So often Dabo Swinney and staff talk about winning the middle eight — defined as the final four minutes of the second quarter and the first four minutes of the third quarter.
Clemson (7-0, 5-0 ACC) has been able to take control of the past two games by owning the middle eight. That same trend continued Saturday at Doak S. Campbell Stadium, as Clemson scored 17 unanswered points in the middle eight en route to a 34-28 win over Florida State.
That was the difference Saturday.
The Tigers scored the last 10 points of the first half, their final touchdown coming three plays after an FSU turnover. Quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei’s 5-yard keeper with 19 seconds left in the second quarter gave Clemson its first two-possession lead of the night and a 24-14 advantage heading into the break.
After Will Shipley returned the second-half opening kickoff 69-yards to the Florida State 31-yard line, Uiagalelei found Davis Allen for his third passing touchdown of the game. That was the eventual dagger.
Uiagaalelei had four total touchdowns, including three through the air as a part of a 15-of-23, 203-yard passing performance Saturday. That was after a 10-of-15, 149-yard passing performance in the first two quarters.
As for Shipley, he had 121 rushing yards on 20 carries, while also catching six patches for 48 yards out of the backfield
FSU did rush for over 200 yards against the nation’s No. 2-ranked run defense. The Tigers came in yielding less than 63 yards per game on the ground, a number FSU surpassed in the first quarter alone (72). The Seminoles ripped off five runs of at least 16 yards in the first 30 minutes.
Between Trey Benson, Lawrence Toafili and Jordan Travis, FSU had 206 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, while averaging 6.1 yards per carry.
Clemson immediately answered FSU’s first scoring drive on its second possession when Uiagalelei sidestepped a blitzing Kevin Knowles II and found freshman Anotnio Williams behind the defense for a 59-yard touchdown. The Dutch Fork (Irmo, S.C.) product finished Saturday’s contest with two catches for 76 yards and a touchdown.
The Seminoles would take a 14-7 lead in the second quarter but didn’t have many tangible offensive results until the game was out of reach, Clemson scored 20 unanswered points and Wesley Goodwin’s defense pitched a shutout for most of the second half until Ja’Khi Douglas caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Travis with just over nine minutes remaining in Saturday’s contest.
Speaking of Travis, the Seminoles’ redshirt junior quarterback was running for his life all night. He put together a valiant effort, completing 24-of-42 passes 254-yard passing performance Saturday.
He then orchestrated a 7-play, 94-yard drive that culminated in a 25-yard touchdown pass to Kentron Poitier. While Travis helped the Seminoles claw back, it was too little, too late as Clemson’s 10 second-half points proved to be just enough to squeak by FSU.
FSU outgained Clemson 460-370.
Up Next
Clemson welcomes an undefeated Syracuse team to Death Valley next Saturday, Oct. 22.
Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce limited edition signed cards from the freshmen football players are now in our online store. There are only 100 of each signed.
Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!
