No. 4 Clemson will aim to keep its unbeaten record intact when it visits Florida State in Atlantic Coast Conference action on Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla.
The Seminoles (4-2, 2-2) suffered a second straight loss last week, blowing a 17-3 halftime lead in a 19-17 road loss at then-No. 14 NC State.
The Seminoles outgained the Wolfpack 387-307, but were hurt by two Jordan Travis interceptions — one of which came in the end zone with 38 seconds left.
Travis completed 15 of 30 passes for 181 yards and one touchdown. It was his second-lowest yardage total of the season and his first multi-interception game of the year, having thrown just one pick in his first five games.
Still, overall, Travis has had a solid season and is a big reason why Florida State started the year 4-0. According to Pro Football Focus, his offensive grade of 91.1 ranks fourth nationally among FBS quarterbacks.
“We (have) got to do a good job of understanding that it’s on all of us. We could’ve put (Travis) in a better situation,” FSU offensive coordinator Alex Atkins said. “Mistakes are going to happen.”
Florida State has to do a better job of limiting such mistakes, especially when it faces Clemson (6-0, 4-0). The Tigers lead the conference in takeaways and have the 26th-best scoring defense in the country, allowing just 18.3 points per game.
Clemson’s offense has been impressive, too. The Tigers have scored 30 points or more in each game this season and are averaging 39.3 per game.
The offensive attack has been powered by quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei and running back Will Shipley. Uiagalelei has completed 63.9 percent of his passes this season for 1,462 yards and 14 touchdowns to just two interceptions. Shipley has paced the ground game with 446 yards and eight scores on 76 carries.
Uiagalelei has also rushed for 311 yards and three scores. Clemson averages 4.6 yards per carry as a team, but coach Dabo Swinney thinks the run game can still improve.
“We can get a lot better. It’s making the right decisions in the run game. A lot of it will come on our quarterback, too,” Swinney said. “It’s about trusting things, pressing blocks, everything syncing up. Sometimes someone tries to do too much. It’s your tight ends, receivers doing a good job on the second and third level. It’s your RPOs off of it, your screen game, a lot going on. D.J. has been a huge factor for us.”
Swinney said that defensive tackle Bryan Bresee — the former No. 1 overall recruit in the country — is expected to play this week, while senior cornerback Sheridan Jones is day-to-day.
Florida State head coach Mike Norvell said this week that running back Treshaun Ward (collarbone) will not need surgery, but it’s unclear if he will play against the Tigers.
“(Ward) will do everything in his power to be available,” Norvell said. “But we will see as things play out throughout the week.”
Clemson is 14-20 all-time against Florida State but is currently riding a six-game winning streak in the series.
–Field Level Media
