FSU prepares to host Clemson
The Florida State Seminoles (5-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) will host No. 3 Clemson (7-0, 4-0) on Saturday in Doak Campbell Stadium during a weekend where 13 teams in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings are on the road.
TALLAHASSEE — If you can comprehend the current state of college football, Jimbo Fisher would gladly accept your counsel.
With a bye in Week 8, the Florida State football team was able to regroup while teams like Ohio State and Texas A&M suffered their first loss of the season, teams like Alabama, Nebraska and Boise State ground out victories to stay undefeated and one-loss Houston suffered an upset defeat to SMU.
The Seminoles (5-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) will host No. 3 Clemson (7-0, 4-0) on Saturday in Doak Campbell Stadium during a weekend where 13 teams in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings are on the road.
Surely, the chaos will continue.
“Anything can happen,” Fisher said Monday. “If you can figure out college football right now, tell me. You’re not going to. We’re in a crazy time right now where you don’t know what’s going to happen.”
After a tumultuous weekend, which saw host Penn State upset Ohio State and host Alabama overcome a 14-13 third-quarter deficit to beat Texas A&M 33-14, Fisher was asked if he believes a two-loss team could reach the playoff semifinals.
After initially saying, “No, I don’t see it,” Fisher progressively grew more open to the possibility.
“I could see it happening. I could see it not happening,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me.”
FSU is the second highestranked two-loss team behind No. 11 Wisconsin, which beat Iowa 17-9 on Saturday. The Seminoles are still ranked ahead of No. 14 Florida (5-1 coming off a bye) and No. 17 Utah (7-1), which won a 52-45 shootout at UCLA.
No. 5 Louisville, No. 6 Ohio State and No. 9 Texas A&M each has one loss while No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Michigan, Clemson, No. 4 Washington, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 8 Baylor, No. 10 West Virginia and No. 13 Boise State remain undefeated.
Saturday’s game against Clemson was supposed to be a battle between undefeated teams, vying for a division berth in the ACC title game. Now the Seminoles will look to play spoiler during Clemson’s run to the playoff while boosting their own résumé in the process.
“We have a heck of a challenge, but also a great opportunity,” Fisher said.
Junior safety Trey Marshall said winning the final five games would constitute a successful end of the season. But there are some slight thoughts about the position FSU could have been in without their defeats.
“We can’t regret it,” Marshall said. “Everything happened for a reason. [The UNC loss] taught us that we need to play how we’re supposed to play, even though Louisville should’ve taught us that.”
Added star running back Dalvin Cook: “We have to take that next step in the second half of the season and go play some good football. I think guys have realized that, and our minds are shifted to this second half of the season.”
If the Seminoles are able run the table, they could benefit from currently undefeated and one-loss teams suffering setbacks as the regular season comes to an end.
Beating Clemson at home is the first step for Florida State, which faces a steep climb to re-enter the playoff picture.
“There are still a lot of matchups left to play,” Fisher said of a two-loss team’s possibilities. “It could happen. … It shows every week you have to be ready to play.”