Game Preview: Florida State Seminoles at Clemson Tigers

The Florida State Seminoles hit the road for a matchup against the Clemson Tigers on Saturday in Death Valley. This is usually a highly anticipated matchup, but the teams are a combined 7-9 on the season.

It's been a weird year, especially considering that Clemson entered the season with legitimate national championship expectations, and now they're 3-5 with losses to Duke, Syracuse, and SMU.

Dabo Swinney keeps poking the bear, basically daring Clemson to fire him. If the season keeps trending how it has been, that's not exactly out of the question. Yes, he's a two-time national champion, but this team deservedly entered with very high expectations.

They returned more production than any team in the country after winning the ACC championship last season and making the College Football Playoff. For them to be THIS disappointing is pretty crazy, but we'll talk about that more later.

This game will be at 7:00 p.m. EST on Saturday evening from Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina, on the ACC Network.

Clemson Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) passes the ball Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, during the NCAA football game against the Duke Blue Devils at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina. | Alex Martin/Greenville News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Seminole Headlines

A Much-Needed Win, Depending on Who You Ask

Florida State broke a four-game skid with a 42-7 win over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons last week, in a game that didn't really feel as dominating as the final score indicated. Wake Forest had a lot of self-inflicted mistakes. Once it started getting down by a few touchdowns, it started going for it on fourth down, which gave FSU phenomenal field position for most of the second half.

FSU made the plays that needed to be made, so credit to them, but no one can deny they were helped quite a bit by some mistakes from Wake. For a program that is trying to bounce back, it was a much-needed win for Mike Norvell, as the pressure around him is definitely mounting.

If he can rebound and win out, or maybe only drop one more game, at most, he should be able to buy himself another year. But whether that's what's best for FSU or not is a different discussion. With how much money is owed for his buyout, FSU boosters are probably hoping he can save them some money and just win out.

A Tough November Road

The path ahead is still tough for Florida State, but not nearly as tough as it looked at the beginning of the season. Virginia Tech and Florida have already fired their coaches, and Clemson is nowhere near the national championship contender they projected to be entering the season. Playing at NC State on a Friday night has never been a great thing for Florida State, either.

But none of these are guaranteed losses. The tougher part is that three of the final four remaining games are on the road, and Florida State has still yet to win a road game this season. That's an issue. And now they're going into Death Valley, a place that is usually hard to play in for opposing teams.

Clemson's Wild Fall-Off

I don't think there's a team in the country that more people missed on than Clemson. And that's including myself; I will sit here hand held high, and say I picked them to win the championship. At this point, with four games remaining against FSU, Louisville, Furman (FCS), and South Carolina, they're not even guaranteed to make it to a bowl game.

When a team returns 80% of their production from a team that made the College Football Playoff last year and can't even guarantee they'll make a bowl game in November, that's a problem. One they need to get fixed soon.

Nov 1, 2025; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles wide receiver Duce Robinson (0) celebrates a pass catch during the second half against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images | Melina Myers-Imagn Images

Three Burning Questions

Duce Robinson is Florida State's Best Wide Receiver Since When?

Duce Robinson has had a pretty incredible season in his first season at FSU. He has 34 catches for 689 yards (20.3 yards per catch) for four touchdowns. He hasn't been perfect, as the stumble against Virginia cost them a chance in double overtime (I still think it was the correct call), and he's kind of a one-trick pony, with most of his catches coming on go-routes, but he is VERY good at that one thing.

Robinson is phenomenal with the contested catches, has more speed than you would think for someone his size, and is capable after the catch. It'd be better if they didn't use him on screens, but it's understandable to want to put the ball in the best wide receiver's hands.

Florida State has had some great receivers in the last decade or so, with Keon Coleman, Johnny Wilson, Tamorrion Terry, and even going back to Rashad Greene. And he deserves to be in that conversation.

What's Wrong With Clemson?

How does Clemson go from a team that was in the Playoff last year to one that may not even make a bowl game?

It starts with the offense, as they're averaging about a touchdown's worth of points per game less this year than they were last year. Cade Klubnik is actually averaging more yards per attempt than he was last year, but he hasn't really been able to find the end zone, as he has just 13 touchdowns.

The bigger issue on offense is that they cannot run the ball. Adam Randall has been solid, averaging over 5 yards per carry in his 100+ attempts, but they're averaging about 50 yards per game less than last season. That's a steep drop-off, but they also had Phil Mafah last year.

The defense has also had some weird performances. It's loaded with NFL talent, such as cornerback Avieon Terrell, but it's performing poorly. They just let Duke score 46 points a week ago, allowing 361 passing yards. Their rushing defense has mostly been good, allowing 3.5 yards per carry, but they'll be tested against an FSU team that wants to pound the rock.

Who Needs the Win More, Clemson or Florida State?

Well, it depends on what fans are rooting for. Both fanbases seem like they're over their current coaching situations, but Mike Norvell's buyout is ridiculous, and it's not exactly like there's a great crop of coaching talent out there. Boosters would probably prefer if Norvell could buy himself another year by winning games like this one. He won the last time he was at Clemson; why not do it again?

Game Forecast

Clemson is favored by 2.5 points with an over/under of 56.5, per FanDuel Sportsbook.

A movable force against a stoppable object. That's what we're going to be seeing on Saturday evening. Clemson is 1-4 at home this year, and the one win was against Troy in a game that was way closer than it needed to be. And Florida State has yet to win a road game.

If a college game could end in a tie, this would be the one to do it (they can't anymore). There is truly no result in this game that would be surprising to me. I do think it'll be lower scoring. Why? Because nothing about this season makes sense.

I'll take Clemson in a tight one, with FSU losing because of a failed two-point conversion near the end.

Clemson 24, Florida State 23

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