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The Orange heads to Death Valley for a battle of unbeatens against Clemson.
Babers and Anae also shared many mutual connections given their backgrounds in the Western Athletic Conference. Babers, for instance, served as a graduate assistant at Hawaii, his alma mater, in 1984 two years before Anae, a former player at BYU, accepted the same position.
So with the Orange seeking a new offensive coordinator this past offseason and Anae conveniently available, Babers wasted little time completing a partnership that has contributed considerably to 14th-ranked Syracuse matching its best start since 1987.Next up is a showdown with No. 5 Clemson in Death Valley, with the winner securing the inside track for the Atlantic Division title and a berth in the ACC championship game. It’s the first matchup in Memorial Stadium history in which both teams are unbeaten this late in the season.“Like a grandpa. I really like it,” Babers said of Anae’s demeanor. “I’ve never seen a guy be so eloquent with his words and yet maybe telling you that you’re not really good at your job, but doing it in such a nice way that you’re not mad, and then you want to come back and work for him, and that’s what I mean by the grandpa thing. He has a certain way with them, which really excites me.” Behind Anae’s revamped offense, the Orange is ranked fourth out of 14 schools in the conference in scoring and sixth in passing this season. It finished 10th and last, respectively, last year, in part leading to the dismissal of former offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert, who also coached quarterbacks. Jason Beck took over as quarterbacks coach, the same position he held at Virginia from 2016 through 2021 while working with Anae. Both left the Cavaliers on the heels of theThe biggest individual beneficiary of Babers’s coaching reorganization has been quarterback Garrett Shrader, a transfer from Mississippi State.The junior has thrown for 1,434 yards and 12 touchdowns with three interceptions on 106-for-152 passing . He ranks second in the ACC in completion percentage, third in efficiency and fourth in yards per game . Last year, Shrader amassed 1,445 yards and nine touchdowns over 12 games, including nine starts, and completed 123 of 234 attempts . He finished last in yards per game and completion percentage and second-to-last in passing efficiency among qualifying ACC quarterbacks. Shrader is coming off 16 of 25 completions for 210 yards and two touchdowns and 16 carries for 81 yards during a 24-9 win against then-No. 15 North Carolina State last weekend, triggering a portion of the sold-out crowd at JMA Wireless Dome to storm the field. One game earlier he set a single-game school record by completing all 17 of his pass attempts during a 59-0 victory over Wagner. He’s the only player in the country to have done so this year with 10 or more attempts.“We always aim to start fast, and we expect to score,” said Shrader, who directed the Orange to a touchdown on the game’s opening possession against the Wolfpack courtesy of a 12-yard scoring throw to wide receiver Oronde Gadsden II. “That’s why we always take the ball. What we need to work on is just keeping that momentum for the second and third drive and going down and scoring 21 points in the first quarter.”Last season against Clemson, Shrader ran for a touchdown during the second quarter and threw another with 7:18 left in the fourth to draw Syracuse within three before it lost, 17-14, at the Dome. Three of the past five games in the series have been decided by four points or fewer, including a 27-24 triumph for the Orange in 2017. But none of those previous teams had the offensive firepower of this season in addition to the top-ranked defense in the ACC in both scoring and total yards . The robust performance of the defense despite injuries has permitted Anae and his staff at times to take chances they otherwise might not. “I haven’t been at some of those schools that you guys read about in the paper all the time, but I’ve been at good schools,” Babers said. “And this is the third time that we have been [undefeated] this deep in over three decades, so it is rare. You should cherish it. You should understand this moment and not let it just go past you. You might want to slow down and make sure you get it.”
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