Game Notes: Clemson 24, Florida State 10

WITH THE WIN…

• Clemson earned its 17th all-time victory against Florida State.
• Clemson improved to 10-9 all-time in home games against Florida State. Of Clemson’s 65 all-time foes at Death Valley since Memorial Stadium opened in 1942, Florida State becomes the 50th against which Clemson has a winning record in the facility.
• Florida State still has not won consecutive games in Death Valley since the Seminoles won their first seven trips to Memorial Stadium from 1975-2001. Since that stretch, Clemson is 10-2 at home against Florida State.
• Clemson improved to 34-10 in night games since the start of the 2018 season and 55-13 in night games since 2015.
• Clemson improved to 26-5 in night games at Memorial Stadium in Dabo Swinney’s tenure and moved to 22-2 at home in prime-time games in the College Football Playoff era.
• Clemson improved to 40-12 in games following a loss under Dabo Swinney.
• Clemson improved to 72-9 at Death Valley in the College Football Playoff era. 
• Clemson improved to 82-14 against ACC opponents, including postseason play, since 2015.
• Clemson improved to 144-23 against AP-unranked teams under Dabo Swinney and is now 121-13 in those games since the start of the 2012 season.
• Clemson improved to 107-20 in regular season play since the start of the 2015 season. 
• Head Coach Dabo Swinney (184-52) passed LaVell Edwards (183) for sole possession of the sixth-most wins through a coach’s first 20 seasons in FBS history. Swinney trails only Tom Osborne (195), Nick Saban (191), Bob Stoops (191), Joe Paterno (187) and Urban Meyer (187) despite Swinney being in only his 18th season (and 17th full season). Note: Stoops and Meyer are not credited on the NCAA’s official list of most wins through 20 seasons since they did not coach 20 years.
• Swinney (184) matched the career win total of College Football Hall of Famer Darrell Royal (184-60-5).
• Swinney improved to 11-6 all-time against Florida State. Swinney’s head coaching tenure accounts for 11 of Clemson’s 17 all-time wins against the Seminoles.
• Clemson is now 91-9 when scoring first since the start of the 2015 season.
• Clemson is now 158-12 under Dabo Swinney when leading at halftime, including a 141-8 mark since the start of the 2011 season.
• Clemson improved to 149-7 when leading after three quarters since the start of the 2011 season.
• Clemson now has an 89-6 record when winning the turnover margin since 2011.
• Clemson is now 124-3 in its last 127 games when holding teams to fewer than 23 points, a span that dates to the middle of the 2010 season.

GAME NOTES

• Florida State entered the game ranked No. 1 in the nation in total offense (510.5 yards per game). Clemson held Florida State to a season-low 360 yards of offense, only the second time this season the Seminoles have been held below 400 yards (382 vs. Alabama).
• Florida State also entered the game first in the ACC and seventh in the nation in points per game (40.0). Clemson held Florida State to a season-low 10 points.
• Clemson won the turnover margin, 2-0. It snapped a six-game streak in which Clemson had not won the turnover margin.
• Clemson recorded a season-high six sacks. The six sacks were the Tigers’ most since an eight-sack effort at Pitt in November 2024.
• Clemson’s six sacks were its most in its series against Florida State since 2016 (six).
• Clemson scored points in a 303rd consecutive game to pass the 1997-2021 Texas Tech Red Raiders for sole possession of the 12th-longest streak of consecutive games without being shut out in FBS history.
• Offensive lineman Blake Miller started his 50th consecutive game to break Dalton Freeman’s school record for consecutive starts by a non-specialist (49 from 2009-12). Miller has started all 50 games played by Clemson since his arrival as a true freshman in 2022. 
• Quarterback Cade Klubnik completed 20-of-27 passes for 221 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
• Klubnik (23-12) moved past Homer Jordan (22-6-1) and DJ Uiagalelei (22-6) for the sole possession of the seventh-most career wins by a Clemson starting quarterback since World War II.
• Early in the contest, Klubnik (10,217) became the fourth player in Clemson history to record 10,000 career yards of total offense (total yards thrown and/or gained), joining Tajh Boyd (13,069 from 2010-13), Deshaun Watson (12,094 from 2014-16) and Trevor Lawrence (11,041 from 2018-20).
• Klubnik scored his third rushing touchdown of the season on a four-yard score on Clemson’s opening drive.
• Klubnik (16) tied Kelly Bryant (16 from 2015-18) for sixth on Clemson’s leaderboard for career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback since the Tigers abandoned the single wing in 1953.
• Klubnik’s rushing touchdown on the game-opening 13-play, 75-yard drive represented Clemson’s first time scoring first in a home game since the season opener against LSU. 
• Wide receiver Antonio Williams recorded team highs with six receptions for 62 yards and one touchdown.
• On his first reception of the game, Williams (192) passed Hunter Renfrow (186 from 2015-18) for sole possession of the fifth-most career receptions in Clemson history. 
• Williams (2,161) passed Hunter Renfrow (2,133 from 2015-18) and Amari Rodgers (2,144 from 2017-20) for 13th on Clemson’s all-time leaderboard for career receiving yards.
• Williams caught a 34-yard touchdown on a flea flicker from Klubnik in the second quarter.
• Williams has now caught a touchdown in back-to-back games for the first time since November 2024 against Pitt and The Citadel.
• Williams (19) tied Artavis Scott (19 from 2014-16) for eighth on Clemson’s all-time leaderboard for career touchdown receptions.
• Wide receiver/holder Clay Swinney scored his first career points on a successful two-point conversion run following Clemson’s game-opening touchdown.
• The two-point conversion by Swinney was Clemson’s first two-point conversion of the season. It was Clemson’s first two-point conversion since the 2023 Gator Bowl vs. Kentucky.
• Swinney became the third Swinney brother to score at Clemson, joining Will (12 points from 2017-21) and Drew (two points from 2018-22). 
• Offensive lineman Walker Parks played in his 61st career game to tie defensive end Xavier Thomas (61 from 2018-23) for the seventh-most games played in Clemson history.
• Linebacker Jeremiah Alexander recorded his first career fumble recovery in the first quarter. He also added his first sack on an attempted running back pass in the fourth quarter.
• Cornerback Avieon Terrell recorded his career-high second sack of the season in the third quarter and added his single-game career-high second sack of the game in the fourth quarter.
• Terrell became the first Clemson defensive back in the Dabo Swinney era to record 2.0 sacks in a game.
• Terrell now has 4.0 career sacks. His 4.0 career sacks are the most by a Clemson cornerback under Dabo Swinney.
• Linebacker Kobe McCloud was credited with his first career sack in the fourth quarter when he angled Tommy Castellanos out of bounds short of the line of scrimmage.
• Linebacker Sammy Brown recorded this third sack of the season in the fourth quarter.
• Defensive end Will Heldt was credited with his fifth sack of the season while forcing an intentional grounding in the fourth quarter.
• Heldt’s 5.0 sacks this season match his single-season career high (5.0 at Purdue in 2024).
• Safety Ricardo Jones added to his team-leading and career-high total in interceptions this season by recording his fourth interception of the year in the fourth quarter.
• Kicker Nolan Hauser went 3-for-3 on field goal attempts.
• Hauser’s three field goals were his second-most in a game in his career, trailing his five field goals at Florida State in 2024.
• Hauser now has eight career field goals in two games against Florida State and 21 field goals in 21 career games against all other teams.
• Hauser converted a 40-yard field goal in the second quarter, a 23-yard field goal in the third quarter and a 43-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
• Hauser’s field goals were his sixth, seventh and eighth consecutive made field goal attempts, a streak that dates to Clemson’s first game of October at North Carolina. His eight made field goals represent his longest streak of consecutive makes in his career, surpassing his six-field-goal streak to open his career in 2024.
• With the 23-yard field goal, Hauser remained perfect on field goals inside of 40 yards this season (6-for-6).
• Punter Jack Smith tied a career long with a 51-yard punt in the second quarter and placed a career-high three punts inside the 20.
• Captains for the contest were defensive end Cade Denhoff, quarterback Cade Klubnik, running back Adam Randall and linebacker Wade Woodaz.