Florida State scored 35 second half points to beat Clemson.
The 4th ranked Florida State Seminoles went on a 35-3 second half comeback run to beat the 10th ranked Clemson Tigers, 49-37, before a crowd of 83,231 at Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Clemson raced to a 7-0 lead when Tajh Boyd threw a 60-yard TD pass to DeAndre Hopkins. Clemson led by as many as 14 points when they scored off a double-pass from Boyd to Sammy Watkins to Andre Ellington. The play covered 52 yards to give the Tigers a 28-14 lead.
FSU rallied for 21 points in the third quarter. Chris Thompson scored on a 9-yard run. Following a Clemson field goal, Seminoles QB EJ Manuel threw TD passes to Rashad Greene and Rodney Smith to take a 35-31 lead.
The Noles stepped on the gas in the fourth quarter and pulled away. James Wilder, Jr. scored on a 5-yard run. Thompson followed with a 27 yard TD scamper to give Florida State a 49-31 advantage. Clemson added a final score on a Boyd TD pass to Brandon Ford with 2:11 to play to make the final 49-37 Florida State.
Florida State rolled up 287 rushing yards. Thompson and Manuel both ran for more than 100 yards. Manuel completed 27 of 35 passes for 380 yards and threw a pair of TD passes.
After the game, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said, "Obviously we took a little bit of a step back tonight."
Cheraw grad Jaron Brown had one catch for 14 yards. Jonathan Willard from Loris made 7 tackles. Spencer Benton, a product of Myrtle Beach High, punted seven times, averaging 41 yards, with a long of 57. Benton also made two tackles. He also completed one pass for one yard on a fake field goal that resulted in a Clemson first down.
Clemson's record falls to 3-1 overall, 0-1 in the ACC. Florida State remains perfect at 4-0, 2-0 in the ACC.
Clemson will be at Boston College next Saturday, September 29. Kickoff TBA.
