Florida State Seminoles (3-5 SU, 0-6-2 ATS) vs. No. 4 Clemson Tigers (8-1 SU, 4-4-1 ATS)
College Football Week 11
Date/Time: Saturday November 11th, 2017. 3:30PM (EST)
Where: Memorial Stadium Clemson, S.C.
TV: ESPN
by Jay, NCAA Football Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: FSU +16/CLEM -16
Over/Under Total: 46
ACC rivals will collide this Saturday when the Florida State Seminoles travel into South Carolina for a date with the 4th ranked Clemson Tigers inside Memorial Stadium. In the past several years, this meeting between the Tigers and Seminoles has typically decided the fate of the ACC Championship hence the reason this has become such a popular rivalry. Between Florida State and Clemson, both teams have won the last 8 straight ACC Championships with each team holding 4 titles each during that stretch. For this years game, the stakes are not quite as high with Florida State being one of the biggest disappointments of the season at 3-5 SU. However, the Seminoles could still foil Clemsons ACC Championship and College Football Playoffs dreams with an upset on Saturday.
I believe most people, including myself, are still pretty shocked that the Seminoles are just 3-5 SU. In a season that started with potential National Championship type expectations, everything has gone south. Many will point to the loss of quarterback Deondre Francois as the reason for the collapse. However, the Seminoles have not played well in any regards for most of the year. They have turned the ball over, the defense has been poor at times, and honestly the coaching could be have been better at times. I mean we are talking about a perceived National Championship contender that has fallen so far that they just rescheduled their game with Louisiana-Monroe for December 2nd. The game was originally cancelled due to Hurricane Irma but the Seminoles rescheduled it this week as an apparent attempt to help them become bowl eligible.
So the question becomes can Florida State put it all together to challenge Clemson on Saturday? Despite the surprising loss to Syracuse, Clemson has been resilient this season. This is a team that many thought would be in a rebuilding type of year. Instead, their body of work includes wins over top 25 ranked foes like Auburn, Louisville, Virginia Tech, and most recently North Carolina State 38-31 last week. The win over the Wolfpack put the Tigers back in control of the ACC Atlantic Division and now they control their own destiny.
Despite the week to week conundrum surrounding the Seminoles play, Clemson has been extremely consistent with tough defense and one of the better running threats in college football. Quarterback Kelly Bryant leads the team with 548 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns despite throwing just 7 passing touchdowns with 5 interceptions. Meanwhile Tavien Feaster and Travis Etienne have both rushing for more than 500 yards with 13 additional scores. These rushing threats are what worries me for this weekends matchup with the Seminoles.
We saw Boston College gash Florida States run defense and we saw a similar storyline in the loss to Louisville when quarterback Lamar Jackson ran for 178 yards. I believe the overall speed from Clemsons running backs are going to pose serious threats for this Seminoles defense that has shown deficiencies against speedy rushers. If they do get the solid defensive effort, they will still have to find ways to score against a really talented Clemson defensive front. Freshman quarterback James Blackman has been very inconsistent but running back Cam Akers did have a breakout performance with 199 yards with 2 touchdowns last week to provide hope for the offense. However, considering that this offense will try to run against the strength of Clemsons defense, leaves less room for hope for this Saturdays meeting.
Jay’s Pick to Cover the Point Spread: I believe this is just a bad matchup all-around for Florida State. I know this is a rivalry game but the Tigers are playing very solid football. They get a turnover prone Seminoles team that will struggle to move the football. The Seminoles may keep things close early but I dont believe there is any way they keep things close for 60 minutes. Take Clemson -16 with confidence! – Bet this game and all your sports bets at 5Dimes! Why should you switch? Because you’re being overcharged for odds! Your book is socking you -110. Why pay that hefty price when you can bet at the lower price of -105? This saves you $5 for every $100 you bet and $50 for every $1000 you wager. Added up over time, this amounts to a massive amount of cash you’re pissing away. Plus, 5Dimes is simply better. More wagers, teasers up to 20 points, parlays up to 25 teams, faster payouts. It doesn’t make any sense to bet anywhere else! Get signed up today by clicking here!