There were a lot of positives to be found in Clemson’s 29-13 victory over Florida State on Saturday night.
Despite an inability to finish drives that led to more points and weak blocking that resulted in two blocked kicks, Cade Klubnik had another impressive showing, and the Tigers’ defense held Florida State to under 200 yards for most of the night.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney got his 174th career victory to make him the ACC’s all-time winningest coach.
The win over Florida State also gave Clemson a boost in many rankings and ratings systems — to say nothing of the polls, where the Tigers currently sit at No. 10 in the new AP Top 25 poll — including ESPN’s updated College Football Power Index.
After the win over the ‘Noles, Clemson rose two spots to No. 11 with an overall rating of 15.2. The Tigers edged out the Texas A&M Aggies (15.1 FPI rating) and are one spot below the Miami Hurricanes (17.7).
Clemson’s chances of reaching the College Football Playoff rose to 36.3 percent in the FPI. Their chances of winning the ACC are at 25.5 percent after their fourth straight win.
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That’s a contrast to Miami’s playoff chances, which the FPI places at 75.3 percent — third-best among all FBS teams and behind only the Texas Longhorns at No. 1 and Ohio State Buckeyes at No. 2. Texas and Ohio State are each given a 91.2 percent chance of reaching the playoff compared to Clemson’s 36.3 percent.
ESPN describes its FPI this way:
“The Football Power Index is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule.”
Clemson heads to Winston-Salem for its annual matchup with Wake Forest this Saturday. Kickoff is at noon ET. The game will be televised on ESPN.
On Monday, the ACC announced kickoff times for Week 8 games. Clemson will host Virginia at noon ET Oct. 19 on ACC Network.
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