Syracuse Orange vs Clemson Tigers Prediction, Odds and Picks for Saturday, 09/20/25

Any breathing room this season for the Clemson Tigers is gone. After an 0-1 start in the ACC and 1-2 start overall, Clemson will head back home to Memorial Stadium to take on the 2-1 Syracuse Orange. Clemson is coming off a 24-21 loss to Georgia Tech last week. Tech’s coach told his team they aren’t underdogs, and they proved it against the formerly ranked Tigers. Quarterback Cade Klubnik was underwhelming again, throwing for 207 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. Klubnik did manage to lead his team 75 yards and tie the game with 3 minutes left, but the Tigers still lost on a last second, 55-yard field goal. Syracuse won their second game of the season last weekend, defeating Colgate 66-24. Junior quarterback Steve Angeli threw for 382 passing yards and 5 touchdowns. He also ran one in himself. This week’s game will be Syracuse’s first big test since week 1 when they lost 45-26 to Tennessee.

The main question is how will Clemson respond this week? Will we finally see this Tiger’s team live up to the standard they built all offseason? After three lackluster performances to start the season, it is hard to be excited for Clemson football. But even with the concerns, Clemson will still be the more talented team on the field Saturday, and head coach Dabo Swinney will be coming into Death Valley with a gameplan to control this game.  All concerns have been put on the shoulders of Klubnik and the offense, but the Tiger’s defense has also underperformed to start this season. Swinney mentioned that they have been “soft” at cornerback this season and challenges his defense to improve. This includes cornerback Avieon Terrell, who is a potential top-15 pick in next year’s NFL draft. We may still see a level of sloppiness on offense, so I believe it will be Clemson’s defense that will step up big against the Orange on their home field, even against a decent Syracuse offense. Look out for defensive end TJ Parker to make Angeli’s day difficult all Saturday afternoon.

Under 55.5 is available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.