Tallahassee, Fla. — It is Game Day in Doak Campbell Stadium where the Tigers look to win an Atlantic Division showdown with Florida State and win the seventh straight against the Noles.
Clemson hopes to continue the march to the College Football Playoff.
Location: Doak Campbell Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 PM
Television: ABC
Announcers: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Holly Rowe
2022 Record: Clemson 6-0, Florida State 4-2
ACC Record: Clemson 4-0, Florida State 2-2
Series History: Clemson trails the series 14-20
Last Meeting: Clemson won 30-20 on October 30, 2021
CLEMSON AWAITS ATLANTIC DIVISION SHOWDOWN WITH FLORIDA STATE
For the third straight week, the No. 4/5 Clemson Tigers will welcome the eyes of prime-time national television audience on ABC when they face the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday, Oct. 15. Kickoff for the divisional matchup at Doak Campbell Stadium on ABC’s Saturday Night Football is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Though Head Coach Dabo Swinney noted Clemson’s offense was “not as crisp as we’ve been” in last week’s 31-3 win at Boston College, the Tigers are off to one of their most consistent scoring starts in program history. Clemson has hit the 30-point mark in every game this season, the program’s third time reaching 30 points in each of the first six games of a season.
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.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK
– Clemson (12) attempting to extend the nation’s longest active winning streak.
– Clemson attempting to tie the fourth-longest winning streak in Clemson history (13 in 1939-40 and 1980-81).
– Clemson attempting to open a season 7-0 for the
10th time in program history (1948, 1981, 2000, 2011,
2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020).
– Clemson becoming the first team to play in the primetime ABC television window in three consecutive weeks since the 2015 Oklahoma Sooners.
– Clemson and Florida State entering 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 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 eightgame 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.
ON THIS DATE
– Oct. 15, 1994 – Nelson Welch became the ACC’s career field goal leader with a 47-yarder in the third quarter at Duke. It gave Welch 61 career field goals, breaking the record of 60 held by Jess Atkinson, Scott
Sisson and Obed Ariri.
– Oct. 15, 2011: Sammy Watkins set a school record with 345 all-purpose yards in Clemson’s 56-45 win at Maryland. He had an 89-yard kickoff return for a score and added two receiving touchdowns. Clemson overcame an 18-point deficit to win the game.
– Overall: Clemson is 8-4 all-time in games contested on Oct. 15, including wins in its last three Oct. 15 contests in 2011 (at Maryland).
HISTORIC CONFERENCE REIGN
Even though the Tigers entered the final week of the season still alive in the conference title race for “A”nother “C”lemson “C”hampionship, Clemson’s six-year reign atop the ACC ended in 2021.
With a sixth straight conference title in 2020, Clemson became the first program ever to win 20 ACC Championships, five more than Florida State, which ranks second with 15. That year, Clemson became the first program in the conference championship game era to win six straight conference championship games.
Clemson also became the first ACC program to win six consecutive outright titles, as Florida State had a streak of nine straight ACC titles, but that streak included two co-championships that prevented Bobby Bowden’s Seminoles from ever winning more than three straight titles outright. Including titles from its days as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association and Southern Conference, Clemson has 26 conference
championships overall, also the most of any current ACC school. Duke ranks second among the ACC’s current membership with 18 overall conference titles, including 11 Southern Conference titles and seven ACC titles.
TCI Predictions
Robert – Clemson 34, Florida State 17
Davis – Clemson 27, Florida State 19
Sam – Clemson 27, Florida State 22
