FSU Football: Will ‘Noles Fans Be 12th Man Against Clemson?
By Kelvin Hunt
FSU football will host Deshaun Watson and the Clemson Tigers in the eighth game of the season. Will the fans at Doak Campbell help the ‘Noles protect their home turf in 2016?
FSU football will face a tough slate of games early on this fall, but none will be tougher than when the Clemson Tigers come to Tallahassee on Saturday, October, 29th.
Luckily, the ‘Noles have a bye week the week prior to this game as they will play quality teams in four the seven games leading up to the bye week.
The time for the Clemson game isn’t known yet, however, if FSU football and Clemson take care of business in the first seven games you can bet this will be a prime time game with College Gameday on campus, etc.
The game is virtually a toss-up right now for oddsmakers. That may change a bit once the starting quarterback for FSU football is set.
ESPN writer Andrea Adelson thinks the game could come down to the ‘Noles having home field advantage:
"Consider this stat: Over the last three years, Florida State leads the nation with a 21-0 record at home. The game between Florida State and Clemson is in Tallahassee, Florida, on Oct. 29. The teams have combined to win the last five ACC championships, so it is natural to project Clemson or Florida State will hoist the trophy again.Clemson has not won at Doak Campbell Stadium since 2006. The last time the Tigers visited, Deshaun Watson was a true freshman and replaced an ineffective Cole Stoudt, nearly leading Clemson to the win."
Watson was electric at times in that game, but FSU also had a quarterback playing in his first college start ever on about 48 hours notice.
"While Florida State has had a tremendous amount of success at home against both Clemson and its other opponents, Watson’s presence won’t make this one as easy as saying, “Florida State has home field, therefore it will win.”But here is one more stat to consider: Watson has never beaten a top-ranked opponent on its home field. Of the five top-25 teams Watson started against in 2015, three were at neutral sites (North Carolina, Oklahoma, Alabama)."
That’s an interesting stat. Also, if this FSU defense plays to its potential it will be better than that 2014 defense that Watson faced the last time he came to Tallahassee.
What’s scary is this defense could be even better than the defense that held that Clemson offense in check for about 90 percent of that game in Death Valley.
If this game is a prime time game at night it will be a special atmosphere. There is nothing like a night game against a high ranked opponent when FSU is also highly ranked.
The War Chant blares all night, the 80,000+ fans are chopping all night, and it’s a very difficult place for teams to come and win.
In fact, Clemson hasn’t won in Tallahassee since 2006.
However, Clemson had a similar streak going against FSU going into the 2013 game when FSU had a brash and talented quarterback in Jameis Winston.
Winston and company defied the odds and had Death Valley looking like a Stairway to Heaven by halftime.
Next: The Top 15 Offensive Players FSU Will Face In 2016
Let’s not have a repeat of that on October 29th. FSU fans will need to be the 12th man in this one so FSU football can return the ACC championship to its rightful home again.