All Eyes on Syracuse and Clemson Friday

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange host the Clemson Tigers for a primetime matchup Friday night at the Carrier Dome. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. with the game airing on ESPN. It's Family Weekend at Syracuse University and fans can purchase tickets for the game here.

Friday's game marks the ninth time since 1936 Syracuse will play the defending national champion. It's also the 1,300th game in the illustrious history of the Orange program.

Head coach Dino Babers is no stranger to big games and knows how important support from an excited home crowd can be.

"To have the community and the nation tuning in on Friday night to the Carrier Dome, we need to have that thing packed," said Babers. "Come watch us. It's a heck of a task, there's no doubt about it, but let's get in the chairs and have an opinion and let's watch and see what can happen."

The Orange are coming off their first ACC win of the season, a 27-24 victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday. 'Cuse held the Panthers to 358 yards offense with Parris Bennett pacing the Orange with a season-best 14 tackles, including one for loss. The tandem of Bennett and Zaire Franklin is the engine that drives the defense and the duo has 96 combined tackles so far in 2017.

"I really believe that not only has (Bennett) upped his game, and he deserves all the accolades that he is getting, but also I think some of the stuff he is getting is based off the unselfishness of Zaire," said Babers. "Zaire is really doing things and he draws a lot of attention, which frees up Parris to do more. I'm excited for both of them."

Speaking off defense, Syracuse will face one of the best in the country Friday. The Tigers rank eighth in the nation in total defense, limiting opponents to an average of 264.3 yards per game.

"They not only have solid starters but they also have solid backups," said Babers. "Their front four guys are as good as anybody. There are no holes."

It's fitting that the reigning national champions come into the Dome on the 30th anniversary of the 1987 Syracuse team's undefeated season. Almost 30 years ago to the day Friday, the Orange defeated 1986 champion Penn State en route to an 11-0-1 record. The 48-21 dismantling of the Nittany Lions is one of two occasions since 1936 that the Orange toppled the previous year's champion. The other was in 1998 when Syracuse went to the Big House and took down Tom Brady's Michigan Wolverines.

"We are excited to have the opportunity to play the Clemson Tigers who are the national champions from last year," said Babers. We expect fantastic community support and it is going to be an outstanding contest on Friday night."

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Syracuse University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Parris Bennett

Zaire Franklin

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