#10 Clemson at #4 Florida State
Where: Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, FL
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday on ABC
Last time they met: Clemson beat FSU 35-30 last year.
Considering that I rated both of these teams’ early season schedules either as “Embarassing” or “Truly Pathetic,” this ACC matchup should not only give us a good idea of which team is the frontrunner for the conference title, but should also make it a little more clear which, if either, is deserving of a top 10 ranking.
Adding a little fuel to the fire is Clemson’s Sammy Watkins, who was actually very interested in attending Florida State but felt Jimbo Fisher and his staff didn’t recruit him hard enough while they were going after receivers Rashad Greene and Kelvin Benjamin. Watkins says he doesn’t hold a grudge, but it may not matter considering he put up 7 catches for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns as a freshman against FSU in 2011.
The Seminoles’ Chris Thompson is averaging 14.1 yards per carry, but that number was boosted against the likes of Murray State, Savannah State and Wake Forest. Clemson will offer a much steeper challenge defensively, but look for one of Florida State’s playmakers to still end up with a big day.
When it comes down to it, FSU is simply too talented to lose this game at home. I expect this game to be the beginning of Clemson’s annual ritual of underachieving, though I don’t expect the Seminoles to win as easily as the 14.0 point Vegas spread is predicting. Final Score: Florida St. 35, Clemson 24.
Previous predictions:
[table “” not found /]Twibby’s 2012 Record vs. Spread: 2-1
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Proof that, sooner or later, everyone comes around to love the Irish.
After growing up as a Notre Dame hating, misguided youth, it only took one visit to campus during high school for Twibby to realize the error of his ways. From that point on Twibby and the Irish have had what can only be described as a true Hollywood love story. When he's not reminiscing about his time in South Bend and pondering ways to get a 5th year of eligibility as a student, Twibby writes about Notre Dame and the rest of the college football world for HLS. Along with the Irish, he is a diehard fan of the Chicago Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks and Cubs with a strange affection for Northwestern Wildcats football.
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