RECAP: Florida State fumbles away early lead in seventh consecutive loss to Clemson
The Florida State Seminoles (4-3, 2-3 ACC) had lost two straight games entering Saturday night's contest against the No. 4 Clemson Tigers (7-0, 5-0 ACC). However, there was optimism that the Seminoles would respond against one of the top teams in the country. Following an early deficit, the Tigers overcame their struggles to earn a 34-28 victory on the road.
FSU showed the ability to go toe to toe with Clemson in the opening quarter. The Seminoles went right down the field and scored the first touchdown of the night on a 20-yard run from quarterback Jordan Travis. Head coach Mike Norvell and the offensive staff tried to use the Tigers' aggressiveness on defense against them early with a variety of runs and short screens.
The approach was successful as Travis completed three of his first four passes. Running back Trey Benson churned through the Clemson defense for 19 yards before Travis juked a defender and cut up-field to give Florida State a 7-0 lead.
A penalty set back the Tigers on their opening possession. On 3rd and 23, defensive end Derrick McLendon laid a hit on running back Will Shipley over the middle to force an early punt.
Wide receiver Mycah Pittman returned the punt up the right side for 31 yards, breaking a tackle in the process. It was the third punt return for 30+ yards for the Seminoles over their past three games.
With an opportunity to take major control of the game in the first half, Florida State's offense faltered. The Seminoles went three and out as the left side of the offensive line was beaten during defensive end Myles Murphy's sack on Travis. A short punt from Alex Mastromanno gave the Tigers decent field position.
After three straight touches from Shipley, Florida State brought cornerback Kevin Knowles on a blitz off the edge. Knowles failed to get home on quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, who stepped up in the pocket and launched a 59-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Antonio Williams. Safety Akeem Dent got caught behind the play, freeing up Williams for a huge gain.
Florida State's third drive on offense was set back by an illegal block in the back. However, Travis hit wide receiver Johnny Wilson for 22 yards on the first play to move the Seminoles out of the shadow of their own goalpost. Travis connected with wide receiver Malik McClain on a strong catch for a conversion on third down before Benson found more running room for a gain of 16 yards. A run from running back Lawrance Toafili made it 1st and goal but Clemson stopped FSU only three consecutive plays. Fullback DJ Lundy punched through the middle to put the 'Noles up 14-7 early in the second quarter.
Clemson responded with a long drive of its own as Uiagalelei found Joseph Ngata for 19 yards and a conversion on third down. Defensive end Derrick McLendon came away with a sack before dropping Uiagalelei on third and short. The massive quarterback promptly kept the ball to gain enough on fourth down to keep the Tigers on the field. He hit Williams and then a wide-open Jake Briningstool to tie the game at 14.
Benson carried the Seminoles into Clemson territory but Travis missed his next two passes to bring up third and long. The redshirt sophomore scrambled for eight yards as the offense prepared to go for it on 4th and 2. Travis threw deep to Johnny Wilson the play but the pass was deflected by Nate Wiggins. The Florida native failed to see a wide-open player out of the flat that would've likely resulted in a conversion.
The Tigers drove down the field yet again behind a variety of runs from Shipley, including two that netted a first down on third down. Linebacker Tatum Bethune forced an incompletion on 3rd and 7 from the 30. Clemson elected to kick the field goal as BT Potter connected from 47 yards out to give the Tigers their first lead of the night.
Looking to tie the game or re-take the lead before the half, Toafili found 19 yards to move the offense towards mid-field. On 2nd and 12, Travis looked to throw downfield but offensive tackle Robert Scott was beaten badly off the edge by Murphy. Travis fumbled after being hit from behind and the ball was recovered by Clemson.
On the first play of the ensuing possession, Shipley went straight up the middle for 36 yards to put the Tigers on the cusp of the goal line. Uiagalelei ran it in himself with 19 seconds remaining in the half. Suddenly, Clemson was on a 17-0 run, including ten points in just 1:32 of game time. The Tigers led 24-14 at the break.
One team came out of the half ready to play the third quarter and the other was apparently still in the locker room. On the opening kickoff of the second half, Shipley exploded for 69 yards before being tripped up by linebacker Kalen DeLoach. Uiagalelei connected with Davis Allen down the sideline for a 31-yard touchdown on the Tigers' first offensive play.
Toafili was brought down for a five-yard loss on Florida State's first play of the second half. Travis completed his next two passes to tight end Cam McDonald for short gains but the Seminoles went three and out and trotted out the punt team.
The Tigers appeared to be playing for the fake and Florida State fell into the trip. Tight end Wyatt Rector took the direct snap and was stuffed well short of the line to gain. Clemson took over inside the Seminole 40 with a chance to continue building their lead. Uiagalelei ran in for a touchdown but a holding penalty took the points off the board. Dennis Briggs recorded a short sack to force another field goal attempt from Potter, which was good.
Travis found wide receiver Ja'Khi Douglas downfield for 28 yards but an illegal shift wiped away the gain. Florida State went three and out again. This time, the Seminoles punted it away. Clemson matched it with a three and out of its own, which was also the Tigers' first of the night.
Trailing 34-14, Florida State finally gained its first conversion of the second half with a pass to Wilson with 3:05 to play in the third quarter. Back to back completions to Toafili netted another first down. Travis was sacked by Ruke Orhorhoro on third down but a face mask penalty extended the drive.
Travis used his legs to get another first down for the Seminoles before pass interference in the end zone moved the ball to the two-yard line. Back-to-back poor passes from the two made it third and goal for Florida State. Travis ran again but was brought down for a loss as Clemson forced 4th and 4 with 12:52 to play.
Defensive end Xavier Henry beat offensive tackle Jazston Turnetine inside and got his hands on Travis' pass. It was the third time of the night that Florida State had turned the ball over on downs. Two of the fourth down attempts came inside four yards to gain.
Following a Clemson punt, Toafili found 25 yards of running room on third and short to move the Seminoles near the red zone. Travis hit Johnny Wilson over the middle for 22 yards to make it 1st and goal. On third down, he rolled out to his right and found Douglas for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 34-21.
The Tigers netted a few first downs to burn the majority of the remaining clock before punting it back with 4:01 remaining. The kick was almost blocked but instead, it hit the ground at the FSU 1 and rolled to the 6, which was basically a story of the game in a nutshell.
Travis eluded two defenders and ran for a first down before hitting Markeston Douglas for 23 yards. Douglas brought in another catch on the next play and broke away from a tackle for 29 yards to move Florida State into scoring position. Running away from pressure, Travis threw across his body to wide receiver Kentron Poitier for a touchdown.
Suddenly, the Seminoles had cut the deficit to 34-28 with 2:17 to play. But, it was too little, too late for Florida State as Clemson recovered the ensuing onside kick. With no timeouts remaining, the Tigers were able to secure the victory in Tallahassee.
Florida State finished with 460 yards of total offense in the game, including 254 passing yards and 206 yards on the ground. Travis completed 57% of his passes for 254 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also ran 14 times for 64 yards and another score.
Running back Trey Benson paced the Seminoles with 7 rushes for 69 yards. Running back Lawrance Toafili added 11 carries for 68 yards and 6 catches for 45 yards. Wide receiver Johnny Wilson led the team with 6 catches for 75 yards. Wide receiver Ja'Khi Douglas came away with his first touchdown catch this season.
On the other side of the ball, Florida State surrendered 370 yards of total offense to Clemson. Defensive end Derrick McLendon led the unit with eight tackles, one tackle for loss, and one sack. Safety Jammie Robinson also recorded eight tackles while Dennis Briggs totaled two tackles and a sack.
Florida State has a BYE week before returning to action against Georgia Tech on Saturday, October 29.
READ MORE: Florida State Seminoles release Depth Chart for Clemson Tigers
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