Dabo Swinney became the all-time wins leader in ACC history and the Clemson Tigers kept up their winning ways on Saturday night in Tallahassee, grinding out a 29-13 victory over rival Florida State.
The Tigers outgained the Seminoles 500-250 on the night, and looking strictly at the numbers, it would appear that Clemson was in cruise control all night. That was not the case. The Tigers often found themselves stalling out in the red zone and having to settle for field goals. Freshman Nolan Hauser connected on five but had two more blocked, and the offensive line had several breakdowns that were atypical from what has been seen this season.
Still, Clemson made the plays that mattered, and the defense was sensational against the run, holding Florida State to just 22 yards on the ground on their way to the win. There is a lot to correct, but many positives, too.
The Clemson Tigers (4-1, 3-0) were off to the races early, leading 17-0 after the first quarter. It appeared the rout was on. Hauser got the scoring started with a 26-yard field goal with just over 6 minutes to play in the opening stanza. Klubnik then connected on both of his touchdown passes on consecutive possessions, a 57-yard dime to Antonio Williams and then a 23-yard catch and run by Florida native T.J. Moore with just two seconds left in the quarter.
Florida State (1-5, 1-4) got on the board on their first drive of the second quarter, capped by a 13-yard strike from Brock Glenn to Amaree Williams on 3rd and goal. It would be the only points of the half for the Semioles. Hauser added his second and third field goals from 38 and 25 yards, both in the final two minutes of the half, to give the Clemson Tigers a 23-7 lead at the break.
The second half saw both offenses grind to a halt. Florida State was unable to run the ball at all, at one point having minus one yard rushing late in the third quarter, but Glenn began to have success throwing the ball. Hampered by multiple drops, the damage might have been worse, but Glenn hooked up with Ja’Khi Douglas for a 12-yard score with 9:36 to play in the game for the final Seminole points. The two-point try failed, preserving the Tigers’ lead at 23-13.
Hauser would tack on two more kicks from 31 and 24 yards to cap the scoring. His fourth field goal was set up by a long 59-yard Phil Mafah run, but it was the only explosive play in the run game all night for Clemson as Florida State did a good job disrupting the Tigers’ offensive line.
Mafah finished with a solid line of 154 yards on 25 carries, by far a season high in touches. Klubnik completed 19 of 33 passes for 235 yards and two scores. Antonio Williams led all receivers with three receptions for 84 yards and Moore caught two passes for 39 yards for the Tigers.
Brock Glenn finished 23-41 passing for 228 yards and two touchdowns for FSU. Landen Thomas caught a game-high seven passes for 80 yards. Lawrence Toafili rushed 10 times for 16 yards to lead the Seminoles’ anemic run game.
While it was a sloppy performance, the win does keep the Clemson Tigers perfect in ACC play and it was their fourth straight victory. The win also allowed head coach Dabo Swinney to surpass former Florida State coaching legend Bobby Bowden as the winningest coach in ACC history.
Clemson travels to Wake Forest (2-3, 1-1) next Saturday for a 12-noon tilt with the Deamon Deacons.
