Florida State-Clemson and Virginia-BYU Highlight a Strong Slate in Vegas ACC Predictions Week 4
Saturday Blitz Vegas ACC Predictions Week 4
Game of the Week
No. 22 Clemson Tigers at No. 1 Florida State Seminoles
Line: Florida State by 15
Get ready for a possible epic showdown between two teams coming off a bye week who looked great in their last games. This would have initially appeared to be a Florida State blowout, but with Jameis Winston suspended for a half on Friday, this game could all of a sudden become much closer than anybody would have thought. With the Seminoles trying to remain the No. 1 team and Clemson trying to take that top ACC spot with Cole Stoudt, this game could be exciting.
The Seminoles have dealt with about as much Jameis Winston drama as anybody could handle. Obviously, he’s still being investigated by the school for the sexual assault case due to Title IX, and now he is suspended for the first half of this game due to making an obscene gesture in the FSU Student Union on a table earlier this week. With all these distractions, how will FSU be ready to play? Because they’re so loaded talent wise. Rashad Greene is still in at receiver, Karlos Williams is still in at running back, and the defense is still dominant. For the Seminoles to win, Sean Maguire will have to be competent enough in Winston’s spot to make smart plays and get the ball to the right people. Florida State will want to run the ball with Williams and use Greene a lot when they have to throw. Also, as great as the defense is, Clemson can catch you off guard with its offensive scheming, so Florida State had better be prepared to deal with it.
The Clemson Tigers, meanwhile, had an awful outing against Georgia but regrouped in their second game to win easily. Now, coming off a bye, fans still want Deshaun Watson to replace Stoudt at quarterback, but Stoudt has the tools and experience to lead the offense right now. Clemson needs him to come through and make big plays against a very tough Florida State defense, but as a senior in the system, he has got to be able to. Meanwhile, the Tigers need to find a consistent running game, which hasn’t seemed to happen yet. The receiving corps. is fine and should get its yards against the FSU defense. But the Tigers’ defense has to find a way to cut down on big plays, stop the run better than it did three weeks ago, and force a few turnovers. If they do that and avoid giving up any big plays on special teams or offensive mistakes, they’ll have a slight chance to steal this one on the road, especially with Winston out.
Prediction
Clemson has the offense to turn this game into more of a shootout than people think, and it will show in the first half. The Tigers will walk into the locker room with a lead, not really even because Jameis Winston is out. But when he does come back, Florida State will have an easy time scoring offensively, and they’ll pull this one out in the fourth quarter. Winston or no Winston, Clemson’s defense is simply too suspect right now to stop such a high-powered offense for four quarters, so it will have trouble late in the game.
Florida State: 41 Clemson: 31