Clemson-Florida State Rivalry Still Means Something
CLEMSON— The Clemson Tigers are currently in the midst of a four-game winning streak against their once formidable foe this week—the Florida State Seminoles.
And if you are a believer that the betting gurus in Las Vegas know anything about football, one would have to think that this Saturday's game (3:30 p.m., ABC) will extend that streak to five games—as the Tigers are currently 27-point favorites over the Seminoles.
However, Clemson offensive coordinator Jeff Scott believes that the Tigers will not be in danger of overlooking the Seminoles because they have watched the film.
"I mean, I think our guys, they know when they turn on that video, they can recognize how athletic and talented these guys are," Scott said. "I mean, I haven't seen the exact stat for this roster, but I would guess that if you would go back on any of the recruiting roster rankings, they probably still have more four and five star guys than we do. Four years ago, they had the number one class in the country. So I think our guys understand that this is a dangerous team, very athletic, a lot of play makers."
If Scott needed any more evidence that the Tigers are inivincible and that teams are not going to simply cower away from them when they step on the field, he need only look to the Tigers' last game— a one-point win at North Carolina.
"I think we proved it last week; it doesn't matter who you play, whether you think you're more talented than them or not," Scott said. "If you don't execute, then you're going to put yourself in a difficult situation. Especially coming off of maybe where we were last week, I don't think our guys have any concerns of being able to look ahead or anything like that. I mean, we know we got bullseye on our back. We're going to get everybody's best shot. We've got to play well every week. We don't have to play perfect to win, but we got to play well and be able to execute, and it'll be the same way this Saturday."
Adding to the Tigers' collective focus this week is the fact that this game has decided the Atlantic Division each of the last 10 seasons. The Seminoles riding a three-game winning streak and a perfect conference record, meaning they Tigers have their full attention on the task at hand.
"Sure, absolutely. I mean, just the history of this division. It's come down a lot of years to Clemson or Florida State, and they had a run on us before we have been able to kind of turn it the last few years and get a run," Scott said. "So I mean, I think everybody in our program, coaches and players, know that this is always one of the best programs that we're going to face in our division each week. For our next goal, I mean, they control their own destiny. They don't have a loss in the division, so they know what they have at stake as well on their side."
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