Florida State visits Death Valley Saturday afternoon to face No. 1 Clemson. A look at the Atlantic Division showdown By the Numbers.
8.6: Yards per attempt for Clemson’s passing game. That average is second-best in the ACC, behind only North Carolina. Florida State ranks third with an average of 8.2 yards per attempt, which could create the illusion that both teams attack in similar ways when utilizing the pass. This is not the case, however. Clemson has struggled to go downfield for much of the season, but big plays have recently become available for this team as young receivers have come of age. The Seminoles still have not consistently proven to be formidable throwing the ball deep, instead relying on quick throws to get the ball into the hands of smaller playmakers in space.
18: Scoring average in road games this season for Florida State. The Seminoles average 32.8 points per game for the year, but that number is skewed by some blowout wins in Tallahassee. The best offensive performance for the Noles in a 2015 road game came at Wake Forest, when they beat the Demon Deacons while scoring 24 points. Clemson, meanwhile, has allowed an average of 16.6 points per game at home. Saturday’s game sets up as the kind of game the Tigers should feel good about winning if they can reach the 20-point threshold.
37: Margin of victory the last time these two teams met in Death Valley. Obviously, this game came in 2013, when the Seminoles dropped Clemson on its head on a grand national stage in perhaps the second-most embarrassing loss of the Dabo Swinney era. Since then, a ton of those Florida State players have headed to the NFL, and Clemson has arguably ascended to a similar place to that uber-talanted Seminole team. The Tigers rank among the nation’s top five in both offensive and defensive efficiency right now. No team has done that in November since that national champion FSU squad that triumphed in Memorial Stadium two seasons ago.
72: Tackles for loss this season for Clemson. The Tigers are once again among the nation’s leaders in that category, tied for seventh and behind only Boston College—the top team in the country with 88 TFLs—in the ACC. Florida State is way down the list, coming in at 89th nationally with 44 tackles for loss. The Seminoles are sacking the quarterback a bit more this season, but they are not bringing running backs down behind the line of scrimmage. In a battle of two grinding ground games, forcing obvious passing situations will be critical for both defenses, and Clemson would seem to have an edge in this department.
100.6: Quarterback rating for Clemson’s opponents this season. The Tigers continue to stymie opposing passing attacks, and this number is a good gauge of that. Only seven teams nationally—none from the ACC—rank ahead of Clemson in this department. This could prove problematic for Jimbo Fisher, who has been noncommittal about who his quarterback will be on Saturday. Everett Golson is the listed starter, and he seems less likely to do meaningful damage. Golson has made a living this season with short throws and checkdowns, choosing safe throws by default. Sean Maguire has a bigger arm and has already beaten Clemson, but he is also listed second on the depth chart this week. Whoever plays quarterback will have a stiff test.