CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The scene is still dreamlike for Chris Slayton.
The Syracuse defensive lineman recalls it like it was yesterday: The 3-3 Orange had just upset previously unbeaten, second-ranked Clemson, 27-24 at the Carrier Dome. The aftermath — from the sea of orange storming the field at the Carrier Dome to coach Dino Babers' post-game speech — made it feel like a program-building win.
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“The game was crazy. The whole atmosphere, the crowd, both teams, it was just a crazy game,” said Slayton, who finished with three tackles and a sack. “I remember that last drive, the offense was on the field and they took the knee. I remember saying to myself, ‘Wow, we did it.’”
The Orange improved to 4-3 after the victory as the Tigers dropped to 6-1. But the Tigers' loss proved to be a minor blip; they won six straight games after, including a resounding 38-3 win over Miami in the ACC championship game, and made it once again to the College Football Playoff.
Syracuse lost its final five games, losing by an average of three touchdowns, to finish 4-8 for the third straight season and miss bowl eligibility for the fifth straight season. A game that Syracuse had hoped would give confidence and motivation to finish the season strong ended up being the Orange's final highlight.
“It’s just crazy that we couldn’t finish the season out strong like we wanted to," Slayton said. "But that’s been our focal point for this upcoming season — just finishing out strong.”
At the ACC Kickoff event on Thursday, Babers reflected on the win and what it took out of his team. Key players on both ends were unavailable for the latter half of the schedule.
“Yeah, we would like to play that way every week, but to beat a team like that, you have to put a deposit in the bank,” Babers said. “That deposit was a bunch of guys that couldn’t play any more games after that because they did give their all, because they did give up their bodies.
“They were successful and it was a fantastic win, but when you don’t have the depth on the back end of that, it’s gonna cost you.”
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The Orange may have been drained after the win, but Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said the loss energized his team, which "went right back to work and played better the next week.”
“The leadership in that team did a good job kind of moving forward,” Swinney said. “That’s just what we try to do.”
As students and fans flooded the field after the game, Swinney was seen embracing Babers, telling him he was happy for him. He even went to Syracuse’s locker room to personally congratulate the team.
Dabo is all class. Can clearly see him say "I'm so happy for you" to Dino Babers after a potentially season changing loss. pic.twitter.com/2M5nsLtARC
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) October 14, 2017
When asked about that at the ACC Kickoff, Swinney didn’t want the gesture to seem bigger than it was — but he also wanted to give credit where it was due.
“Sometimes, I think people paint the picture that I walked like a mile but we were literally right next to them. I didn’t get a chance to properly congratulate Dino after the game or the players,” Swinney said. “I knew a lot of the story was gonna be, ‘Hey, Clemson lost.’ That was going to be a lot of the story and it was going to be all about Clemson. But man, I wanted those guys to know that they won the game."
It sure made an impression on Babers, who beamed when discussing Swinney and the act of kindness.
“Dabo’s a fabulous guy and obviously he came over to address the team afterwards," Babers said. "I wasn’t there and someone said, ‘Hey, you’re OK with him talking to your team?’ If I was there, I would’ve let him talk to the team, absolutely."
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Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey played perhaps his best game in a Syracuse uniform that night. He completed 20 of 32 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns to no interceptions. On the ground, he rushed for 61 yards on 21 carries against Clemson’s vaunted defensive line.
Still, the win is bittersweet to look back at for Dungey. The team not only went winless after, but also finished the last three games of the season without him after he suffered a leg injury.
“I think it emulated our season honestly. We had a lot of close games. We played against the hardest schedule in college football,” Dungey said. “We were in every game really if you go back and look, just one possession here and one possession there.
“After that, I wasn’t on the field so obviously I wasn’t able to have that big of an impact. You can’t do much on the sideline, but I’m looking forward to this year.”
The win may have depleted Syracuse’s resources for the 2017 season, but there are certainly more positive takeaways from it. Babers said he senses a heightened level of respect from the rest of the conference — a feeling the Orange can’t be overlooked anymore.
He just hopes the wins can be strung together this time around.
“I’m sure that the Clemson team that played after they lost to us was a lot different than the one that came in there and played us, and I’m sure it will be new and exciting for us when we go down there this year,” he said. “But that’s all part of it. If you’re lucky enough to stay in the conference long, you hope that you have a lot of those stories. Hopefully a lot more on your side than on the other side of it.”