CLEMSON, S.C. — Cole Murphy missed his shortest kick of the night.

His field-goal attempt from 42 yards out went wide right with eight and a half minutes left in the game, guaranteeing that Syracuse wouldn’t make any bids for an upset on Clemson’s home turf.

But SU head coach Scott Shafer pulled his freshman walk-on aside.

“I asked him if he ever had that many people yelling and screaming and waving their arms when he was kicking a field goal,” Shafer said. “He goes, ‘No, but it doesn’t matter.’

“I said, ‘Well, you know what? I thought you did a hell of a job tonight.’”

Murphy tallied all six of the Orange’s (3-5, 1-3 Atlantic Coast) points in its 16-6 loss to the No. 21 Tigers (6-2, 5-1) at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night. When Syracuse’s offense stumbled, Murphy withstood heckling from Death Valley while saving SU’s drives from ending fruitlessly.

He connected from 43 yards and 50 yards out — the Orange’s longest field goal since 2008 — to give Syracuse a halftime lead and keep the Orange within striking distance until Clemson decisively put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter with the night’s sole touchdown.

Since taking over the full-time kicking duties in late September, Murphy’s brought stability to SU’s field-goal unit, having now made 11-of-13 on the year.

“He’s done a great job,” offensive coordinator Tim Lester said. “It makes calling third down a lot easier because you’re less aggressive. You’re less going to put your quarterback in a chance to turn the ball over … We trust him.”

Knotted in a scoreless stalemate in the first quarter, Syracuse rolled the dice on a fourth-and-1 and converted with a handoff to running back Ervin Philips past CU’s 30. But two incomplete passes and a short Prince-Tyson Gulley run brought fourth down.

Murphy made it 3-0.

With 1:12 left, SU took over at the Tigers’ 25-yard line after SU linebacker Dyshawn Davis ripped the ball from the grasp of CU quarterback Cole Stoudt.

An incomplete wide receiver reverse pass, 3-yard Gulley carry and strip sack of quarterback AJ Long backed the Orange up to fourth-and-16 at Clemson’s 31. Syracuse called timeout with three seconds left.

A hyped-up Death Valley tried to distract the freshman, but Murphy lined up the attempt from half a field away and nailed it — with some extra distance to spare.

Murphy didn’t receive another chance until his fourth-quarter try fell short — his first miss since a 37-yard attempt on Sept. 27 — but Shafer made sure his only source of points knew his performance didn’t go unappreciated.

“‘Just keep your chin up,’” Shafer said he told Murphy, “‘and come on back and make the next one.’”

Published on October 27, 2014 at 12:09 am

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb