Clemson 36, Florida State 24: Four takeaways and six Hauser field goals
Clemson forced four turnovers, got six field goals from N. Hauser and a 79-yard Tait Reynolds run to win 36-24 at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Florida State outgained Clemson 415 yards to 351 on Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium and still lost by 12. The Seminoles turned the ball over four times, Clemson turned it over none, and N. Hauser kicked six field goals. When Florida State finally closed to within five late, Tait Reynolds ended it with a 79-yard touchdown run.
Clemson moves to 5-3. Florida State falls to 3-5 with a third straight loss.
How it was won
The opening quarter was even. Reynolds hit C. Bentancur for an 18-yard touchdown at 10:13, and Ashton Daniels answered at 7:08 with a 46-yard strike to Micahi Danzy. Hauser's first 35-yard field goal made it 10-7 Clemson after one.
The second quarter is where Clemson built its margin. G. Panikowski's 35-yard kick tied it at 10, but Hauser added another 35-yarder, Reynolds found O. Patt-Henry for a 4-yard touchdown at 1:38, and Hauser closed the half with a 50-yard field goal at 0:02. Clemson led 23-10 at the break.
Hauser kept adding: a 46-yarder in the third quarter and a 49-yarder at 11:04 of the fourth for a 29-10 lead. His day finished at six field goals and three extra points, 21 points in all.
Florida State then made a run. Daniels scored on a 13-yard run at 8:52 and passed to D. Riles for the two-point conversion. At 5:30 he found J. Lopez for 41 yards, and although the conversion failed, the score was 29-24. Two minutes later Reynolds broke his 79-yard run, and Hauser's kick set the final.
Daniels threw for 350 yards on 21 of 33 with two touchdowns, but also three interceptions. Danzy caught four passes for 108 yards and Jayvan Boggs two for 64. The run game gave him little help: Florida State rushed for 65 yards, with Quintrevion Wisner at 43 on 13 carries. The Seminoles converted 1 of 10 third downs.
Reynolds went 18 of 32 for 189 yards and two touchdowns and led Clemson with 85 rushing yards on 14 carries. Jarvis Green added 37 on nine carries. Tyler Brown had five catches for 74 yards and T.J. Moore three for 36. Clemson was only 4 of 17 on third down, but it ran for 162 yards and held the ball for 34:11 to Florida State's 25:49.
Against the number
Florida State closed as a 4.5-point favorite, so Clemson covered outright as an underdog. The moneylines closed at Clemson +170 and Florida State -205.
The total closed at 50.5, and the 60 points went over. It took the fourth quarter to get there: the teams combined for 36 through three quarters, and the late 24-point burst, including Reynolds' run, cleared the number. Closing prices and the full market history are on the game page.
What's next
Clemson has now won two of its last three, with a 37-0 win over Charleston Southern and this result around a 20-16 home loss to Virginia Tech. The Tigers play at Syracuse on Saturday, November 7, on ESPN2.
Florida State has lost to Louisville, Miami and now Clemson, allowing 36 or more in each. The Seminoles travel to Boston College on Saturday, November 7, on ACC Network.
