TALLAHASSEE, FL - Tigers are back in the win column with their 5th straight win in Tally! That ties Miami's record, and they would have tied Florida's record of 6 if FSU hadn't weaseled its way out of the 2020 game at the last second. It was a total forfeit by Norvell because he knew that he would get slaughtered at home, but it didn't go into the record books.
Dabo just went off on the FSU fans that flew the Fire Norvell banner over the stadium before the game. Classless!
On the injury front, the signs are good for Elyjah Thurmon. He is at the hospital still being checked out, but all of his limbs are working, so it looks like just a concussion, thank God!
I'll have post-game interviews, highlights and notes posted shortly!
WITH THE WIN...
- Head
Coach Dabo Swinney (192-56) passed Nick Saban and Bob Stoops (191
each) for sole possession of the second-most wins through the first 20
seasons of a head coaching career in FBS history, behind Tom Osborne
(195). Swinney accomplished the feat in his 19th season (and only his 18th
full season). Note: Stoops is not credited on the NCAA’s official list of
most wins through 20 seasons since he did not coach 20 years.
- With
his 117th career ACC regular season victory, Swinney tied Bobby
Bowden’s conference record for career head coaching wins in ACC regular
season play. Swinney already holds the conference record for overall wins
as an ACC head coach.
- Swinney
improved to 12-6 all-time against Florida State.
- Clemson
earned its 18th all-time victory against Florida State and its eighth
all-time victory in Tallahassee.
- Clemson
improved to 10-1 against Florida State since 2015.
- Clemson
won a fifth consecutive game at Doak Campbell Stadium for the first time
in series history.
- Clemson
became only the third program ever to win five consecutive road games
against Florida State in Tallahassee, joining Florida (six straight from
1966-76) and Miami (Fla.) (five from 1957-77).
- Clemson
improved to 16-7 all-time in games played on Halloween, including a 10-5
all-time mark in Halloween games away from home.
- Clemson
improved to 43-13 in games following a loss under Dabo Swinney, including
season openers following a loss in the previous season finale.
- Clemson
has now won 38 consecutive games against teams with a losing record, the
third-longest active streak in the country. Clemson has not lost to a team
with a losing record at the time of kickoff since losing to 2-5 Boston
College in 2010.
- Clemson
pushed its road record this season to 2-1.
- Clemson
improved to 11-2 in its last 13 regular season road games.
- Clemson
improved to 62-19 in games away from home since 2015, including a 46-11
mark in true road games in that span.
- Clemson
extended its road winning streak against ACC opponents to five games,
dating to last season. It represents Clemson's first five-game road
winning streak in ACC play since 2021-22.
- Clemson
improved to 38-13 in night games since the start of the 2018 season and
59-16 in night games since 2015.
- Clemson
improved to 115-23 in regular season play since the start of the 2015
season.
- Clemson
improved to 86-16 against ACC opponents since the start of the 2015
season.
- Clemson
is now 24-17 in games started by true freshman quarterbacks since the NCAA
instituted permanent freshman eligibility in 1972.
- Clemson
is now 132-7 since 2011 when scoring 30 or more points, the nation's
second-highest winning percentage in such games.
- Clemson
is now 97-10 when scoring first since the start of the 2015 season.
- Clemson
is now 92-6 when winning the turnover margin since 2011, including a 1-0
mark this year.
- Clemson
is now 46-1 when intercepting multiple passes in a game since the start of
the 2015 season.
- Clemson
is now 165-12 under Dabo Swinney when leading at halftime, including a
148-8 mark since the start of the 2011 season.
- Clemson
is now 155-8 when leading after three quarters since the start of the 2011
season. Clemson is 171-11 in such games under Swinney.
GAME NOTES
- Clemson
recorded a season-high four takeaways, its most since November 2025 at
South Carolina (four).
- Conversely,
Clemson produced no giveaways and has now recorded zero giveaways in
consecutive games for the first time since 2024 against Florida State and
Wake Forest.
- Clemson
produced a third straight giveaway-free game in its series with Florida
State for the first time in series history. Clemson had zero giveaways in
wins against Florida State in both 2024 and 2025.
- Clemson
snapped an eight-game streak in which it hadn't won the turnover margin,
dating to last season. In that span, Clemson has finished even in the
turnover margin five times and lost the turnover margin three times.
- Clemson
recorded a positive turnover margin for the first time since a plus-three
performance in the 2025 regular season finale at South Carolina.
- Clemson
has now held opponents to 24 or fewer points in 11 straight ACC road
games, the Tigers’ longest streak since an 11-game stretch of ACC road
games from 1976-80. Clemson has not surrendered more than 24 points on the
road to an ACC team since Miami (Fla.) required double overtime to score
28 points on Clemson in 2023.
- Clemson
outscored Florida State, 10-0, in the “Middle Eight,” defined as the final
four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second
half. In Clemson’s five-game winning streak in Tallahassee, the Tigers
have cumulatively outscored the Seminoles by a 57-7 margin in the Middle
Eight.
- Clemson
is now 82-5 since 2015 when outscoring opponents in the Middle Eight.
- Clemson
held Florida State to 1-of-10 on third downs. It marks the second time
this season Clemson has held an opponent to one or fewer third-down
conversions (0-for-11 vs. Charleston Southern).
- Quarterback
Tait Reynolds completed 18-of-32 passes for 189 yards and a
career-high two passing touchdowns. He also led Clemson with a career-high
85 yards on 14 carries with one rushing touchdown.
- Reynolds
became the first Clemson quarterback to lead the Tigers in rushing yards
in back-to-back games since DJ Uiagalelei against NC State and Boston
College in 2022.
- Reynolds
became the first Clemson quarterback to rush for a touchdown in
consecutive games since a three-game streak by Cade Klubnik in September
2024.
- Reynolds
sealed the game with a 79-yard touchdown scramble late in the fourth
quarter.
- The
79-yard run by Reynolds was Clemson’s longest run of the season.
- Reynolds’
79-yard run was the longest by a quarterback in Clemson history. The
previous record was 75 yards, shared by Steve Fuller (vs. Virginia Tech in
1978) and Woodrow Dantzler (at Virginia in 2000).
- The
79-yard run by Reynolds was the longest by a Clemson freshman since
Travis Etienne’s 81-yard touchdown run at Louisville in 2017.
- Tight
end Christian Bentancur recorded his second touchdown reception of
the season on an 18-yard first-quarter catch-and-run.
- The
touchdown reception was the fifth of Bentancur’s career.
- Tight
end Olsen Patt-Henry added his first touchdown reception of the
season on a four-yard reception in the second quarter.
- The
touchdown reception was Patt-Henry’s fourth career receiving
touchdown and his first since a two-touchdown game against Virginia on
Oct. 19, 2024.
- Wide
receiver T.J. Moore extended his streak of consecutive games with a
reception to 35 games, passing Aaron Kelly (34 from 2006-08) for sole
possession of the sixth-longest streak in Clemson history.
- Safety
Jerome Carter III recorded his first career sack on the game’s
opening drive, forcing Florida State quarterback Ashton Daniels out of
bounds shy of the line of scrimmage.
- Carter
added his first interception as a Tiger in the second quarter. It was the
seventh interception of his career.
- Carter
is the son of former Florida State defensive back Jerome Carter Jr. Carter
tied his father for both sacks and interceptions at Doak Campbell Stadium,
as only one of the elder Carter’s 2.5 career sacks and one of his three
interceptions came at home.
- Cornerback
Elliot Washington II recorded a career-high-tying two
interceptions, matching his two picks at Cal in September.
- Washington
became the first Clemson player to record two multi-interception games in
a season since 2009, when DeAndre McDaniel did so against Georgia Tech and
Miami (Fla.)
- Washington
added to his career high with his team-leading fourth and fifth
interceptions of the season.
- The
game was the second multi-interception performance of the season for
Clemson’s defense (two at Cal).
- Clemson
recorded its third takeaway of the game on the first forced fumble of
defensive lineman Darien Mayo’s career. The fumble was recovered by
Jahiem Lawson, the second fumble recovery of his career and his
first since 2024 at Pitt.
- Mayo
added a sack on a forced intentional grounding in the fourth quarter.
- Linebacker
Sammy Brown recorded his second sack of the season in the third
quarter.
- Defensive
end Will Heldt recorded his seventh sack of the season by forcing
an intentional grounding on the final play of the third quarter. With 7.0
sacks on the season, Heldt is now a half-sack shy of his career high (7.5
in 2025).
- With
2.5 tackles for loss in the game, Heldt (11.0 tackles for loss and
7.0 sacks) reached double digits in tackles for loss on the year to record
his third consecutive collegiate season with at least 10.0 tackles for
loss and 5.0 sacks. He became the 35th FBS player in the College Football
Playoff era to reach those marks in three different seasons.
- Clemson’s
defense forced three-and-outs on each of Florida State’s first three
drives. It marked the second time this season Clemson’s defense opened a
game with three or more consecutive three-and-outs (six vs. Georgia
Southern).
- It was
Clemson’s first time forcing three three-and-outs to start a game against
a power conference opponent since 2021 at South Carolina.
- Kicker
Nolan Hauser went 5-for-5 on field goals, 3-for-3 on PATs and
averaged 44.0 yards on two punts.
- Hauser
is now 23-of-24 on field goals this season and 58-of-69 for his career.
- With
the performance, Hauser (84.0) moved past Bob Paulling's Clemson
record for career field goal percentage (82.9 from 1979-83).
- After
entering the game outside the top 10 in the category, Hauser’s 23
made field goals this season are now tied with B.T. Potter (23 in 2021)
for the fourth-most in a season in Clemson history.
- Hauser
converted a 35-yard field goal in the first quarter. On the kick, he
recorded a field goal in his 17th consecutive game to pull within one game
of Greg Huegel's school record of 18 set across the 2015-16 seasons.
- Hauser’s
second field goal — a 35-yarder in the second quarter — was his 10th
consecutive made field goal. The streak joined streaks of 11 straight
field goals in 2025 and 10 straight field goals earlier in the 2026 season
to make him the first kicker in Clemson history to record three career
streaks of 10 or more consecutive successful field goal attempts.
- On his
third field goal — a 50-yarder to end the first half — Hauser became
the first Clemson kicker with three or more field goals in three
consecutive games since Greg Huegel in 2015 against NC State, Florida
State and Syracuse.
- Hauser
leads the nation in games with three or more field goals this season
(five).
- Hauser
recorded his sixth career field goal of 50 or more yards to pass Donald
Igwebuike (five from 1981-84) and Chris Gardocki (five from 1988-90) for
sole possession of second-most in Clemson history.
- Hauser
recorded his third field goal of 50 or more yards this season to match the
single-season school record shared by B.T. Potter (three in 2019), Richard
Jackson (three in 2009) and Chris Gardocki (three in 1990).
- Hauser
added a 46-yarder in the third quarter, giving him his fourth career game
(and second this season) with four or more field goals.
- Hauser
converted a 49-yarder in the fourth quarter, matching his career-high with
his fifth field goal of the night.
- Hauser
tied Nelson Welch (three) for the most career three-field-goal games in
Clemson history.
- On the
kick, Hauser extended his streak of consecutive made field goals to
a career-long 13 attempts. The 13 consecutive made field goals tie B.T.
Potter (2021) for the fourth-longest streak in Clemson history.
- Hauser
has now recorded 13 career field goals against the Seminoles, including 10
at Doak Campbell Stadium.
- With
the performance, Hauser (58) passed No. 7 Greg Huegel (54) and No.
6 Aaron Hunt (55) on Clemson's leaderboard for career field goals in
school history.
- Hauser’s
field goals covered 215 yards, two shy of the single-game school record
(217, Richard Jackson vs. Boston College in 2009). It was the second time
in Clemson history a kicker converted 200 yards worth of field
goals.
- Hauser
punted twice, including a long of 53 yards. The 53-yarder was his second
punt of 50 or more yards on four punts this season.
- Clemson
recorded four sacks and has now reached four or more sacks in three
consecutive games for the first time since a five-game streak to end 2022
against Louisville, Miami (Fla.), South Carolina, North Carolina and
Tennessee.
- Kick
returner Chris Johnson Jr. recorded a 38-yard kickoff return in the
first quarter. He has a return of 38 or more yards in three of Clemson’s
last four games.
- The
game was played on the 130th anniversary of the first game in Clemson
history, a 14-6 win against Furman on Oct. 31, 1896.
- Clemson
played its sixth night game of the season to match the 1949 campaign for
Clemson's most night games through the first eight games of a season in
school history.
- Clemson’s
captains for the contest were safety Jerome Carter III, cornerback Ashton
Hampton, wide receiver T.J. Moore and tight end Olsen
Patt-Henry.
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