Florida State not interested in giving Tigers bulletin board material

Clemson seeks an eighth-straight win over the Seminoles when they come to Death Valley in September.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Jul 27 07:00:19 GMT-04:00 2023

CHARLOTTE – It was very obvious Wednesday that Florida State had no interest in waking the sleeping Tiger. No smack talk. No bulletin board material.

As one national media pundit told me, “They know they have a chance to be good and won’t get there by talking.”

The Seminoles were the highlight of day two of the ACC Football Kickoff at The Westin in downtown Charlotte. Also making appearances were Duke, Virginia Tech, Virginia, and Pitt. Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi mentioned the Tigers and the win back in 2021 a few times, but the Seminoles didn’t take the bait when asked about meeting the Tigers early in the season or perhaps replacing Clemson as the king of the conference.

Not even close.

“I feel like we’re not back yet, but we are on the right path,” defensive end Jared Verse told the media. “We are very close. By the end of the season, we might be able to say Florida State is back. Right now, we are just taking the steps to get there. Last year we just wanted to be better than 5-7; now it’s like, let’s be the best in the country. Let’s win the title. It is definitely a different approach.”

To win the title, the Seminoles will probably have to beat Clemson at Clemson in late September and, depending on how the season shakes out, might have to face that same Tiger team in Charlotte in December. Clemson has won seven in a row in the series, including holding on for a 34-28 victory in Tallahassee last season.

Florida State kept up with Clemson for the first 20 minutes, but defensive end Myles Murphy’s sack of Jordan Travis forced a fumble, and the Tigers were set up with a short field. Three plays later, DJ Uiagalelei’s 5-yard TD run put Clemson up 24-14.

Uiagalelei then had a 31-yard TD pass to Davis Allen, and BT Potter added a 34-yard field-goal attempt to give Clemson what appeared to be a commanding 34-14 lead with 7:32 left in the third quarter.

But Jordan Travis led Florida State on a pair of touchdown drives in the fourth quarter, the second a 94-yard march that culminated in a 25-yard TD pass to Kentron Poitier with 2:17 left and cut Clemson’s lead to 34-28. But the Tigers recovered the onside kick and put the game away.

“Watching the game from last year when they came to us, I’m watching and I’m getting upset because I’m looking at how many mistakes we made,” Verse said. “Clemson’s a good team; they will capitalize on any mistakes you make, so I’m just watching that, and we can’t make those same mistakes again…we’ve all grown, I made a lot of mistakes back then, but I won’t make those mistakes. [Jordan Travis], [Kalen DeLoach], I think I can speak for them when I say we will not make those same mistakes again.”