TALLAHASSEE, FL - The Tigers did not play as well as they have the past three games offensively--particularly in the red zone--but they got the job done in a workmanlike 29-13 win at Florida State for their fourth straight win and fourth straight at Doak Campbell Stadium. They are now 5-0 in trips I've made to Tallahassee, beginning with the 2006 win. Nolan Hauser didn't have many attempts coming into the game, but he made 5 field goals despite having two short ones blocked due to a breakdown in protection. Had those not have been blocked, the freshman could have tied the Clemson record with 7 field goals in a game. The Tigers' run defense was a disappointment last week, allowing 236 rush yards against Stanford, but they rebounded in a big way, allowing just 22 rush yards against the Noles on 23 carries. The Tigers also won the turnover margin for a fourth straight game and did not turn the ball over. That and healthy receivers have been the biggest difference so far from last season.
Ironically, Dabo passed one of his great friends and mentors, Bobby Bowden, on his namesake field for most wins in ACC history. I'll have more in a bit. In the meantime, post-game interviews, highlights and notes are below!
WITH THE WIN...
- Head Coach Dabo Swinney earned his 174th career victory to pass Bobby Bowden (173 during Florida State's tenure in the ACC) for the conference record for the most career head coaching victories leading an ACC program.
- Swinney earned his 174th career win to pass the career win totals of College Football Hall of Famers Robert Neyland (173-31-12) and Frank Solich (173-101).
- Clemson (802-473-45) earned its 802nd victory all-time to pass Auburn (801) for the 13th-most wins in FBS history.
- Clemson earned its 16th all-time victory against Florida State and its seventh all-time victory in Tallahassee.
- Clemson has now won four consecutive games at Doak Campbell Stadium for the first time in series history.
- Clemson became only the fourth program ever to win four consecutive road games against Florida State in Tallahassee, joining Florida (six straight from 1966-76), Houston (four from 1966-78) and Miami (Fla.) (five from 1957-77 and four from 1981-87).
- By defeating Florida State after losing the Seminoles a year ago, Clemson has still not been beaten by the same team in back-to-back years since Florida State did so across a three-year span from 2012-14.
- Clemson improved to 23-10 under Dabo Swinney in games against teams to which Clemson lost its most recent game.
- Clemson improved to 37-8 in true road games since 2015. Clemson's 37 road wins in that span are tied with Boise State and Ohio State for the most in the nation.
- Clemson still has not lost to a team with a losing record at kickoff time since losing to 2-5 Boston College in 2010.
- Clemson improved to 31-8 in night games since the start of the 2018 season and 52-11 at night since 2015.
- Clemson improved to 135-18 against AP-unranked teams under Dabo Swinney and is now 112-8 in those games since the start of the 2012 season.
- Clemson improved to 98-13 in regular season play since the start of the 2015 season.
- Clemson is now 84-6 when scoring first since 2015.
- Clemson now has a 133-8 record when totaling more first downs than its opponent since 2011.
- Clemson has now won 118 of its last 123 games when leading at halftime.
- Clemson improved to 139-4 since 2011 when leading after three quarters.
- Clemson is now 71-2 since 2015 when outscoring opponents in the “Middle Eight,” defined as the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half. Clemson outscored Florida State by a 6-0 margin in that span Saturday.
- Clemson now has an 82-4 record when winning the turnover margin since 2011.
- Clemson is now 84-3 when rushing for 200+ yards under Dabo Swinney.
- Clemson improved to 64-1 when both passing and rushing for 200+ yards under Dabo Swinney. Overall, Clemson is 114-1-1 in program history when reaching those marks.
- Clemson is now 66-4 when having a 100-yard rusher since 2011.
- Clemson has now won 116 of its last 117 games when holding teams under 23 points (dates to 2010).
GAME NOTES
- Clemson finished with exactly 500 yards of offense, its third 500-yard game of the season. Clemson has now recorded 500 yards three times in a four-game span for the first time since Clemson recorded eight consecutive 500-yard games in 2019.
- Clemson has now produced at least 400 yards in four straight games for the first time since reaching 400 yards in all 12 games in 2020.
- Clemson threw for 235 yards and rushed for 265 yards. Clemson has now exceeded 200 yards in both categories in three games this season.
- Clemson’s 265 rushing yards were four yards off of its season high set against Appalachian State (269).
- Clemson averaged 6.8 yards per play and has now averaged 6.5 or more yards per play in four straight games for the first time since a five-game streak in the middle of the 2019 season.
- Clemson averaged 6.6 yards per carry and has now averaged 5.0 or more yards per carry in four straight games for the first time since the final four games of the 2019 season.
- Clemson allowed only 22 rushing yards to Florida State. Clemson has held the Seminoles to fewer than 25 rushing yards in five of the series’ last 10 games (13 in 2014, 21 in 2017, -21 in 2018, 22 in 2023).
- Clemson’s defense forced a season-high six three-and-outs.
- Quarterback Cade Klubnik completed 19-of-33 passes for 235 yards with two touchdowns. He also added 62 rushing yards on 11 carries.
- In his last four games, Klubnik has completed 74-of-114 passes for 1,077 yards with 14 touchdowns and one interception. He has also rushed 24 times for 185 yards and four touchdowns on the ground in that span.
- Klubnik (35) tied Nealon Greene (35 from 1994-97) for eighth on Clemson's all-time leaderboard for career passing touchdowns.
- Klubnik (4,760) passed Rodney Williams (4,647 from 1985-88) and Kyle Parker (4,739 from 2009-10) for ninth in school history in career passing yardage.
- With 297 combined rushing and passing yards in the game, Klubnik (5,249) passed Travis Etienne (4,975 from 2017-20) for 11th in school history in career yards of total offense.
- Klubnik (5,249) became the 11th player in school history to record 5,000 career yards of total offense.
- Wide receiver Antonio Williams recorded a career-high 84 receiving yards on three receptions and a touchdown. He also added a career-high 36 rushing yards on two carries and returned two punts for 37 yards.
- Williams finished the game with a career-high 157 all-purpose yards, the first 100-yard all-purpose game of his career.
- Williams scored on a 57-yard touchdown pass from Klubnik in the first quarter.
- The 57-yard reception was the second-longest of Williams’ career, trailing only a 59-yard touchdown reception in the same location against Florida State in 2022.
- The touchdown was Williams’ career-high-tying fourth receiving touchdown of the season, matching his four touchdown catches in his freshman campaign in 2022.
- Wide receiver T.J. Moore, playing his fifth career game and his first back in his home state, scored on his first reception of the game, a 23-yard pass from Klubnik.
- Running back Phil Mafah led Clemson with a season-high 154 rushing yards on 25 carries.
- Mafah posted his third 100-yard rushing game of the season and the fifth of his career.
- Mafah recorded a 59-yard rush in the fourth quarter, his second-longest run of the season.
- Tight end Jake Briningstool caught three passes for 22 yards.
- On his second reception of the game, Briningstool (95) passed John McMakin (93 from 1969-71) and Dwayne Allen (93 from 2009-11) for the second-most career receptions by a Clemson tight end.
- Wide receiver Troy Stellato gained 11 yards on his first career rushing attempt.
- Clemson allowed only one sack and has now surrendered one sack or fewer in four straight games for the first time since the final four games of the 2021 season.
- Linebacker Barrett Carter recorded his second sack of the season — the 11th of his career — on Florida State’s first drive.
- Carter has now recorded a full sack in back-to-back games for the first time since 2022 against NC State and Boston College.
- Cornerback Avieon Terrell notched his career-high second interception of the season in the first quarter.
- Terrell became the first Clemson player to record an interception in back-to-back games since Kylon Griffin against Notre Dame and Georgia Tech last November.
- Terrell became the first Clemson player with a takeaway in three straight games since Wade Woodaz in the first three games of the 2023 season.
- Defensive end T.J. Parker recorded a fourth-quarter sack and has now recorded a sack in three straight games for the first time in his career.
- Kicker Nolan Hauser converted 5-of-7 field goal attempts with his two misses coming on blocks. Hauser is now 10-of-12 on field goal attempts and 23-of-24 on PATs in his true freshman campaign, and all three of his missed placekicks have been blocked.
- The five-field-goal performance by Hauser was Clemson’s first since Chandler Catanzaro went 5-for-5 on field goal attempts against Boston College in 2011.
- Hauser broke the school record for field goal attempts in a game, surpassing the previous mark of six set six times (Chris Gardocki vs. Georgia Tech in 1990; Nelson Welch vs. NC State in 1991; Nelson Welch vs. Maryland in 1992; Jad Dean vs. Texas A&M in 2005; Mark Buchholz vs. NC State in 2007; and Richard Jackson vs. Boston College in 2009).
- Clemson opened the scoring on a 26-yard field goal by Hauser in the first quarter.
- Hauser added a career-long 38-yard field goal in the second quarter to give him his second straight multi-field-goal game.
- Hauser added a 25-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.
- In the fourth quarter, Hauser converted his fourth field goal of the game on a 31-yarder and added a 24-yarder later in the frame.
- Williams recorded a season-long 23-yard punt return in the first quarter. It was two yards shy of his career long (25 vs. Appalachian State).
- Clemson led 17-0 after the first quarter and has now held opponents scoreless in the first quarter of each of the first five games of a season for the first time since 1990 when Clemson did not allow a first-quarter point in its first six games. The Tigers have outscored opponents by a 90-0 margin in first quarters this season.
- Clemson led at halftime, 23-7. It was Clemson’s 80th game in which it has led at halftime since 2017, the most in the nation. Clemson also held a 313-84 edge in total yards and a 20-4 advantage in first downs at the half.
- Clemson won the turnover margin, 1-0, and won the turnover margin for the ninth time in a 10-game span, including a five-game stretch to end the 2023 season. Clemson is 9-1 in those contests with a 9-0 mark when winning the turnover margin.
- Clemson played a seventh consecutive game (dating to last season) with one giveaway or fewer, Clemson’s first time doing so since a 12-game streak across the 2019-20 seasons.
- By virtue of opening the first five weeks with a neutral-site game, three home games and an open date, the game was Clemson’s true road opener. The game represented Clemson’s latest road opener since Oct. 9, 2008, when Clemson’s 12-7 loss at Wake Forest in its road opener led to Clemson elevating Dabo Swinney to interim head coach the following week.
- Captains for the contest were safety R.J. Mickens, offensive lineman Blake Miller, offensive lineman Marcus Tate and linebacker Wade Woodaz.
Never miss the latest news from CUTigers!
Join our free email list