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What happened to Tom Allen's Clemson defense vs Syracuse? Dabo Swinney isn't sure
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- What happened to Tom Allen's Clemson defense vs Syracuse? Dabo Swinney isn't sure
CLEMSON — Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney said the Tigers have had a great "honeymoon" with new defensive coordinator Tom Allen entering Week 1.
After four weeks, that relationship will be tested.
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Syracuse upset Clemson at home, winning 34-21 on Sept. 20 at Memorial Stadium. The Tigers (1-3, 0-2 ACC) allowed a season-high in yards (433) and points (34) to the Orange (3-1, 1-0).
Syracuse entered Week 4 ranked 122nd in rushing offense nationally (107 yards per game), and Clemson allowed 155 yards rushing with 123 of them coming in the first half. Swinney was asked postgame about his run defense in the first two quarters.
"That's a good question. That's what we were talking about in halftime in there," Swinney said. "Just blocked us. We didn't get off blocks, didn't tackle, didn't tackle great, but they responded."
Clemson responded to hold Syracuse to 32 yards rushing in the second half, but the damage was already done as the Orange led by 10 points at halftime, and the Tigers allowed over 100 yards rushing for the third straight game.
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The Tigers held Syracuse to 10 second-half points, but Orange quarterback Steve Angeli suffered an injury in the third quarter and did not return. Clemson stifled Syracuse backup quarterback Rickie Collins , who threw a touchdown pass in the third quarter, after Angeli had 244 yards passing for two touchdowns.
Allen, a semifinalist for the 2024 Broyles Award, given to the nation's top assistant, arrived at Clemson in January to replace Wes Goodwin after spending a season with Penn State . He led the Nittany Lions to a top-10 finish in scoring defense and total defense.
MORE: Dabo Swinney reacts to Clemson football's upset loss to Syracuse: 'This is a very, very low day'
Allen took over a Clemson unit that was 50th in FBS in scoring defense and 69th in total defense. One of the reasons Swinney wanted him was to fix Clemson's run defense which ranked 85th last season.
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After two strong performances in Weeks 1 and 2, Clemson's defense has regressed, allowing at least 24 points and having no takeaways in two straight games. This was also the third straight game where Clemson trailed at halftime.
"We just got to start faster," Clemson linebacker Sammy Brown said. "I thought we played good in the second half. We didn't give up a lot of big plays, but we just got to figure out how to start faster, how to come out and play our best ball."
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football: Dabo Swinney searching for answers on defense
