Clemson vs. Florida State Prediction: Tigers push for seven in a row over Seminoles

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Oct 14 12:32:03 GMT-04:00 2022

A night game in Doak Campbell. The Tomahawk Chop. Chief Osceola and Renegade. A Clemson team getting healthier and better every week against a Florida State team on a two-game losing streak and in desperate need of a win.

Can Clemson beat the Seminoles for a seventh consecutive time? Should be a fun night in Tallahassee.

Clemson has taken control of the ACC Atlantic Division (the Tigers have four wins in the league while fellow unbeaten Syracuse has two, and those teams meet next week at noon in Death Valley), but the Seminoles want to throw the proverbial wrench in the proceedings and send Clemson home with a loss. How will this one shake out?

NO. 4/5 CLEMSON (6-0, 4-0 ACC) at FLORIDA STATE (4-2, 2-2 ACC)

WHEN: SATURDAY, OCT. 15, 7:30 P.M. ET
WHERE: DOAK CAMPBELL STADIUM (79,560),TALLAHASSEE, FLA.
TELEVISION: ABC (Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Holly Rowe)
RADIO: Clemson Athletic Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret, Reggie Merriweather)
SATELLITE RADIO: SiriusXM 133 or 194 956, Internet/App 956

CLEMSON/FLORIDA STATE SERIES HISTORY

OVERALL: Clemson trails series, 14-20
HOME: Clemson leads series, 9-8
ROAD: Clemson trails series, 5-12
NEUTRAL: N/A
LAST MEETING: Oct. 30, 2021 (30-20, W)
STREAK: Clemson, Won 6

NOTABLE

This week, Clemson will be in search of its 10th 7-0 start in program history and its seventh such start under Swinney. Clemson opened the 1948, 1981, 2000, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020 campaigns with seven straight wins, earning a conference title (either Southern Conference or ACC) in eight of those nine seasons.

Neither the kickoff time nor the ABC spotlight will be new for Clemson. The game will be Clemson's third consecutive 7:30 p.m. contest on ABC, making Clemson the first team since the 2015 Oklahoma Sooners to play in ABC's marquee contest in three consecutive weeks. Clemson went on to defeat that 2015 Oklahoma squad in the College Football Playoff semifinal.

Clemson (12) is attempting to extend the nation's longest active winning streak. Clemson is attempting to tie the fourth-longest winning streak in Clemson history (13 in 1939-40 and 1980-81).

Clemson and Florida State enter the game having previously represented the conference in the ACC Championship Game 12 times in 13 years since 2009, Dabo Swinney’s first full season as the Tigers’ head coach. Clemson represented the division (or earned a divisionless berth in 2020) in the championship game eight times in those 13 years. Florida State represented the division in four title games, and Wake Forest broke the duo’s stranglehold on berths in 2021. The Tigers and Seminoles have combined for 10 of the last 11 ACC titles.

Clemson is attempting to win seven 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 eight-game winning streak against FSU from 1968-76. - Clemson, which was already the first school to defeat Florida State in ACC play in six consecutive games, attempting to push that winning streak to seven straight games.

WHEN CLEMSON HAS THE BALL

Raise your hand if you’ve heard this before – the team that successfully runs the football and stops the run will win the game. Clemson will have to find some success in the running game if it wants to walk out with a win. FSU ranks first in pass defense in the ACC and 14th nationally. The Seminoles are only allowing 170.3 passing yards per game, which is the fewest passing yards allowed by a FSU defense since the 2013 national championship season.

However, Florida St. is just 87th against the run, and if the Tigers can give them a heavy dose of quarterback DJ Uiagalelei and running backs Will Shipley and Phil Mafah, that will set up the pass.

Through six games this season, Uiagalelei has 14 touchdown passes, three rushing touchdowns, and just two interceptions. His 1,462 passing yards rank second in the ACC, and his 311 rushing yards rank 11th (second among QBs). In last season's victory over the Seminoles, Shipley finished with 128 rushing yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner with less than three minutes remaining. Shipley ranks fifth in the ACC with 446 yards on the ground and third with eight touchdowns.

Look for the tight ends to get involved this week as well.

ADVANTAGE: SLIGHT TO CLEMSON

WHEN FSU HAS THE BALL

FSU is leading the ACC with 14.4 yards per pass completion and has the ACC’s No. 2 rushing offense at 204 yards per game. Quarterback Jordan Travis is a pass-first guy, but he isn’t afraid to use his legs when he has to. He carried it seven times for 108 yards last week in the loss at NC State. He has three really good receivers in Johnny Wilson, Ontaria Wilson, and Mycah Pittman. That trio has combined for 60 of FSU’s 110 receptions, and they have accounted for nine of the 11 touchdowns.

FSU might be without its leading rusher in Treshaun Ward, but Trey Benson and Lawrance Toafili are serviceable. That’s all good news for FSU.

The bads news for the ‘Noles? Clemson’s defense is getting better each week, the young corners are growing up, and the Tigers are as healthy as they’ve been all season. Florida St. has had to shuffle its offensive line, and they get to face Bryan Bresee, Tyler Davis, Myles Murphy, KJ Henry, Justin Mascoll, Xavier Thomas, Ruke Orhorhoro, Tré Williams, Payton Page, etc. That’s a bunch of “dudes.” NFL dudes.

Add in linebackers Jeremiah Trotter, Trenton Simpson, and Barrett Carter?

ADVANTAGE: CLEMSON

SPECIAL TEAMS

BT Potter continues to shine on field goals and kickoffs (despite a miss last week at BC). Will Taylor has had a few issues at punt return, and I wonder if we’ll see more Antonio Williams back there this week. Clemson’s punting has been unremarkable to date. FSU’s Ryan Fitzgerald is just 5-10 on field goals, but punter Alex Mastromanno is talented.

ADVANTAGE: CLEMSON

WHAT WILL HAPPEN

Clemson is more talented. Clemson is healthier. Clemson is likely better coached. So why is the point spread so low? Someone somewhere has an idea this will be a close game, and with all the intangibles of the crowd and a desperate Seminole team, it could be. And I think it will be back-and-forth and a game of field position early, and both teams will hit big plays.

The difference? Remember what I said earlier about running the football? I don’t see FSU running the ball with a lot of success, and Clemson will find enough holes to keep the FSU defense honest. But once the Seminoles become one-dimensional, defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin will turn his dogs loose. And these dogs bite.

FINAL SCORE: CLEMSON 27, FSU 17

More TigerNet picks

Mickey Plyler - The Roar 105.5 morning show host - 31-17 Clemson
Nikki Hood - Staff writer - 30-14 Clemson
Brandon Rink - Associate editor - 31-21 Clemson
Tony Crumpton - Associate editor - 31-20 Clemson
Pigskin Prophet - 35-20 Clemson
Ryan Kantor - Contributing Writer - 31-21 Clemson
Ariana Pensy - TigerNet Intern - 34-13 Clemson

PREDICTION TRACKER

Game	Actual	David Hood	Plyler	Nikki Hood	Rink	Crumpton	Prophet	Kantor	Pensy
GT	41-10 CU	38-13 CU	33-9 CU	41-7 CU	33-10 CU	35-13 CU	34-7 CU	39-6 CU	-
Furman	35-12 CU	50-10 CU	51-10 CU	59-7 CU	45-3 CU	45-3 CU	49-6 CU	48-7 CU	-
La Tech	48-20 CU	37-14 CU	51-10 CU	59-10 CU	44-13 CU	45-13 CU	45-10 CU	45-10 CU	38-10 CU
Wake	51-45 CU 2OT	37-27 CU	38-27 CU	34-20 CU	38-24 CU	31-24 CU	37-23 CU	31-24 CU	56-28 CU
NC State	30-20 CU	30-21 CU	31-21 CU	30-17 CU	27-20 CU	28-20 CU	34-17 CU	31-24 CU	37-34 CU
BC	31-3 CU	37-13 CU	37-17 CU	31-14 CU	41-17 CU	35-13 CU	41-16 CU	42-14 CU	42-10 CU
FSU	34-28 CU	27-17 CU	31-17 CU	30-14 CU	31-21 CU	31-20 CU	35-20 CU	31-21 CU	34-13 CU
Points	-	11	7	11	7	9	9	7	7

* 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