Upside down: Tigers trending in the wrong direction after mistakes doom in loss to FSU

Jake Briningstool is upside down, and so are the Tigers (Photo by Merrell Mann).

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Sep 23 16:30:45 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – The strains of Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child of Mine” echoed over Death Valley Saturday afternoon, and when the song hit the chorus many Clemson fans sang along.

Where do we go?

Where do we go now?

Where do we go?

Ooh, oh, where do we go?

Where indeed. Florida State was outplayed most of the day, but it was Clemson that folded down the stretch, and the ‘Noles waltzed out of Death Valley with a 31-24 overtime victory. The loss drops Clemson to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in ACC play.

The last time Clemson started 0-2 in ACC play was in 2010. The Tigers beat North Texas and Presbyterian to start the season, lost at Auburn in a non-conference contest, then lost to Miami and UNC. The Tigers finished 4-2 to finish 4-4 in league play.

Now the Tigers head to Syracuse – the Orange are undefeated – for a noon tilt next week. The last time Clemson started 0-3 in ACC play? You have to go back to 1998, the last year of Tommy West, when the Tigers started 0-3 before beating Maryland.

Clemson is now 3-4 in its last seven games and 3-5 in its last eight games against Power 5 competition.

There were positives – the Tigers outgained the Seminoles 429-311. The Tigers had 283 pass yards and 146 rush yards while holding Florida St. to just 22 yards on the ground. The Tigers ran 79 plays to just 57 for FSU and racked up 25 first downs.

Late in the half, with the Clemson defense playing well, defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin goes back to his NFL days and rushes just three as the ‘Noles eviscerate the Clemson defense on the way to the score. Head coach Dabo Swinney talked about it to the television people in his comments, but someone should say something to Goodwin before then, right?

Let’s go to late in the third quarter. Clemson’s defense is playing well, and the Tigers lead 24-17. Phil Mafah rushes 46 yards to the FSU 29, and it looks like the Tigers are set to take a two-score lead. But two plays later the ‘Noles blitz and Mafah doesn’t stay home to pick up the blitz. Quarterback Cade Klubnik is drilled, fumbles, and the ‘Noles return it for a touchdown. The Tigers wouldn’t score again.

Go to the fourth quarter and the Tigers start spending timeouts like they are unlimited, but you still feel good when the Tigers take over at their own 44 with a little more than seven minutes remaining. The Tigers use the short passing game and the run game to reach the FSU 12 with a little over two minutes remaining.

If you’ve watched college football over the years, you know that even if you have the best kicker in the country, you don’t leave the games in the hands of a kicker if you can help it. Especially a kicker who was on the beach this time last week. Instead, the Tigers ran for one yard, and Klubnik’s next pass was batted down. Instead of going for the first down, the Tigers went conservative and went for the kick as Klubnik ran it for a short gain. Predictably, the kick was missed.

In overtime, the ‘Noles scored quickly, but on second down, Mafah rumbles for nine to set up 3rd-and-1 at the Clemson 16. Hand it to Will Shipley or Mafah and get a new set of downs and try and score. Instead, the call was an RPO….a run-pass option – and Klubnik took the pass part of it. The play lost yardage, and you could hear Swinney yelling “one yard” at Klubnik, meaning the quarterback should have just kept it and got the first down. But why call an RPO there? Why not a straight handoff?

The devil is in the details, and the details are killing the Tigers right now. You can’t make those kinds of mistakes – both coaching and the players – and expect to beat FSU. Where do we go now? To Syracuse, and hope a Tommy West record doesn’t rear its ugly head.