Clemson was unable to win as a home underdog against No. 4 Florida State on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
The Seminoles never led in regulation but they scored on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Travis to Keon Coleman on the first possession of overtime. They then held Clemson off on the Tigers’ possession and FSU held on for a wild 31-24 victory in OT.
Here’s the good and the bad from Clemson’s second loss of the season and as many blemishes on the ACC slate as well:
Ups
-Clemson outgained the Noles 429-311 in total yards and never trailed in regulation.
-Quarterback Cade Klubnik led the Tigers with 283 yards on 25-of-38 passing. He threw one touchdown, rushed for another and had no interceptions while making some big-time throws to set up other scores.
-Running back Will Shipley went over 100 total yards and scored one rushing touchdown and another receiving.
-Phil Mafah, Shipley’s backfield mate, averaged 6.9 yards per carry to led Clemson in rushing.
–Down a starting injured receiver, Tyler Brown led the Clemson pass-catchers with 84 yards on five catches. He left the game with a shoulder injury but returned.
-The Clemson defense held FSU to just 22 rushing yards and 57 plays and forced four 3-and-outs.
-Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Xavier Thomas led the Clemson defense with a sack each and 1.5 and 2 tackles for a loss, respectively.
Downs
-Clemson turned the ball over on a fumble by Klubnik that was scooped up by Kalen Deloach and returned for a 56-yard touchdown that tied the game at 24-24. Klubnik never saw the pressure as he assumed Mafah was picking up the blitzer.
-Klubnik made the wrong decision on a 3rd-and-1 read-option play in overtime. Instead of handing the ball off to Shipley, he faked it and threw outside to Adam Randall, who was tackled behind the line of scrimmage, setting up a game-ending fourth down Clemson didn’t convert.
-Kicker Johnathan Weitz, who re-joined the team this week as a walk-on to replace the struggling Robert Gunn III, missed a 29-yard field goal that would’ve given Clemson a lead with 1:45 to play in the game. He finished 1-of-2 for the game.
-Clemson won some battles against this talented FSU receiving corps, but it also lost a few to Johnny Wilson, who had 94 yards, and Keon Coleman, who caught two touchdowns.
Want to join in on the discussion? 100% FREE! Interact with fellow Tiger fans and hear directly from publisher Zach Lentz, deputy editor Brad Senkiw, and recruiting analyst Jason Priester on any subject. Click here to become a member of the ALL CLEMSON message board community today!
Do us a HUGE favor and like, subscribe and follow us on social media:
►LIKE us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allclemson
►SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/c/AllClemson
►FOLLOW All Clemson on Twitter:https://twitter.com/All_Clemson
