TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 4 Clemson held off Florida State for its seventh straight win in the series Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium. Here are four sequences that went a long way in determining the outcome, a turning point and a telling stat from the Tigers’ 34-28 victory.
- FSU scored on two of its first three possessions to take an early lead and send many of the garnet and gold-clad fans in attendance into a frenzy. But Clemson keep the Seminoles’ momentum from building by piecing together its longest scoring drive of the night. The Tigers also needed a fourth-down conversion when D.J. Uiagalelei was held to just a yard on a third-down keeper just across FSU’s side of midfield. But Clemson called Uiagalelei’s number again on the next play, and the 6-foot-4, 230-pound quarterback powered ahead for 2 yards and a fresh set of downs. Six plays later, Uiagalelei found Jake Brigningstool all alone near the front corner of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown pass, capping a 13-play, 75-yard march that tied it at 14 with 8 minutes, 19 seconds left in the second quarter.
- FSU again drove into Clemson territory during the latter stages of the second half, threatening to take its third lead of the game. But a scramble by Travis on third-and-10 came up short, setting up fourth-and-2 for the Seminoles at the Tigers’ 31-yard line. The Seminoles elected to go, but cornerback Nate Wiggins broke up Travis’ fourth-down pass intended for Johnny Wilson to get the ball back to the offense. Clemson kept that momentum going by converting a couple of third downs on its next drive to get into FSU territory and turning the change of possession into points on B.T. Potter’s 47-yard field goal, the Tigers’ first lead of the game.
- With 1:51 left in the second quarter, FSU took over with time to try to at least draw even at the break. But the defense got the ball back to Clemson’s offense yet again when Myles Murphy sacked Travis, knocking the ball loose in the process. Tyler Davis recovered the loose ball for the Tigers at FSU’s 42. Shipley burst up the middle for 36 yards to get Clemson knocking on the door again, and Uiagalelei finished a quick three-play scoring drive with a 5-yard keeper to give the Tigers a 24-14 lead at the break. Clemson then got a 69-yard return from Shipley on the opening kickoff of the second half, and the Tigers dialed up a reverse pass that ended with Uiagalelei finding tight end Davis Allen down the sideline for a 31-yard score, capping a 17-0 scoring run for the Tigers in 2:10 of game time.
- With Clemson leading 31-14 early in the third quarter, FSU was losing not only the game but also momentum in its own stadium. So the Seminoles tried to pull a fast one on the Tigers to get some of it back. Facing fourth-and-5 from its own 30, FSU dialed up a fake punt, sending the snap to upback Wyatt Rector rather than the punter. But Clemson sniffed it out and swarmed to Rector before he could move the sticks, giving the Tigers’ offense its best starting field position of the night. Freshman offensive tackle Blake Miller was called for a hold that negated another would-be touchdown run for Uiagalelei later on the ensuing drive, but the Tigers still made it 27 unanswered points when Potter booted a 34-yard field goal to push Clemson’s lead to 34-14 midway through the third quarter.
Turning point
Clemson forced a turnover on downs near the goal line early in the fourth quarter, but FSU didn’t go away as the Seminoles cut the Tigers’ 20-point lead at the time to just six with a pair of touchdowns in the final 9:22. After scoring the latter of those with just 2:17 left, FSU needed to recover an onside kick to make things really interesting. But Brannon Spector kept the Seminoles’ offense from getting another shot when he fielded the kick for the Tigers, who picked up one first down and ran out the rest of the clock to ice the victory.
Telling stat: 27
That’s how many consecutive points Clemson scored at one point, and the Tigers needed all of them following FSU’s furious comeback attempt. Clemson scored on six straight possessions from midway in the second quarter to halfway through the third, five of those coming after they trailed 14-7 early in the second. Four of those possessions ended in the end zone, and Potter’s final field goal gave the Tigers their largest lead at 34-14 midway through the third. It proved to be just enough for Clemson to withstand the Seminoles’ late surge.
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