’NOLES SILENCE CLEMSON
FSU ignores noise to take marquee win
CLEMSON, S.C. — FSU fans already thought their Seminoles deserved a spot in the national championship game.
Critics were reserving judgment until Seminoles delivered a marquee win.
Now believers and skeptics alike can agree: The Seminoles are back.
No. 5 FSU (6-0, 4-0 ACC) defeated No. 3 Clemson (6-1, 4-1 ACC) 51-14 at Memorial Stadium Saturday night, a win that leaves little doubt of FSU’s legitimacy as a championship-caliber team.
Clemson’s fan base took offense to comments made by FSU quarterback Jameis Winston leading up to the game. Winston said the notoriously loudcrowdwouldnot rattle him. Tigers fans aimed to set a record for crowd noise at an outdoor event.
Instead, Winston and the Seminoles, who hadn’t won in Death Valley since 2001, silenced the Tigers and the crowd of 83,428.
Despite some rough moments early on, Winston had his way with a top-10 ranked defense, finishing with a career-high 444 yards and three touchdowns on 22-of-34 passing.
Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd completed a pass to Stanton Seckinger, but he was hit immediately by Lamarcus Joyner upon catching the ball. FSU safety Terrence Brooks recovered the fumble and gave the Seminoles excellent field position.
FSUcapitalized shortly after, with Winston lofting a pass to the 6-foot-5 Kelvin Benjamin. Known in his hometown of Belle Glade as “Tree,” Benjaminboxedout a Clemson defender and came down inbounds with a 22-yard touchdown reception. FSU went up 7-0 two minutes into the game.
Defense struck again for theSeminoles. Joyner— who said the game would be a “street fight” — sacked Boyd and forced a fumble. Defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. scooped it up and returned it for a 37-yard touchdown.
Just like that, FSU was up 17-0 with 3:07 left in the first quarter and the Clemson crowd was stunned.
Death Valley had gone silent, turning into Dead Valley.
Clemson received a flicker of hope when Boyd found receiver Sammy Watkins for a 3-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter.
But that hope was soon erased when Winston connected 6 yards down field with Rashad Greene, who thenfounda crease andburst up field to score on a 72-yard touchdown, giving FSU a 24-7 lead with 7:04 left in the first half.
It was the longest play of Winston’s and Greene’s careers.
Winston struggled with the Clemson crowd noise at times and was also under duress from a Tigers defense that led the nation in sacks per contest. He threw an interception in the second quarter, but he seemed to regain his composure as the game wore on and the crowd lost interest as the home team faded.
On the series following Greene’s touchdown reception, Clemson drove down to FSU’s 17. But Joyner intercepted an errant pass for his third turnover of the evening.
The Seminoles’ defense was suffocating, slowing a potent Clemson attack that was averaging 40.8 points per game.
Utilizing a risk versus reward scheme that has come under some scrutiny this year, FSU feasted off Clemson’s shortcomings, beating the Tigers at the point of the attack and overwhelming them with team speed.
Boyd, considered a Heisman Trophy candidate, had one of the worst performances of his career.
The victory comes on the eve of the first official BCS rankings, which will be released on Sunday. FSU has received favorable rankings from computer polls and will likely receive a bumpin voter polls with the convincing win.
FSU hosts NC State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The Wolfpack derailed the Seminoles’ undefeated season (5-0) last October with a stunning17-16 win at Raleigh.