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Florida State football: Seminoles no match for No. 4 Clemson, DJ Uiagalelei
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- Florida State football: Seminoles no match for No. 4 Clemson, DJ Uiagalelei
The Florida State football team looked ready for the big stage against No. 4 Clemson for the first 29 minutes.
But it was all Tigers for much of the second half, with FSU mounting a comeback late but falling short, 34-28, at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday.
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FSU (4-3, 2-3 ACC) has dropped three straight games since beginning the season 4-0 and moving into the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches' polls for the first time since the 2018 preseason.
Clemson (7-0, 5-0) has now won seven straight games over FSU.
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The Seminoles led 14-7 at the beginning of the second half, but the Tigers reeled off 27 straight points to take control of the game.
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"Really proud of our guys for how they fought," FSU head coach Mike Norvell said. "Basically you take the two minutes on both sides of halftime, those were kind of devastating and some of the results of what occurred. Had a turnover. Obviously led to a quick touchdown.
"The kick return coming out of half, quick touchdown. And then obviously being aggressive, trying to provide a spark. We didn't get the fake punt and led to another short field with that. Just the things that we were executing well, just had a couple of mishaps and big swing in the game."
Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei completed 15 of 23 passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns.
Will Shipley was a problem for the Seminoles' struggling run defense, running 20 times for 121 yards and adding six catches for 48 yards. The 26 touches were a season-high for Shipley.
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FSU quarterback Jordan Travis threw for 254 passes on 24-of-42 passing for two touchdowns.
Here are five takeaways from the Seminoles' third straight defeat ahead of their bye week.
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Momentum killer
A turnover on downs in Clemson territory ended a promising Seminole drive midway through the second quarter. The Tigers took over, drove the ball down the field and scored a field goal to push their lead to 17-14.
With 1:51 left in the first half, FSU looked to respond. Following a 19-yard rush by running back Lawrance Toafili to bring the Seminoles to midfield, Travis was sacked and fumbled the ball with 47 seconds remaining.
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Shipley broke off a 36-yard run to get the Tigers inside the 10 before Uiagalelei capped off the drive with a 5-yard TD to push the lead to double-digits.
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Losing the turnover battle
Norvell has said all season his team needs to win the turnover battle for the Seminoles to have a chance to knock off the top teams in the ACC.
Florida State has turned the ball over four times and caused just one during its three game-losing streak.
The only turnover Saturday resulted in an easy touchdown drive for Clemson with 47 second remaining in the first half. The TD allowed the Tigers to push the lead to 24-14.
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Clemson won the coin toss and elected to defer, meaning it got the ball to end the half and to start the second half.
"You've got to give credit to Clemson," Norvell said. "They did a good job. Had 100 percent ball security. We had the one turnover. Had some drives that stalled out on fourth downs. Had some missed opportunities on both sides.
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Second half opening drive
For the third straight game, an FSU opponent had an easy drive down the field to open the second half without facing a third down.
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The drive began with a 69-yard kickoff return by Shipley to bring the Tigers' deep into Seminole territory.
On the first and only play of the drive, Uiagalelei hit Davis Allen for a 31-yard TD score to push the lead to 31-14.
Allen caught two passes for four yards and a TD, while Antonio Williams had two catches for 76 yards, including a 59-yard touchdown.
Wake Forest scored a touchdown against FSU to open the second half two weeks ago, and NC State scored its only touchdown of the game last week to open the second half.
"The remedy for that is just executing better," FSU defensive end Derrick McLendon said. "Coming together as a team, coming together as a defense to just hunker down. Like Coach (Adam) Fuller says 'execution.'
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Hot start
The Seminoles could not have scripted a better start to the game. Just like the opening drive against Wake Forest, FSU drove down the field with ease to score a TD and then forced its opponent to punt the ball.
Both times, Florida State could not capitalize on its hot start.
Wake Forest scored 28 straight points, while Clemson built a double-digit lead after trailing 14-7.
"I honestly feel like we made mistakes," Toafili said. "I honestly don't think it was anything they did. I felt like it was our mistakes. We beat ourselves basically."
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Running game gets going
Clemson had allowed only one run of at least 20 yards, which leads the country and were only yielding only 63.7 yards on the ground per game (No. 2 in the country) coming into Saturday.
No player had reached 75 rushing yards against them so far.
Despite being without starting running back Treshaun Ward, the Seminoles did not struggle running the ball Saturday.
Travis scored on a 20-yard run in the first quarter, while Benson added a 20-yard rush and Toafili added runs of 19 and 25.
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Benson finished with seven rushes for 69 yards, while Toafili added 11 rushes for 68 yards. Travis added 14 runs for 64 yards and his score. Linebacker/fullback DJ Lundy added a one-yard touchdown.
FSU ran for 196 yards on 33 carries, good for 5.9 yards per carry and scoring two touchdowns on the ground.
"We just stuck to the plan from the beginning from the first couple of games," Benson said. "We knew we'd be able to run on them because that's our game. It sucks to not get the win, but we're going to bounce back after the bye week and respond."
Travis hit hybrid player Ja'Khi Douglas for a 6-yard TD and receiver Kentron Poitier for a 25-yard score in the fourth quarter
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Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports) and Instagram (tlhnolesports).
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football: Seminoles no match for No. 4 Clemson, DJ Uiagalelei
