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3 takeaways from Clemson’s win at Florida State that makes Dabo Swinney the ACC’s winningest coach
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Clemson didn’t just beat Florida State on Saturday to continue its rise up the ACC standings and national polls.
It also made history.
The Tigers’ 29-13 victory also helped coach Dabo Swinney become the winningest coach in conference history. Swinney now has 174 wins against conference competition, 1 more than the Seminoles’ Bobby Bowden amassed during the 18 seasons his team was in the ACC from 1992-2009.
Fittingly, the record-setting triumph came on the field named in Bowden’s honor.
Clemson wasn’t as sharp in its 1st true road game this season as it was in its 2 previous wins against Appalachian State and NC State. But it didn’t need to be. The Tigers jumped out an early lead and dominated on the stat sheet, if not the scoreboard, and were never threatened in cruising to a win that avenged a bitter overtime loss at Death Valley a year ago.
Here are 3 takeaways from Clemson’s 4th straight win in Tallahassee:
Leaving points on the field
The Tigers rolled up twice as many yards as the Seminoles, outgaining them by a 500-250 margin. They had 28 1st downs to only 14 for their opponent and ran 10 more offensive plays in their not-so-convincing victory.
Those impressive numbers, however, don’t sugarcoat the fact that Clemson’s effort was anything but clean. Especially when it comes to taking advantage of scoring opportunities.
Quarterback Cade Klubnik wasn’t as sharp as usual. He completed only 58% of his passes, down considerably from his 66.4% accuracy coming into the game. As a result, the Tigers weren’t as efficient at finishing drives as usual.
Their inability to get the ball into the end zone forced them to settle for 5 Nolan Hauser field goals. They also left points off the scoreboard by getting 2 other attempts by Hauser blocked. The special teams breakdowns both came from the same place on the left side of the line, an issue Swinney – in an on-field interview with ESPN – attributed to an injury to a key blocker.
Scary moment for Klubnik
The Tigers and their fans held their collective breath when their star quarterback stayed down on the turf at the end of a 14-yard run late in the 1st quarter. Replays showed that Klubnik was the victim of a friendly fire incident in which he was accidentally kicked in the helmet by one of his own offensive linemen.
Regardless of who delivered the blow, any kind of potential head injury is cause for concern. But after a timeout and 1 play with backup Christopher Vizzina in the game – which resulted in a 15-yard defensive pass interference call on the Seminoles – Klubnik came right back into the game. And he showed that there was no harm done by hitting TJ Moore with a 23-yard touchdown pass 2 plays later to increase Clemson’s lead to 17-0.
Klubnik finished the game going 19-of-33 for 235 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air while also running for 62 yards on 11 carries.
Signs of life from the Seminoles
When you’re 1-5 and going nowhere fast, you take your victories where you can find them. Unlike its previous losses, there were plenty of positives for coach Mike Norvell and FSU to take away from Saturday’s game.
The most encouraging sign was the play of quarterback Brock Glenn. The redshirt freshman, who struggled in his 2 starts at the end of last season, battled back from a shaky start and gained confidence as the game went on. Glenn completed 23-of-41 passes for 228 yards and 2 touchdowns and an interception in relief of starter DJ Uiagalelei, who missed the game with a broken finger on his throwing hand.
Beyond the statistics, Glenn was much more poised than in his previous appearances, especially in converting all 4 of his 4th down opportunities.
Defensively the Seminoles put pressure on the quarterback, tightened up in the red zone and forced Clemson to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns that would have run up the score and tightened up after falling into an early 17-0 hole.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
