Saturday morning blitz: How well will Florida State adjust against Clemson?
3 to watch
1. No. 3 Clemson at No. 12 Florida State, 8 p.m. (WTVD): Not quite what we thought it was going to be but the Seminoles, a home underdog, can spoil rival Clemson’s ACC and national championship dreams
2. Duke at Georgia Tech, noon (Fox Sports Carolinas): Duke’s push for a bowl, with either five or six wins, likely has to include a win here. The Blue Devils faced, and beat, an option team (Army) on Oct. 8
3. Miami at Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m. (WRAL): “Used to be” covers a lot of ground with both of these programs but if you remember their series from the end of the 1980s, you’ll tune in for the tinge of nostalgia and what used to be.
Observations
▪ Florida State hasn’t scored a touchdown in the first quarter of an ACC game this season. The Seminoles have been outscored 72-30 in the first half of their four ACC games. That really doesn’t make any sense, especially given how well coach Jimbo Fisher is at making halftime adjustments. Is there such a thing as pregame adjustments?
The Noles (2-2 in the ACC) cannot afford to start slow against a rested, hungry Clemson team coming off a miracle win (over N.C. State two weeks ago)
▪ It’s beauty pageant time for No. 5 Louisville (6-1). Realistically, unless Clemson loses twice, the only way the Cardinals can get into the College Football Playoff is by blowing the doors off every team left on their schedule (Virginia, Boston College, Wake, Houston and Kentucky).
The Cardinals looked like a million bucks in a 54-13 win over N.C. State last week but struggled the week before at home against Duke. Virginia (2-5) gave up 37 points to Richmond earlier this year. That doesn’t bode well against the Cards, who lead the country with a 52.6 scoring average.
▪ Wake Forest’s push for eight regular-season wins resumes after a respectable 17-6 loss at Florida State. The Deacs, 5-2, continue their tour through the perfect schedule with home games with Army (4-3) and Virginia in consecutive weeks. They’ll have to survive back-to-back games with Louisville and Clemson but get what will likely be a nothing-to-play-for Boston College at home on Nov. 26.
Even with that schedule, after going 3-9 in consecutive years, you’d have to think Dave Clawson would be the ACC coach of the year if he can pull the Deacs into the barn at 8-4.
Number to know
65 Combined NFL draft picks on the rosters of Notre Dame and Miami when they met in 1988, a 31-30 win by the Fighting Irish in the game billed as “Catholics vs. Convicts.”
Top 25
Thursday
No. 25 Virginia Tech 39, Pittsburgh 36
Friday
No. 22 Navy at South Florida, late
Saturday
No. 2 Michigan at Michigan State, noon
No. 3 Clemson at No. 12 Florida State, 8 p.m.
No. 4 Washington at No. 17 Utah, 3:30 p.m.
No. 5 Louisville at Virginia, Noon
No. 6 Ohio State vs. Northwestern, 3:30 p.m.
No. 7 Nebraska at No. 11 Wisconsin, 7 p.m.
No. 8 Baylor at Texas, 3:30 p.m.
No. 9 Texas A&M vs. New Mexico State, 7:30 p.m.
No. 10 West Virginia at Oklahoma State, noon
No. 13 Boise State at Wyoming, 7 p.m.
No. 14 Florida vs. Georgia at Jacksonville, Fla., 3:30 p.m.
No. 15 Auburn at Mississippi, 7:15 p.m.
No. 16 Oklahoma vs. Kansas, 7 p.m.
No. 18 Tennessee at South Carolina, 7:15 p.m.
No. 24 Penn State at Purdue, noon
This story was originally published October 28, 2016 at 2:26 PM with the headline "Saturday morning blitz: How well will Florida State adjust against Clemson?."