Tallahassee road trip will show what this Clemson team truly is

Clemson meets its first road game of the season at FSU.

Grayson Mann - Staff Writer - Tuesday, October 01 2024

Ask Dabo Swinney every week: the game in front of him is the biggest yet.

That message won't change moving into October and Florida State. However, it is hard to deny that the air throughout the building will be different for this matchup with the Seminoles.

The last time Clemson geared up for a road trip to Tallahassee, the Tigers were undefeated and looked like a team ready to return to the playoffs.

That squad handled its business against a Seminoles team that looked ready to challenge for the ACC crown down the road.

Above all, who was under center plays a factor in today’s conversation. Following that road win in 2022, DJ Uiagalelei was playing some of the best football in his Clemson career.

Fast forward two years, and plenty has changed.

Now, the Tigers travel with Uiagalelei’s replacement under center, who has caught fire in Clemson’s three-game homestand.

Who is at center will be the focal point of discussion until the first snap in Doak Campbell Stadium, but there’s plenty more to dive into.

For Clemson, Saturday will teach fans more about this team than what’s been displayed through the first four games.

Move playing a former quarterback to the side (whether he actually plays or not) and look at what this Florida State team is: an absolute mess.

Who the Seminoles are is no secret to anyone watching, and it will be on display within the confines of the film room.

A lot has been made about the conference's strength, with teams like NC State and Virginia Tech stringing together difficult losses. Florida State is no stranger to that, and it hits harder given the ranking AP voters slotted them before the opener in Dublin (10th).

With Uiagalelei under center, the offense has lacked substance, and besides an inspired effort against Cal, the defense hasn’t been able to produce significant stops. Should that be the case on Saturday? Clemson is now in a familiar position that it once held in its dynastic days: taking care of inferior competition.

App State and NC State are underwhelming teams, yet the Tigers shut out any semblance of hope with back-to-back 28-plus-point first quarters. Then you move to Stanford, and given all the circumstances leading up to that matchup, Clemson took care of business.

Not only that, they continued to win a margin that plagued this unit in 2023: turnovers. Swinney remembers eying the box score in the visiting press room in Durham, seeing his team put up 200 yards in the air and on the ground and still lose.

That wasn’t the end of it, as turnovers and wacky situations turned into embarrassing losses, quickly turning 2023 into one of the strangest seasons in Swinney’s tenure.

Fast forward to the victory over Stanford, and turnovers were on his mind. He saw the Cardinal offense find ways to get to the red zone, only for his defense to buckle down and provide essential stops.

The 2024 Tigers' signs of growth haven’t just been offensive; situationally, this team is better. Maybe more than that, this unit is more sure of what it can achieve.

Tristan Leigh oozed more confidence in his Tuesday press conference following the Georgia loss than any preseason soundbite indicated. As we move to October, we see what he means.

Now comes a two-game road trip against two underwhelming opponents. One just dropped to 1-4 (FSU), with the other losing to the Ragin’ Cajuns (Wake Forest).

An entire month of progress will now face another kind of test, and it starts in Tallahassee.

Anywhere you look, Clemson will be overwhelmingly picked to trounce this Florida State squad. Perhaps they will.

It is clear that this 2024 team is much different than its previous counterparts, maybe holding characteristics of postseason squads of the past.

Certainly, that will be tested this weekend. Take care of business; you are what you’ve said you are. Drop this to a reeling Seminole program, and that progress gets reverted to the drawing board.

Swinney will tell us each game is the most significant, yet on Saturday night, he might truly learn what this team truly is.