Florida State shows resiliency in rallying to beat Clemson, but Dabo Swinney, Tigers blew it

Mike Norvell spent four years building for this. Slowly but surely, Florida State’s head coach — combining prep prospects with impact transfers — constructed a roster capable of going on the road at Death Valley, not playing their A-game and winning anyways. 

The No. 4 Seminoles’ victory at Clemson on Saturday was a statement — in more ways than one. 

FSU remains undefeated after beating the Tigers 31-24 in overtime Saturday, snapping a seven-game losing streak in the series with a resilient, lunch-pail performance. The ‘Noles spent all offseason about taking the baton back from Clemson as the kings of the ACC, and they have. 

In a gutsy performance, Jordan Travis, battling injuries to his left shoulder and right hand, overcame a slow start to score three total scores and finish with nearly 300 yards passing. He connected twice with star wideout Keon Coleman for long touchdowns — including the game-winning toss in overtime. 

FSU rallied from a 10-point deficit in the first half, only to find itself on the ropes trailing by a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Tigers tailback Phil Mafah ripped off a 46-yard run to setup another potential scoring drive for Clemson, but two plays later, linebacker Kalen DeLoach delivered a vicious sack off a perfectly-time blitz that resulted in a 56-yard scoop-and-score tying touchdown. 

KALEN DELOACH🔥

Laid the blow and scooped and scored 56 yards🤯pic.twitter.com/8umaUa5i1t

— On3 (@On3sports) September 23, 2023

Death Valley was stunned silent. The momentum completely changed. 

Only the game wasn’t over. 

Clemson still had plenty of chances to pull off the upset and halt FSU’s budding resurgence, but Dabo Swinney and the Tigers blew it. 

Much of the pregame narrative around FSU-Clemson was the comparison between how the two programs — specifically the head coaches — viewed and used NIL and the transfer portal. ESPN flashed a graphic during the broadcast noting FSU had 17 starters from transfers and Clemson had zero. 

And yet, while Travis, Coleman, Jared Verse and others all made major impact plays for Florida State, Swinney’s stubbornness with the portal wasn’t the referendum that decided the game Saturday. 

It absolutely remains an issue in the macro, but Clemson’ing was trending again because Dabo Swinney completely mismanaged the second half and overtime. 

How you snatch a potential victory from the jaws of defeat?

Well, you burn multiple timeouts. You conservatively milk the clock on a late drive, forfeiting downs to purposely rely on a kicker you had to convince to come out of retirement this week. You watch FSU look a little discombobulated on fourth down, only you call a timeout on defense — eliminating any opportunity for a game-winning score in regulation. 

And then in overtime, you leave the ball in the hands of your sophomore quarterback on a 3rd-and-short and blame him when he makes a poor read on an RPO.

On that Clemson 3rd-and-1 in OT, it was an option play.

Klubnik choose the pass instead of hand off, and Dabo couldn't believe it. He yelled "One yard!" pic.twitter.com/fJxThRHwLm

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) September 23, 2023

It was coaching malpractice by Swinney. A ‘How To’ in squandering a game Clemson absolutely could’ve won. 

For much of the afternoon, there didn’t look to be a major talent discrepancy between the two games. For three quarters, Cade Klubnik finally looked like a 5-star quarterback. Pass rusher Xavier Thomas was awesome. Will Shipley balled out. 

Clemson’s plan was working. And then the Tigers’ coaching failed them in the end. 

There’s no sugar-coating how major a missed opportunity this was for Clemson. The Tigers out-gained FSU by over 100 yards and held the ‘Noles to just 4 of 13 on third downs. Their defensive line totally shut down FSU’s ground game (20 attempts for 22 yards!)

But the difference between a Top 5 win and being 0-2 in the ACC facing existential questions about the future trajectory of the program was coaching.  

For years, Swinney has preached that “Best is the standard” at Clemson. That standard has been cooked, and with the way the Tigers blew it Saturday, now the “best” may be yet to come for Mike Norvell and Florida State.