Four Reasons Why the Clemson Tigers Will Beat Florida State
November 5th 2009 21:03
1. The Seminole Defense: Florida State ranks 12th in the nation allowing an astonishing 428.9 yards per game. To be clear – that is 12th worst defense in the nation. On average, Florida State allows 184 yards rushing and almost 30 points per game.
2. Christian Ponder has injured ribs. I know he is the same guy who had the same injury last week, and still managed to place 45 points on the board. However, that was versus North Carolina State and not a Clemson defense that has only allowed 16.5 points per game on average. With his ribs injured and the lack of quarterback depth at Florida State, Ponder will be staying in the pocket more often to avoid possible big hits when he scrambles. He will have to get rid of the ball quickly to avoid a Clemson defense that ranks 22nd in the nation with 22 sacks. This will push Ponder into making more mistakes and allowing the Clemson secondary, who is third in the nation with 15 interceptions, to pick him off.
3. Florida State will be without their third leading rushing – Christian Ponder. Read above.
4. Special Teams: Florida State ranks 97th and 52nd in average yards on kickoff and punt returns respectively. Clemson, on the other hand, is 8th and 15th in the same categories.
What Will Happen: The Tigers have averaged 43 points in their last three games. Look for this trend to continue versus a very weak Florida State defense. Clemson will take an early lead and never look back. The Seminoles will be forced to throw the ball more often, where Clemson will continually place pressure on Christian Ponder and force him into mistakes.
Prediction: Clemson 38 – Florida State 24
| 81 |
| Vote |
Add Comments
Read More
Comments (3)
