Clemson vs. Florida State Prediction: Tigers and 'Noles tangle in noon matchup

Clemson seeks to make it eight-straight wins over the Seminoles

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Sep 22 14:38:34 GMT-04:00 2023

A beautiful day in Death Valley and Clemson’s ACC Championship hopes on the line. Add in a rival like Florida State, and you can’t ask much more out of a late September day in Clemson.

Clemson returns to action at high noon on Saturday, hosting the Florida St. Seminoles in a big-time matchup that, even though it is September, carries many of the Tigers’ ACC title hopes. The Tigers have already lost an ACC game – the opener at Duke – and losing to the Seminoles puts the Tigers essentially two games behind both of those teams. That leaves almost no margin for error.

RV/23 CLEMSON (2-1, 0-1 ACC) vs. NO. 4/3 FLORIDA STATE (3-0, 0-0 ACC)

WHEN: SATURDAY, SEPT. 23, NOON ET
WHERE: MEMORIAL STADIUM (81,500), CLEMSON, S.C.
TELEVISION: ABC (Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, Molly McGrath)
RADIO: Clemson Athletic Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret, Reggie Merriweather)
RADIO: Gridiron Radio Network (Noah Britt, Jon Reynolds, Patrick Johnson)
SATELLITE RADIO: SiriusXM 134 or 193

NOTABLE

*Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney enters the game with a 99-20 all-time record in ACC regular season play. With a win on Saturday, he would join — fittingly — Florida State's Bobby Bowden as the only head coaches in conference history to win 100 regular season conference games as ACC head coaches. Bowden won 117 regular season conference games with the Seminoles after Florida State joined the ACC in 1992.

Swinney would also tie the Clemson head coaching record for career conference regular season wins, matching Frank Howard, who compiled a 100-48-5 conference record across both the Southern Conference and ACC. Howard was 66-30-2 in ACC play following the conference's formation in 1953. A win would also bring Swinney (163) within one victory of Howard (165) as Clemson's all-time winningest coach.

*In the mid-1960s, Clemson alumnus Sam Jones famously gifted Howard with a rock from Death Valley, Calif., and Saturday will represent 56 years to the day that Clemson began rubbing Howard's Rock upon the Tigers' entry to the playing surface that now bears Howard's name: Frank Howard Field at Memorial Stadium. Though the Rock was first placed on a pedestal atop The Hill on Sept. 24, 1966, the team started the tradition of rubbing Howard's Rock prior to the first game of the 1967 season, a 23-6 win over Wake Forest on Sept. 23, 1967.

*Clemson is attempting to win eight consecutive games against Florida State for the first time in series history. It would be the second-longest winning streak against the Seminoles by an opponent all-time, trailing Florida’s nine-game winning streak against FSU from 1968-76. Clemson, which was already the first school to defeat Florida State in ACC play in seven consecutive games, is attempting to push that winning streak to eight straight games.

WHAT CLEMSON NEEDS TO WHEN FSU HAS THE BALL

Jordan Travis leads the team with 729 passing yards (243 yards per game) and has a 64.3% completion percentage this year (54-of-84) while throwing eight touchdowns with one interception. He also has 96 rushing yards on 17 carries with one touchdown, averaging 32 yards per game. In the running game, Trey Benson has a team-best 194 rushing yards (64.7 per game) and four touchdowns.

The true threats are wide receivers Johnny Wilson, who has 11 receptions for a team-high 209 receiving yards (69.7 per game), and Keon Coleman, who has 12 catches for 170 yards and four touchdowns. He puts up 56.7 receiving yards per game.

Travis is a true dual-threat and is indeed operating at peak efficiency when he’s able to move around, throw on the run, and make plays with his legs. Clemson has to get pressure on Travis (who has a shoulder that might still be a little sore from last week), but the Tigers sit 109th nationally with just four sacks on the season.

The Tigers are 34th against the run but 10th against the pass. Clemson has to affect the quarterback – sacks or not – and still stuff the run game. If they can do that – while keeping Travis in the pocket and uncomfortable – he’s not the most accurate guy in the world. Third down could be interesting – the ‘Noles are in the lower half nationally in third down conversions (14-34), while Clemson is 19th nationally on defense (14-37).

WHAT CLEMSON NEEDS TO DO WHEN IT HAS THE BALL

Quarterback Cade Klubnik has thrown for 693 yards (231 ypg) to lead Clemson, completing 66.4% of his passes and recording eight touchdown passes and two interceptions this season. He's also figured in the ground game with 63 rushing yards (21 ypg) on 23 carries with one rushing touchdown.

Will Shipley has carried the ball 36 times for 225 yards (75 per game) this year. He's also caught 11 passes for 58 yards (19.3 per game) and one touchdown. Phil Mafah has rushed for 166 yards (55.3 per game) on 25 carries with three touchdowns.

On the receiving end, Beaux Collins' 197 receiving yards (65.7 yards per game) lead the team. He has 13 receptions with one touchdown. Antonio Williams has nabbed 15 passes for 145 yards (48.3 yards per game) and two touchdowns, while freshman Tyler Brown's seven receptions have given him 79 yards (26.3 ypg) and two touchdowns.

Clemson will be without starting right guard Walker Parks, who is out with a lower-body injury.

But here’s the deal – Florida St.’s defense is ranked just 104th nationally, and they’ve given up almost four yards per carry and are giving up 263 passing yards per game. They are athletic, but Clemson can move the ball on them. The Tigers have to get a better push out of their offensive line, and Klubnik has to protect the ball. Someone – Shipley, Klubnik, Mafah – needs to fashion a 100-yard game. Boston College had a ton of success moving its quarterback around last Saturday, and that opened huge holes in the secondary.

The Tigers need to run it enough to open those holes.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN

Both teams will have their chances to score, and both will take advantage of it. Clemson’s defense and Florida St.’s offense have been better this season. The kicking game? FSU is tops in the ACC at 3-for-3, while Clemson is dead last at 1-4. Swinney brought in former kicker Jonathan Weitz off the beach to kick this week, but he doesn’t have the experience you would want. This one promises to be exciting and wild, but here is what I can’t get past: Florida St. is on an upward trajectory and has already won a tough game this season. Clemson has lost four games since the start of last November, and has already lost this season.

The TigerNet staff is split down the middle.

I have: FLORIDA ST. 30, CLEMSON 24

TigerNet picks

David Hood - TigerNet senior writer - 30-24 FSU
Mickey Plyler - The Roar 105.5 morning show host - 31-30 Clemson
Nikki Hood - Staff writer - 28-20 FSU
Brandon Rink - Associate editor - 30-28 FSU
Tony Crumpton - Associate editor - 28-27 Clemson
Pigskin Prophet - 30-27 Clemson
Ryan Kantor - Contributing Writer - 31-28 FSU
Ariana Pensy - TigerNet Intern - 37-34 FSU
Merrell Mann - Photographer - 29-28 Clemson

PREDICTION TRACKER

Game	Actual	David Hood	Plyler	Nikki Hood	Rink	Crumpton	Prophet	Kantor	Pensy	Mann
Duke	28-7 DU	38-20 CU	31-17 CU	45-17 CU	31-16 CU	34-20 CU	37-17 CU	41-17 CU	35-10 CU	35-13 CU	-
CSU	66-17 CU	56-3 CU	56-0 CU	42-10 CU	52-3 CU	45-6 CU	60-13 CU	41-10 CU	21-14 CU	45-3 CU	-
FAU	48-14 CU	38-10 CU	49-14 CU	49-17 CU	42-17 CU	42-10 CU	44-3 CU	41-10 CU	45-14 CU	42-14 CU	-
Points	-	2	4	2	2	2	4	2	2	2

* Points: 3 pts for best correct prediction of the week (tiebreaker is Clemson score), 2 pts for picking score exactly, 1 pt for picking the correct winner