Clemson notched another win over Florida State late Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium. The Tigers’ seventh straight win in the series kept them atop the ACC’s Atlantic Division standings heading into next week’s suddenly intriguing matchup with unbeaten Syracuse, though Clemson had to hold on to do it.

Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly from the Tigers’ 34-28 victory:

The good

Florida State likes to drop into coverage and let its defensive front handle stopping the run. Clemson’s coaches and players talked about as much afterward, which made taking advantage of numbers at the line of scrimmage a necessity for the Tigers’ run game.

The Tigers did that more often than not behind one of the more productive nights Will Shipley has had this season. Clemson’s sophomore running back had gotten more than 14 carries just once this season heading into Saturday’s game, but offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said afterward one of his objectives was to get Shipley more involved, particularly given the Seminoles’ defensive approach.

Shipley matched his season-high with 20 carries and averaged 6.1 yards per tote to finish with 121 on the ground, his highest rushing total against a Power Five opponent this season. He was the key cog in helping Clemson rush for 167 yards after the Tigers failed to break the 150-yard rushing mark the previous two weeks in wins over NC State and Boston College.

It also helped Clemson dictate what FSU did on the back end, which assisted the Tigers’ passing game. D.J. Uiagalelei completed more than 65% of his passes (15 of 23) and accounted for three more touchdowns with both of his passing scores coming against man coverage.

Shipley got involved there, too, with a career-high six receptions. Add his 69-yard kickoff return to start the second half, and Shipley accounted for a career-high 238 all-purpose yards. As Streeter noted afterward, that’s an indication of the kind of production the former five-star recruit is capable of when his skill set is utilized in that many ways.

Clemson played turnover-free football, the third time it’s done that this season. The Tigers forced one of their own to improve to 84-6 under Dabo Swinney when they win the turnover margin.

The special teams also continued its knack for coming through with momentum-shifting plays, even if the Tigers got help from some questionable decision-making by FSU coach Mike Norvell. The Seminoles made the curious call to dial up a fake punt from their own 30-yard line with more than 12 minutes still left in the third quarter, but Clemson sniffed it out to converge on the upback well short of the line to gain, leading to a field goal that gave the Tigers their largest lead of the night.

Speaking of special teams, Aidan Swanson came through with his most consistent game of the season. It’s something Clemson has needed from its punter with Swanson averaging just 40 yards a boot coming into Saturday’s game, but Swanson helped neutralize one of the nation’s top 15 punt return teams by averaging 45.8 yards per boot. One of them was a 54-yard boomer, a season-long for Swanson.

The bad

Clemson came into Saturday’s game allowing the second-fewest rushing yards in the country, and FSU was without leading rusher Treshaun Ward because of an injury. Throw in the fact the Tigers’ defensive line was fully intact for the first time all season, and it was supposed to be a mismatch up front.

Instead, FSU’s offensive line spent a good chunk of the night pushing the Tigers around.

Clemson – Myles Murphy, more specifically (two sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss) – was disruptive at times, but FSU racked up 206 rushing yards, repeatedly gashing the Tigers on the ground. Trey Benson, who stepped in as the starter in Ward’s absence, averaged more than 9 yards per carry while FSU’s top three rushers each ripped off runs of at least 20 yards, including quarterback Jordan Travis’ touchdown scamper to cap the Seminoles’ opening possession.

It was a strange sight considering Clemson was yielding less than 63 rushing yards on average entering the game. FSU had more than that before the first quarter was over and had 139 at halftime, more than Clemson had given up in any game this season. There’s something FSU exploited that Clemson will have to get shored up before Syracuse’s Sean Tucker – the ACC’s second-leading rusher – comes to town next weekend.

The defense wasn’t the only side of the ball that had its lulls. FSU was able to rally late in part because Clemson’s offense bogged down for much of the second half. After going up 31-14 on a reverse flea-flicker to start the third quarter, Clemson netted just 58 yards on four of its final five possessions, three of those ending with a punt. FSU outgained Clemson 460-370 in total yards and had 10 more first downs than the Tigers.

The ugly

With other top-ranked teams falling all around them, Clemson had a chance in front of a national television audience to leave no doubt about its status as a legitimate College Football Playoff contender. And with a 34-14 lead midway through the third quarter, the Tigers looked like they were primed to send that message.

Instead, the Tigers let their guard down and had to hold on against an FSU team coming off consecutive losses to teams Clemson has already beaten this season. The Seminoles deserve some credit for their execution to get back in it, but it was too easy at times for FSU, which put together back-to-back touchdown drives in the fourth quarter, neither one taking more than a minute and a half of game time to complete. The last one covered 94 yards in just 1 minute, 35 seconds

If not for Brannon Spector’s recovered onside kick and Shipley’s ensuing 11-yard run that allowed Clemson to milk the final 2 minutes off the clock, things could’ve gotten very interesting. It wasn’t exactly the killer instinct Clemson fans had hoped to see from a team that’s trying to return to elite status in the sport and left the question lingering as to whether or not Clemson is there yet.

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.

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