Syracuse leads the Atlantic Coast Conference with 12 red-zone field goals. The Orange also has more touchdown-less red-zone trips than any other team in conference.

SU has only reached the end zone 10 times out of its 27 chances in the red zone — a touchdown percentage of 37.04, third worst in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Efficiency in the red zone will be amplified this weekend when Syracuse (3-4, 1-2 ACC) hits the road to take on No. 21 Clemson (5-2, 4-1) on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Tigers boast the best red-zone defense in the ACC, holding opponents to points on 66.7 percent of red-zone possessions, and a high-flying offense that isn’t easy to keep up with.

“It’s not frustration. It’s just, ‘Go to work,’” SU head coach Scott Shafer said on the ACC coaches’ teleconference Wednesday morning. “You’re trying to come up with more touchdowns rather than field goals.

“So you go to work, you put your head down and be diligent about the process and you move forward. You try to turn that tide in the second half of the season.”

Fortunately for SU, Cole Murphy’s emergence as a reliable starting kicker over the struggling Ryan Norton has allowed the Orange to come away with points in the red zone 81 percent of the time.

Still, penalties and poor execution inside the 20-yard line have been inescapable demons for Syracuse throughout the entire season.

“I think if you sit there and overthink things that are uncontrollable, that’s when you get in trouble and you create anxiety,” Shafer said. “We’d rather be stressed about practice and the things that we can (control) and get better at them and work on that stress as opposed to having some sort of mental anxiety that you have no control over.

“Go to work and just keep pounding until you get to the point where you feel good that you’re turning field-goal opportunities into touchdowns. Simple as that.”

Shafer was then asked if he thinks his team can reach a bowl game without improving its severely below-average red-zone touchdown percentage.

“That’s not a very good question,” Shafer responded. “You make a bowl game if you win enough games and that’s what we’re going to bust our ass to do.”

Published on October 22, 2014 at 2:48 pm

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb