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Syracuse Beats Clemson: The Day the ACC Power Shifted | Dabo Gets Reality Check
Sep 22, 2025
Damon Amendolara – proud Syracuse grad – breaks down one of the most stunning moments in recent ACC history: Syracuse’s huge upset over Clemson. In this video: Why This Is a Pivot Point: Clemson is no longer the ACC bully — Syracuse was simply the better team. Fran Brown Era: How Brown is actually shifting the power dynamic in the ACC and recruiting like never before. Dabo in Shock: Why Dabo Swinney’s reaction on the sideline spoke volumes about the end of Clemson’s reign. Bigger Picture: What this game means for the ACC hierarchy going forward. This isn’t just an upset — it’s a statement that Syracuse has caught Clemson and maybe surpassed them. #SyracuseFootball #FranBrown #ClemsonFootball #DamonAmendolara #ACCFootball 🔥🔥🔥 JOIN THE CIRCLE OF TRUST! Become a Member 👉 Click Here Welcome to the official channel of Damon Amendolara (D.A.), host on SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio and creator of the Bill Matic podcast. 🏈
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0:00
Hey, let's be real. Syracuse was a better football team than Clemson. In fact, Syracuse is the better football team than Clemson. I don't think that's a one-week thing
0:15
and maybe it won't play out that way in the standings, but that would be because Syracuse loses its starting quarterback
0:23
Steve Angeli, for the rest of the season, which is a crushing, crushing blow, and perhaps there's no reality to thinking that with Ricky Collins
0:31
Syracuse can be that good, but Saturday proved that Syracuse is better than people thought
0:38
and Clemson is worse than people thought, and that's no fluke. You know, watching that game, and that includes the weather delay
0:48
there was a lot of pivot points in the game where Clemson could have
0:54
should have, would have come back to win if they were better
0:59
if they were the better football team. And you would think on paper with the five stars and the four stars
1:04
that Clemson brings in and the type of program they've had and the resources that they have for recruiting, for the coaching staff
1:12
the championship pedigree of their head coach, etc., the NFL potential pedigree that Kade Klubnik has going into the NFL draft
1:23
For all intents and purposes, there was like four different moments in that game
1:27
that Clemson should have turned the corner and then buzzed by the orange
1:32
because they were trailing. And it never happened. And it never happened. And that is an indicator that Fran Brown has done something
1:39
that feels really notable. that is truly kind of unbelievable, and that is Syracuse is a better football team
1:51
than Clemson is right now. Now, some of that is maybe the way that Clemson
1:57
is playing at the moment, lacking confidence. Cade Klebnik certainly is very up and down
2:03
and Dabo had that rant last week, and the fans are kind of turning on Clemson
2:08
so maybe the negativity around the Tigers is such that there's a little bit of a weight on them that doesn't exist for the orange
2:15
But if you watch that football game the 60 minutes and you didn have a brand recognition on either side and there was no championship banners from a couple of years ago with Clemson and no Trevor Lawrence
2:28
and Deshaun Watson and all the NFL players that they put out, and you just watched that football
2:32
game, it would be impossible not to come away and say that Syracuse was the better team
2:38
They made more plays, bigger plays on offense. They made plays on defense to create turnovers as
2:44
well, and they lose their starting quarterback middle of the game and deal with a lengthy
2:50
weather delay, do it on the road in a hostile place that Clemson is known for, Death Valley
2:57
and just kicked the bleep out of the Tigers. And that is real
3:04
That's what happened. And that's the eye-opener here. This is not a fluky thing where Syracuse needed three turnovers by Clemson and a last-second
3:13
field goal to win it. They lined up for 60 minutes and they beat
3:18
them. That is why I think you saw that look from Dabo on the sideline at the end of the game
3:25
and that reaction afterwards from Dabo. I think that's it. Dabo had this real look of
3:34
sadness on his face on the sidelines in the final seconds. One of his players is
3:42
putting his arm over his shoulder, consoling Dabo. And then after the game, Dabo's
3:48
talking about how he's not a cyborg. If this hurts, it hurts deeply
3:52
I'll tell you why it hurts. It doesn't hurt because they're unranked. It doesn't hurt because they lost a
3:57
conference game. It doesn't hurt because they lost a home game. And it might not even be the record overall
4:04
at 1-3. It was the reality that it set in that a program like Syracuse had caught
4:11
them and that they were no longer power brokers. They're no longer the feared
4:18
And they've been taking on some water in recent years. They are not the Deshaun Watson, Trevor Lawrence
4:24
national championship game caliber team, but they still were the bullies of the ACC
4:30
And that's what dabble planted his flag on last week and talked about winning
4:35
the league eight out of 10 years whatever that number was Is that not good Is that not winning Well I tell you what you guys get sick of winning You get fired because you sick of winning sick of winning sick of winning Dabo could hang his hat every year on
4:50
We built and we have the strongest program top to bottom in the ACC
4:57
and we are this much separation from the NC States and the Georgia Techs and the Wake Forests
5:06
and the Syracuses and the Boston colleges and all those middle and bottom feeders of the ACC
5:13
He could sit there and say, we're up here, and Florida State's not with us every single year
5:18
and Miami's not with us every single year, and Virginia Tech just fired their coach
5:22
that we've got the separation. And that look on his face at the end of that game was
5:28
damn, we're not even better than that program. And that program is Syracuse
5:34
And so big ups to Fran Brown for doing, I don't want to say the impossible because he doesn't believe in the impossible, but big ups to Fran Brown of creating a sea change
5:48
And people got on him and thought it was performative and silly and juvenile for him to have the guys run wind sprints after a game at the dome in front of the crowd
6:00
You know, what are you trying to prove? Tough guy. Tough guy. But did Syracuse play with a sharpness and a focus and a belief on Saturday in Clemson
6:17
I ask you that. The answer is a definitive yes. Definitive. At no point did Syracuse think that Clemson was superior
6:27
They did not play like that. They played like they had a mission and that they were equals
6:32
That's how Syracuse played. They were equals before that injury, which is a terrible injury by Angeli
6:39
He made all of the right throws and all of the right decisions
6:43
The wide receiving core of cook of Ross Simmons, of Gil made big play after big play, big catch
6:50
after big catch. They found themselves in space. They created their own space
6:54
They held onto the ball. They ran good routes. They, they, they did everything right
6:58
They could run the football both Willis and Nixon those guys combined for about 130 yards between them They did everything right and they knew they could and they knew they couldn
7:12
Even when Clemson kept starting to close the gap and could have turned a corner, the defense
7:18
created a stop or the offense created another scoring possession to extend the lead
7:27
Fran Brown, this is what he does. statement victories statement wins plant the flag we're here you're not just going to keep
7:39
dragging us as a mediocre ACC program and it is incredible to watch it is inspiring to watch
7:48
and I just think the world of Fran Brown he's real and he doesn't you know yeah there's going
7:56
to be a little ego there. Yeah, there's a little bit of like
8:00
I got the answers, and I'm going to use them on the test. But at the same time
8:07
he treats people well. You ask anybody around CNY who's had an experience
8:12
with him behind the scenes, so many people talk glowingly the type of guy
8:16
that he is. Yeah, he's got a tough guy swagger on the football field
8:20
but nothing wrong with that as long as you treat people well behind the scenes, when people aren't watching, when people aren't looking
8:26
and he does by all accounts. So I just think he is an incredible coach
8:34
I hope he's with SU for a real long time. And this is one of those real come to Jesus moments
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for a program like Clemson that has to realize, my God, we're not the bullies anymore
8:47
And that was that look of Dabo, the lost what has happened
8:52
is the empire crumbling. And Syracuse did that. Syracuse delivered that punch, that blow
9:01
And it was remarkable to watch. This was no fluke about it
9:06
Syracuse is the better football team on Saturday. Wow. It's going to do it for me
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9:21
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