Clemson football: FSU rivalry has taken an unforeseen turn in recent years

Clemson football has a chance at beating FSU for the sixth straight time on Saturday.

If you started following Clemson football before 2013, you understand how ridiculous that statement is. Tiger fans from the 90s forward never envisioned being able to beat FSU twice in a row let alone a possible six straight.

As dominant as a run as Clemson is on right as far as ACC titles, College Football Playoff appearances, and rankings, all pale in comparison to the dominant Seminoles run from 1987-2000 when they finished in the AP Top 5 every single year.

Clemson football is obviously well on their way to achieving similar success, but during that run from 87-00, the Seminoles took every opportunity possible to embarrass the Tigers.

The Tigers went 1-10 versus FSU between those years and the average score was 34-13. During those 11 games, FSU held Clemson scoreless three times – 1993, 1994, and 1998.

Clemson football has turned the rivalry on its head.

Since 2001, Clemson football has fared a little bit better than they did in the late 80s and all of the 90s. The Tigers are 11-8 since the turn of the century with the average score of 30-26 in favor of Clemson. During this five-game winning streak, the Tigers have scored 195 points while giving up just 85.

While the newer or younger Clemson football fans don’t understand why this is such a big deal, those of us that have sat through the FSU embarrassments appreciate where head coach Dabo Swinney has elevated this program to.

Coming off a bye-week couple with the double-overtime loss to Notre Dame, this Clemson football team is eager to make a statement to college football that this team should not be forgotten. Add in that FSU has lost quite a few players over the last 10 days to injury, transfer, and NFL aspirations, this has all the makings of a beating that FSU has never experienced.

For those of us that watched Clemson get beat 57-0 in 1993, 54-7 in 2000, or 51-14 in 2013, this is the cherry on top of what has been a dominating decade for Clemson football.