The Clemson football team will play host to the Florida State Seminoles. Here are five storylines to watch in the matchup Saturday afternoon.
The Clemson football team is coming off a much-needed bye week and now the Tigers will look to continue their undefeated streak to begin the season.
The last time we saw Clemson on a football field, the Tigers suffered a major scare from the North Carolina Tar Heels. UNC led for the majority of the afternoon in Chapel Hill before the Clemson football team finally took a lead in the fourth quarter.
The Tar Heels drove down the field on 16 plays and scored a touchdown, trailing by just one point. UNC elected to go for two and the Tar Heels were stuffed, preserving the victory for Clemson.
For the last two weeks, Clemson football fans have had to hear about how bad the Tigers played against North Carolina. Analysts have made claims about how the Tigers don’t look elite, how they could miss the CFB Playoff with a perfect record and how they aren’t as good as ‘Insert Team Name Here.’
In just a couple of days, we won’t have to hear the chatter anymore and we’ll get back to seeing Clemson football.
The Tigers will be back in Death Valley for a matchup with the Florida State Seminoles. Even though these are the Seminoles of old, it’s still an exciting game for Tiger fans.
Here are five storylines to watch as Clemson hosts Florida State Saturday afternoon.
5. It’s still a rivalry game
Despite the fact that Florida State is just 3-2 to begin the season and the Seminoles seemingly have no direction as a program, this is still a rivalry game.
The Tigers and Seminoles have been rivals since Florida State came to the ACC a few decades ago. The rivalry was amplified over the course of the 2011-16 seasons where the winner of these matchups went on to win the ACC Atlantic, the conference and compete nationally.
Even though the game has lost some its shine, it’s still a rivalry game and should be treated as such.
Florida State didn’t mind blowing the doors off of Clemson football in the 1990s and 2000s when the Tigers were down as a program. The favor can be returned Saturday afternoon in Death Valley.
4. Was the bye week beneficial?
Another storyline to keep your eyes on is the benefit of the bye week.
Do we see the Tigers clean up some of those mistakes they were making in Chapel Hill and even earlier on in the season?
Can the offensive line be more fundamentally sound and have better chemistry? Will Trevor Lawrence and his wide receivers be on the same page? Can the Tigers get Travis Etienne going in the running game? Will the defense look explosive and continue to have success running those multiple schemes?
The bye week has always been a beneficial time for the Clemson football coaching staff to refocus and regroup this program and this past week shouldn’t be expected to be any different.
3. Florida State’s QB situation
Florida State announced earlier this week that James Blackman would be the starter against Clemson.
This is coming after Graduate QB Alex Hornibrook did a decent job and had some success the past week with the Seminoles. Willie Taggart said that both quarterbacks would play, though.
It’s an interesting dynamic.
Blackman is a solid passer, but has some mobility. Hornibrook looked accurate in the underneath game, but isn’t quite as mobile.
It will be interesting to see how Taggart uses the two guys and if one wins the job outright in the matchup with Clemson.
2. The Seminole OL vs. Tiger Pass-Rush
Speaking of the quarterbacks, you can’t mention Florida State’s offense without talking about their offensive line.
Florida State has looked in better sync over the past couple of weeks, but that still didn’t stop the Seminole offensive line from giving up eight sacks against NC State.
The Tiger defensive line (and pass-rush in general) should absolutely be reveling in the opportunity to play against this offensive line. Expect Brent Venables to dial up some pressure and challenge this Florida State offensive line unit to make plays.
1. Getting Back on Track
Overall, this game is an opportunity for Clemson to get back on track.
The Tigers could’ve easily lost the game against UNC and had their CFB Playoff hopes dashed before we even exited the month of September.
However, they won the game and still have all their goals in front of them. The players admitted that they lost focus before the matchup against the Tar Heels.
Hopefully that game was a learning experience and we don’t see this team lose focus like that for the remainder of this season.
The Florida State game is an opportunity for the Tigers to prove to the rest of the nation that they’re not going anywhere and that everything is just fine in Clemson. It’s also an opportunity to get the bad taste of their mouths and continue winning ways.