Receiver Tyler Brown was virtually unguardable with nine catches for 153 yards, the most by a Clemson true freshman in five years.

Clemson’s defense also limited a Syracuse offense that entered the game top 10 nationally in scoring offense (44.3 points per game) and total offense (507.8 yards per game) to a season-low 286 yards and 14 points and scored 21 points off three turnovers.

But, Babers said, “I think that some of those penalties really shaped the game.”

Syracuse had nine offensive/defensive penalties to Clemson’s six total penalties, and the Tigers had four first downs via penalty to Syracuse’s two, including a personal foul call that extended a drive after a late hit on Klubnik.

Another officiating flash point came with about eight minutes left in the game. After a Syracuse touchdown, Clemson was leading 24-14 and facing a third-and-11 from the Syracuse 48.

Klubnik threw a short pass incomplete to his running back, Phil Mafah, and referees quickly whistled the play dead as a forward pass and a dead ball.

But a Syracuse defender picked up the ball right near Clemson’s sideline and returned it for a touchdown as the Orange sideline, Babers included, expressed some frustrations in the early whistle at what they saw as a backward pass that would’ve been a live ball.

A return touchdown there would’ve cut Clemson’s lead to 24-21 and swung momentum in Syracuse’s direction. Instead, the Tigers punted it away up 10, intercepted Shrader on the next drive and scored again (via a Mafah rushing touchdown) to officially put the game away.

Babers said postgame that the referees’ decision to formally review or not review a play factors into whether or not he challenges a play (and risks losing a timeout). In the case of that pass play, officials decided not to formally review the play further, and Babers didn’t challenge it.

“When you see me standing next to those officials, I’m like, ‘Are they reviewing the call?’ ” Babers said. “And the answer is either yes or no. It’s never gray.”

Swinney, who joined the late Bobby Bowden (117 ACC wins) as only the second coach with 100 regular-season conference wins, said he agreed with the outcome of both calls in question.

“I saw a clean hit,” Swinney said of Mascoll’s hit on Shrader. “It looked worse than it was because he didn’t see him coming. … He’s not a defenseless player. He’s running the ball. And he’s not sliding. He’s not a guy that slides. He’s a punishing runner, if you really know much about this guy. And he just didn’t see it.”

He added of the Klubnik pass: “Yeah, they blew it dead right away. We thought it was a forward pass. But they blew it dead pretty quick, so I’m sure they looked at it. They usually look at all that stuff.”

Clemson won a sixth straight game against Syracuse dating back to 2018 and has now won 10 of 11 games against the Orange since they joined the ACC in 2013. Before Saturday’s game, the Orange had stayed within a touchdown or better of their one-time ACC Atlantic Division rivals in two of their last four games and four of their last six games.

Babers, speaking Saturday after Syracuse’s sixth consecutive loss to Clemson, said that penalties, despite frustrating, are “part of the game.”

“And we understand that and they (the players) understand you’re not gonna get every call,” he said. “You have to learn to deal with that. That’s just part of the momentum of the game, adversity that goes along with the game. Penalties, we’ll never use it as an excuse when we lose football games.”

Next Clemson game

Who: Clemson (3-2, 1-2 ACC) vs. Wake Forest (3-1, 0-1 ACC)

When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7

Where: Memorial Stadium in Clemson

TV: ACC Network