Syracuse vs. Clemson: Reddish Questionable, Otherwise Business As Usual

Scott Shafer chatted with ACC media today about the Syracuse Orange's upcoming game against the No. 3 Clemson Tigers and here's what we had to say.

First up on the injury front, it sounds like DB Brandon Reddish remains questionable with a Dreaded LBI:

"He's questionable right now," Shafer said Tuesday on his weekly teleconference. "We'd love to have him back for Saturday, but we'll see day-by-day."

Meanwhile, DE Robert Welsh is fine after a "scare" against Tulane and OL Kyle Knapp is officially back at practice and ready to go.

You might be wondering how much Scott Shafer has altered his gameplan to prepare for the high-powered Tigers. You probably expect him to retool all of the offensive and defensive gameplans and spend the week installing brand new plays. You, as usual, are 100% wrong. Dummy.

"I haven't changed, and our staff hasn't changed," Shafer said on his teleconference Tuesday. "We've gone to work and gone about our business the same way we would any other week. And we've continued to preach and practice working on those targeted areas that we need to do a good job winning small battles throughout the course of any game."

"I don't think you treat it different than any other game," Shafer said. "I haven't anywhere (I've been), and I haven't here. I think the kids will be fired up and the fans will be fired up. Really focusing in on controlling the controllables in an environment where it would be easy to get overly excited and outside the framework of who you are as a player."

"It’s going to sound crazy, but really just take care of yourself and look at the process of being the same process it is in every game," Shafer said. "Big games take care of themselves as far as getting kids emotionally ready. They’ll be as ready as you want them to be without trying to get them to that point."

In recent years, Shafer has gone up against some all-star calibur quarterbacks like Geno Smith and Teddy Bridgewater (beating them both, FYI). How does Tajh Boyd stack up comparatively?

"I think it would be disrespectful to any of the other great quarterbacks I've coached against (to say who is the best)," Shafer said. "I've coached against a ton of them. I would be hard-pressed to pick one of them.

"But I will say this: He's a great one."

"It wouldn't surprise me if he ended up winning the Heisman Trophy."

Hopefully, his terrible performance this Saturday won't hold him back from the trophy...