Clemson Football Oppo Research: Florida State Seminoles

Clemson Football’s biggest game of the year will take place in early October at the stadium of the defending ACC Champion, and the guy behind center is a familiar name.

What: Clemson Tigers at Florida State Seminoles

When: October 5th, time to be determined

Where: Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida

Series History: Florida State leads the series 21-15-0. They defeated Clemson 31-24 last season in Death Valley. FSU’s last home victory against the Tigers came in 2014.

Florida State 2023 Statistics

All stats per teamrankings.com against FBS competition only

Points per game: 32.8 (23rd)

Yards per game: 392.2 (54th)

Points allowed per game: 19.8 (19th)

Yards allowed per game: 340.2 (31st)

Mike Norvell has received a lot of praise for the way he has rebuilt Florida State into a program that is competing for ACC Championships and College Football Playoffs. Now we will find out how the ebbs and flows of using the transfer portal heavily from season to season can impact a program in their position.

As you can see from the stats above, FSU had a Top 20 scoring defense. They tended to give their offense a short field. Their offense was very good when they had Jordan Travis at quarterback and they rarely failed to take advantage of those short fields. The defense was still very good after Travis was injured, but the result was an offense that did just enough to win, but not much more.

The question now is how will former Clemson & Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei fill the void left by Travis’s departure. Most agree he will be an upgrade over Tate Rodemaker and Brock Glenn, but he isn’t the same kind of quarterback as Travis. Norvell will need to cater his offense to DJU’s strengths.

Norvell will need to do that while replacing most of the rest of the offense as well. Only four starters return from 2023, none of which are at wide receiver. Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson were a big factor in the Seminoles’ success, along with Jaheim Bell.

The good news for FSU is that three of those offensive starters are on the offensive line. DJU is at his best when he has time to go through his progressions, set his feet, and make a pass.

Trey Benson is gone, but the dangerous Lawrance Toafili returns.

The defense also only returns four starters, but they do add several transfers. The most familiar name for FSU fans is Marvin Jones, Jr., the son of Seminole legend Marvin Jones. In the secondary, they return both Azareye’h Thomas and Fentrell Cypress, who will comprise one of the best cornerback duos in the nation.

There are always exceptions, but most people seem to agree that Florida State isn’t likely to be as good as they were last season, but the additions from the portal will keep them from falling very far. There is less agreement on whether or not that step back will allow other teams to overtake them.

Most preseason rankings have FSU repeating as ACC Champions and earning a playoff berth, but it is far from conclusive. Nearly as many rankings favor Clemson to return to the top of the league, while a few others like NC State in 2024.

One thing we do know is that with the expanded 12-team playoff that guarantees five conference champions automatic berths, this game is easily the most important of the season for both programs.