Clemson vs. Florida State Football Game Notes

Sept. 20, 2011

Clemson vs. Florida State Complete Game Notes

Clemson vs. Florida State Series Florida State has a 17-7 advantage in the series with Clemson that dates to 1970, a 38-13 Florida State win in Tallahassee. While Florida State has the decisive all-time lead in the series, Clemson has won five of the last eight, including each of the last four games played at Clemson.

Florida State has not won at Clemson since the 2001 season, a 41-27 Seminole victory.

In 2003, Clemson upset a third-ranked Florida State team by a 26-10 score in a nationally televised Saturday night game at Death Valley. Florida State was coming off a 38-0 win at Notre Dame and Clemson was coming off a 45-17 loss at Wake Forest.

Clemson defeated eventual ACC Champion Florida State, 35-14, in Memorial Stadium in 2005 behind quarterback Charlie Whitehurst. The two teams were tied,14-14, at the half before Clemson dominated the second half behind Whitehurst and receiver Chansi Stuckey.

Clemson won in 2007 on Labor Day night behind the running of James Davis. Davis had earlier scored the winning touchdown at Florida State in 2006 and the 2007 victory gave Clemson three straight wins over the Seminoles.

Then, in 2009, C.J. Spiller put on a show for the ages with 312 all-purpose yards, the all-time Clemson record, in a 40-24 victory. It was a big win on the way to Clemson’s Atlantic Division championship.

Last year, Florida State won 16-13 on a 55-yard field goal on the last play of the game by Dustin Hopkins. Clemson was 9-18 on third down and had a 25-16 advantage in first downs, but still lost the game. Jamie Harper, now in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans, had 143 yards rushing and 54 yards receiving for 197 total for the Tigers.

Both teams are ranked in the top 25 of both polls this year. This is just the seventh time in the history of the series that both teams have entered the game in the top 25 of the AP poll. It is the first time this has been a meeting of top 25 teams since 2000 when Clemson was 10th and Florida State was fourth. FSU won that game 54-7.

Clemson is 1-5 when entering a game against Florida State with both teams ranked. That win took place in Tallahassee in 1989 when Clemson was 10th and Florida State 16th entering the game. Clemson was 3-0 and Florida State was 1-1 and had just been upset the week before by Southern Mississippi and quarterback Brett Favre.

This is the first time Clemson has entered the Florida State game as a top 25 team since 2000. Four of Clemson’s last five wins against Florida State the Seminoles have been ranked in the top 25.

Clemson has won four in a row at home against Florida State, but the Seminoles still have a 7-4 advantage in the series in games played at Clemson. The winner of this game has won the Atlantic Division title each of the last two years.

Other Series Notes • Florida State won 11 consecutive games in the series prior to Clemson’s victory in 2003. All the wins were recorded by Bobby Bowden, who had a 14-7 all-time record against Clemson. Bobby Bowden lost his last four appearances at Clemson’s Death Valley, but his 6-4 record in the facility is still the most victories by an opposing head coach. Vince Dooley (Georgia) is second with five. • The Clemson vs. Florida State games between 1999-07 were known as The Bowden Bowl, as Clemson was coached by Tommy Bowden and Florida State by Bobby Bowden. Bobby had a 5-4 advantage in those nine games, but Tommy won the last three. It is the only meeting of father and son head coaches in Division FBS history. The first Bowden Bowl came in 1999, a 17-14 victory for Florida State. That FSU team went on to win the national championship and the 17 points and three-point victory margin were the smallest for Florida State in that championship season. • Five of Clemson’s seven wins in the series have been against top 20 Florida State teams. The only time Clemson beat a FSU team not ranked in the top 25 was in 1976 when Clemson won 15-12 in Bobby Bowden’s first year as head coach.