FSU football will have another week off – which gives the Seminoles a chance to watch two Atlantic Division foes knock heads in primetime.
This week, the spotlight was supposed to be in Tallahassee as FSU football hosted the hated rival Miami Hurricanes looking for a record eighth straight win over the men from Coral Gables. A different hurricane, one named Irma, had different ideas and caused the game to be moved all the way to October 7th – when both teams had a mutual bye week.
Now, the ACC will turn its attention to the one team currently ranked in the top five, the third ranked Clemson Tigers, as they head to Louisville for a battle with the No. 14 Cardinals. It’s a game that last season was a thriller that the Tigers won in the fourth quarter en route to winning the national title.
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More importantly, it’s a game that FSU football will be paying close attention to considering the fact that all three teams share space in the ACC Atlantic and are all in the race for the divisional crown. So, with the Seminoles watching from the sidelines, who should those in garnet and gold be rooting for this weekend?
To answer that question, you have to take into consideration a variety of factors: who does Florida State have a better chance of beating and who has a better chance of losing another game this season. With the loss of Deondre Francois for the rest of the season, the chances of the Noles winning out goes down – and they now will likely need some help to win the ACC.
The answer to the first part of the question is clearly Louisville. The Cardinals did their thing last season in destroying the Seminoles at home last year, but FSU football will be looking for revenge with a MUCH better defense than what they put on the field last season. They won’t shut down Lamar Jackson, but they darn sure won’t let him go off like last season.
At the same time, the answer to the second question might surprise you – it’s the Clemson Tigers. The defending champs have to go to both Virginia Tech and N.C. State – a team that gave them a game last year – along with hosting the Seminoles. Louisville, meanwhile, has to travel to Tallahassee and to face the Wolfpack. If they get by Clemson, there aren’t that many chances left for them to lose.
A win by Louisville would give Clemson their first loss of the season – while FSU football can get the edge and the tiebreaker based on a head to head win over the Cardinals come October 21st (assuming the Seminoles beat Miami two weeks before). Giving that one loss to the Tigers early would mean a later loss to the Hokies could knock them out of the race, while not killing FSU football if they lose on November 11th for the first time in the ACC this season.
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So, when you watch the game tonight, the best thing to do for the Seminoles is to root your hardest for the Cardinals to pull off the upset. In the end it’s the best thing possible for the Noles.