Clemson makes history in another noon game in the Sunshine State
Our intern Brandon Stockdale gives his thoughts on Clemson's 59-10 win over Florida State.
This past Saturday, Clemson’s senior class was looking to do something that had never been done before by an Atlantic Coast Conference team, beat Florida State for a fourth consecutive season. Mission accomplished--- by a mile.
Tigers explode in the second quarter
Let it sink in for a minute that this game was scoreless at the beginning of the first quarter, with both teams struggling out of the gate offensively.
Clemson was kick-started near the end of the quarter with a 41-yard Lawrence to Ross completion into Florida State territory. Following a missed field goal from Greg Huegel, FSU's Asante Samuel got flagged for roughing the kicker, extending the drive.
That’s when the Tigers got rolling. Trevor Lawrence hit Tee Higgins on a 7-yard touchdown strike three plays later as the Tigers were first on the board with 13:19 left in the second quarter. From that point forward, the rout was on.
Clemson linebacker Tre Lamar picked off Francois a few drives later, and from that moment you could tell the Tigers were going to dominate the Noles for the duration of the contest.
Trevor Lawrence was sharp on the road, going 20 of 37 for 314 yards and four touchdowns. The thing that continues to be impressive about Lawrence is the passes he throws into tight windows, not to mention the lasers he sends on out routes and slants. Lawrence put it on the money to Higgins, Hunter Renfrow and Amari Rodgers time and time again and when he missed his wideouts bailed him out with great grabs.
Lawrence broke Deshaun Watson’s record for passing touchdowns as a freshman and currently has 16 touchdowns through the air this season.
Wilkins does it all
When was the last time you’ve seen a 315-pound defensive lineman line up in the i-formation on the goal line and score a touchdown behind another defensive line blocking? That’s exactly what Christian Wilkins did in the second quarter to give Clemson a 21-0.
Wilkins has been wanting Dabo Swinney to put him in the game on offense at quarterback. He didn’t get exactly what he wanted, but he got an opportunity to score a rushing touchdown which is a dream for many defensive linemen. Now can he throw one? Louisville is next on the schedule, so you never know.
Same old story in the Sunshine State as far as noon kickoffs are concerned
Back in 2015, Clemson traveled to the Sunshine State for a noon kickoff against Miami. That was the Tigers' last noon kickoff in Florida, and it got ugly in a 58-0 win over the Hurricanes. Miami head coach Al Golden was fired the next day. Clemson dominated that game from start to finish and outside of the first quarter, Saturday's game felt eerily similar.
For Florida State, the 49-point loss tied the worst loss in school history (49-0 vs. Florida in 1973) and set a new mark for futility in Doak Campbell Stadium topping a 58-14 loss to Southern Miss in 1981.
One of the storylines coming into Saturday was Florida State’s offensive line, which has struggled all season matching up against Clemson’s defensive front. Clemson harassed Deondre Francois while holding Nyqwan Murray to just five catches for 49 yards. The Tigers also held the Seminoles in check on the ground with -21 yards rushing.
Clemson made Florida State look like a junior varsity high school football team most of the day, and the 'Noles seem to be a far cry from where they once were.
Can Taggart turn things around?
Only time will tell, but for now, this is Clemson's division, and it's not even close.