Clemson Football Oppo Research: Florida State Seminoles

Clemson's biggest football game of the year takes place in early October at the reigning ACC champions' stadium, and the man behind center is a household name.

What: Clemson Tigers at Florida State Seminoles

When: October 5, time to be announced

Where: Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida

Series history: Florida State leads the series 21-15-0. Last season, they defeated Clemson 31-24 in Death Valley. FSU's last home win against the Tigers came in 2014.

Florida State Statistics 2023

All statistics according to teamrankings.com only against FBS competitors

Points per game: 32.8 (23.)

Yards per game: 392.2 (54th)

Points allowed per game: 19.8 (19th)

Yards allowed per game: 340.2 (31st)

Mike Norvell has received a lot of praise for how he has rebuilt Florida State into a program that competes for ACC championships and College Football Playoffs, and now we'll find out how the ups and downs of heavy transfer portal usage from season to season can affect a program in his position.

As you can see from the stats above, FSU had one of the top 20 defenses. They tended to give their offense a short field. Their offense was very good when they had Jordan Travis at quarterback, and they rarely took advantage of those short fields. The defense was still very good even after Travis' injury, but the result was an offense that did just enough to win, but not much more.

The question now is how former Clemson and Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei will fill the void left by Travis' departure. Most agree he will be an improvement over Tate Rodemaker and Brock Glenn, but he is not the same type of quarterback as Travis. Norvell will have to adapt his offense to DJU's strengths.

Norvell must do this while replacing most of the rest of the offense. Only four starters return from 2023, and none of them are wide receivers. Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson, along with Jaheim Bell, have been a key factor in the Seminoles' success.

The good news for FSU is that three of those offensive starters are on the offensive line. DJU is at his best when he has time to go through his progressions, get positioned and make a pass.

Trey Benson is gone, but the dangerous Lawrance Toafili returns.

The defense also returns only four regulars, but has brought in several transfers. The most well-known name for FSU fans is Marvin Jones Jr., the son of Seminole legend Marvin Jones. In the secondary, both Azareye'h Thomas and Fentrell Cypress return, who will form one of the best cornerback duos in the nation.

There are always exceptions, but most people seem to agree that Florida State probably won't be as good as it was last season, but the additions from the portal will keep them from slipping very far. There is less agreement on whether this step back will allow other teams to overtake them.

Most preseason rankings have FSU defending its title as ACC champions and securing a playoff spot, but it's far from clear-cut. Almost as many rankings predict Clemson will return to the top of the league, while some others predict NC State in 2024.

One thing we do know, however, is that with five conference champions automatically awarded a spot in the expanded 12-team playoffs, this game is by far the most important of the season for both programs.