This Saturday at 7:00 p.m. on the ACC Network the ‘Noles will host the Clemson Tigers.
Clemson is 4-3 on the season with wins against Georgia Southern, North Carolina, California and Charleston Southern and losses to LSU, Miami and Virginia Tech. FSU is 21-17 when facing off with the Tigers. The last time the Seminoles beat Clemson was in 2023 in an overtime thriller. The last time FSU won at home was in 2014.
Observations from the last game
Florida State played their best game of the season but came up just a little bit short. The missed 4th downs inside the Miami ten, the inability to slow down Malachi Tony (no one else has been able to do it either) and the phantom holding call on Xavier Chaplin were all major contributors as to why FSU fell short.
After Ousmane Kromah got hurt Trey Wisner turned up his play to keep the Seminoles in the game. Kromah fractured his ankle, so he is out for the season. The defense got after the by Miami offensive line forcing Mensah into some bad throws.
Florida State offense versus Clemson defense
Clemson has been average against the run so far but slightly better versus the pass. The key players on this side of the ball are Florida State running backs Wisner and little used freshman Amari Thomas. If they can get the run game going close to what we were accustomed to with Kromah the offense should do enough to get the win.
Players to watch for on the Tigers’ defense are defensive end and Will Heldt (6 sacks), cornerback Elliot Washington (3 interceptions) and the 3 talented safeties Corey Myrick, Jerome Carter and Ronan Hanafin. Heldt will be another tough matchup for left tackle Xavier Chaplin.
Florida State defense versus Clemson offense
Clemson has struggled on this side of the ball especially in the passing game. The Tigers switched to the freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds in the season opener, and he has been the starter ever since. Reynols has a 4-2 record as starter but hasn’t much of a factor in those games with only 1 touchdown pass and has taken a whopping 20 sacks. His go to receivers this year have been Bryant Wesco, TJ Moore and Tyler Brown.
The best player on offense is running back Gideon Davidson, who has 492 yards rushing and 5 touchdowns. Clemson is going to try to establish the run early on to have Reynolds have more time and use play action. FSU defensive tackles, Daniel Lyons and Kevin Wynn, can get a push to stop the run they will put the quarterback in 3rd and long situations. Linebacker Chris Jones to make plenty of tackles in the run game and get some QB pressures when blitzing.
Special teams
Advantage Clemson. Bryant Wesco has had a great season returning punts.
Prediction
I think FSU will limit the turnovers and get the run game going to squeak out the win. Florida State 21 Clemson 17
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