Scott Shafer enters each game with specific statistical goals. First-down production, third-down conversions and the turnover ratio are three of his favorites.

Against Clemson, the Syracuse head coach was especially displeased with offensive first downs. He said he wanted to see the Orange gain at least 4 yards on 60 percent of its first downs. He said they hit that mark just 26 percent of the time.

“That was an area that we were poor,” Shafer said during Wednesday’s Atlantic Coast Conference coaches’ teleconference.

Defensively, the Orange held the No. 3 Tigers to 52.6 percent of 4-yard gains on first down, and the team specifically focused on first downs in its first practice of the week on Tuesday, along with turnovers. SU committed four turnovers against the Tigers while forcing just two.

“We need to really get back on pace there,” Shafer said.

Shafer said Syracuse will target another weakness, third-down conversions, on Wednesday. Syracuse converted just 4-of-20 tries against Clemson on Saturday. The Tigers were 4-for-12.

“We’ve left a few on the field, but defensively we have real good third-down numbers,” Shafer said. “Offensively we’ve gotten better as the season’s gone on.”