FSU Preview: Florida State at Clemson

On Saturday at 7 p.m. on the ACC Network the Seminoles will be in Clemson, South Carolina to take on the Tigers.

Clemson is a surprising 3-5 this season with wins against Troy, North Carolina and Boston College and losses to LSU, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, SMU and Duke.

FSU is 21-16 versus Clemson all time. The last time FSU beat the Tigers was in 2023. The ‘Noles won 31-24 in overtime.

Observations from the last game

The offense got off to a slow start, but the defense played well enough to let the offense find its footing late in the first quarter with a big play from ACC offensive player of the week, Duce Robinson. Robinson had 5 catches for 148 yards and a touchdown.

The ‘Noles showed more discipline with zero turnovers and only 3 penalties to go along with more attention to detail and energy. The was a huge difference from the Stanford game.

Florida State offense versus Clemson defense

The ‘Noles will have to rely on quarterback Tommy Castellanos’ arm in this one as the Clemson defense has been good against the run but towards the bottom of the ACC versus the pass. Castellanos had his best passing of his career with 271 yards. Most of these yards were to Duce Robinson. The Clemson front 7 has made plenty of plays but when they’re unable to get it done, the secondary lets them down.

Players to watch for are defensive linemen Peter Woods and Will Heldt (4 sacks) and linebackers Sammy Brown (leads the team with 58 tackles) and Wade Woodaz. Interesting matchups on this side of the ball are Woods against center Luke Petitbon and the Clemson linebackers up against tight end Randy Pittman and the backs catching the ball out of the backfield.

Florida State defense versus Clemson offense

Quarterback Cade Klubnik was supposed to be a Heisman contender, but it has been a down year. He has thrown for 1,900 yards and 13 touchdowns.  This is peculiar with all the playmakers he has around him and an offensive line that has allowed him to only get sacked 8 times.

The player that Clemson likes to get the ball to is running back Adam Randall who has 522 yards rushing, 25 catches and 9 total touchdowns. Receivers that Klubnik likes are Bryant Wesco and Antonio Williams. I think the Florida State defense is going to slow Randall, but the biggest problem will be trying to keep Klubnik from extending drives with his scrambling.

Special Teams

This phase of the game has been shaky for both teams but with Squirrel White back returning punts I give FSU the advantage here.

Prediction

It’s hard to predict this game with both teams having lots of talent that has underwhelmed or has been inconsistent. Clemson is at home and needs to win to have a shot at a bowl game. I think it’ll be a close game, and the Tigers pull it out.

Florida State 28 Clemson 31