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Clemson at Florida State Football Odds & Picks

Written by Steve Janus

Saturday’s game between Clemson and Florida State had all the makings of a big father-son showdown at the begining of the season, but Tommy Bowden was relieved of this duties as the head man over at Clemson and with the Tigers sitting at an even 4-4 on the season, the game just doesn’t seem as big as it looked on the schedule in September. Nevertheless, Florida State is on a four game winning streak and is still in contention to win the ACC with a 3-2 conference record. Clemson was, again, ranked in the top 25 in the preseason, but failed to deliver once the games were actually played. Saturday the Florida State Seminoles are 5.5 point favorites at home over Clemson with the total set at 44 points.

Touted as one of the best offenses in the nation, again the Clemson has fallen short of expectations. The Tigers are averaging 25 points per game and nearly 340 yards per game, but those numbers aren’t the type that one of the offenses projected to be the best in the nation should be sporting. Clemson QB Cullen Harper has struggled all season long. He has thrown 11 picks so far this year and only accounted for 7 touchdowns. Costly mistakes are something that has plagued this team year after year.

The Clemson defense might be the one part of this team that has lived up to the lofty expectations given to the team. As a unit they are giving up just 16.8 points per game and 307 yards per game. The disappointing part of those numbers is that, while they are good, Clemson has just 4 wins to speak of. Allowing less than 17 points per game should put Clemson in every game that they play, but that just hasn’t been the case. Clemson’s defense is solid, but the Tigers are still 6 point underdogs at Florida State Saturday.

Florida State’s offense has looked like some of their teams of old this year. Putting up over 35 points per game and nearly 395 yards per game, it’s easy to see why the Seminoles are already bowl eligible. FSU has found solid players in the running and passing game. Quarterback Christian Ponder and running back Antone Smith have put up respectable numbers and they have shared the production pretty evenly throughout the season.

The most impressive thing abou the Florida State defense isn’t the 18.4 points per game they are allowing, but the sub-50 percent pass completions they have allowed so far this year. Or maybe it’s the 3.3 yards per carry they are surrendering to opposing rushers. No, I think it has to be the 259 years of total offense they’ve given up so far this year. The point? This is a very good defense that has excelled everywhere that they’ve need to this year. Combined with a surprisingly potent offense, FSU’s defense is part of the reason the Seminoles are 5.5 point favorites this week.

It’s been a season of unrealized expectations for the the Clemson Tigers. They’ve seen their top 25 rating, as well as their head coach, leave town, never to return. Florida State, on the other hand, has met or exceeded just about every expectation that was given to them. The Seminoles will play in a bowl game this year, the only question is which one it will be. Both defenses in this game have had tremendous seasons up to this point, but the Seminoles have a clear edge on the offensive side of the ball.

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