The Daily Nole

FSU-Clemson: Five Things to Watch

Mike Erdelyi/FSU athletics

After getting its first home win of the season last week, Florida State will look to get its first win over a ranked opponent this season on Saturday and a highly-ranked one at that. FSU heads to the place known as Death Valley to face No. 4 Clemson on Saturday afternoon.

The Seminoles have won just once there in their last seven trips. FSU needs three wins in its final four games to become bowl-eligible. The Tigers would clinch a trip to the ACC Championship with a victory.

As the two schools get set to do battle, here are five things to watch for from the contest:

1. Quarterback Play
Inconsistent quarterbacks will try to find consistency on Saturday when FSU visits Clemson. Florida State freshman James Blackman has been put in an unwinnable situation for the most part this year, but has persevered through it. Against a very good Clemson defensive line, Blackman is going to have to be prepared to stand in and take shots — both literally and down the field.

For Clemson, quarterback Kelly Bryant has been pretty good this year, but mostly inconsistent as a passer. Bryant is much more dangerous with his legs as Clemson’s leading rusher, but is loaded with talented skill players around him. If Clemson wants to avoid being upset at home by FSU, the one thing that Bryant cannot be is a major liability.

2. Jacques Patrick
With the way freshman Cam Akers played last week and in recent weeks, the youngster will probably be the feature back for the Seminoles on Saturday, but Jacques Patrick will provide him a compliment. Patrick missed the last two weeks after tearing his meniscus, but is more of a power back who could wear down the Clemson defense gradually throughout the day. While it will be the Akers show, having Patrick back should provide a nice boost for the Seminoles.

3. FSU Offensive Line vs. Clemson Defensive Line
Week in and week out this season, it seems like Florida State has been forced to line up against a talented defensive front. This week, the Seminoles may be facing the best in the country in Clemson. The Tigers rank second in the country with 32 sacks and are big, physical, athletic and deep up front with Austin Bryant and Clelin Ferrell on the outside and Dexter Lawrence and Christian Wilkins on the interior.

The Seminoles have had a tough year up front, especially when it comes to pass protection. FSU has allowed 25 sacks this season and to make matters worse, the offensive line has been banged up. Landon Dickerson suffered a season-ending injury for a second year in a row and Derrick Kelly, who has been moved around, has also had his fair share of nagging injuries. Kelly and Josh Ball, who had a court date Thursday after being accused of dating violence, are both expected to start on Saturday.

4. Big Plays
For Florida State to win on Saturday, the Seminoles are probably going to have to muster up some big plays on offense. They did that last week with their three touchdowns of 51, 54 and 63 yards accounting for 49 percent of their offense for the entire game in a 27-24 win over Syracuse. FSU will need to come up with some big plays on Saturday against a Clemson defense that despite being outstanding, has given up its fair share of explosive plays this year.

Big plays have been fairly common for the Clemson offense this season as the Tigers have 12 plays of at least 40 yards and eight of at least 50. While Bryant and his talented corps of receivers have been more methodical this season, young running backs Travis Etienne and Tavien Feaster are big plays waiting to happen. The two have combined to average more than seven yards per carry and to rush for 11 touchdowns. Each has a score of over 80 yards.

5. Young Players for FSU
Florida State has experienced something of a youth movement of late with a number of freshmen like Blackman, Akers, Ball, defensive end Joshua Kaindoh, defensive tackle Marvin Wilson, cornerback Stanford Samuels and safety Hamsah Nasirildeen seeing more playing time. On Saturday however, those youngsters will be performing in front of the most hostile crowd they’ve faced yet. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle such a big stage.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson

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