Fansided

When is the last time Florida State football beat Clemson?

By Aryanna Prasad

TALLAHASSEE, FL - SEPTEMBER 20: Jameis Winston #5 of the Florida State Seminoles on the field during pregame against the Clemson Tigers at Doak Campbell Stadium on September 20, 2014 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FL - SEPTEMBER 20: Jameis Winston #5 of the Florida State Seminoles on the field during pregame against the Clemson Tigers at Doak Campbell Stadium on September 20, 2014 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

When it comes to the bitter rivalry between Clemson and Florida State, Clemson has primarily had the edge. But FSU has taken home the win in the past.

Rivalries are tough when one team maintains the edge over the other, and that’s exactly what’s happened throughout the decades-long rivalry between Florida State and Clemson.

From 1970-2004, Florida State was the dominant team, winning 15 out of 18 matches between the teams.

But in 2005, the rivalry took a turn in Clemson’s favor, and they won the annual rivalry game from 2005-2007. In the past 17 years, Florida State has won five out of 15 games against their ACC rivals, but all the wins came from a period between 2008-2014. From 2015 onward, Dabo Swinney’s team has defeated FSU five straight times. It’s the longest streak the Tigers have enjoyed in the rivalry, besting the three consecutive wins the Tigers had from 2005-2007.

On Oct. 30, Clemson may continue the trend with six consecutive wins, or Florida State could win for the first time since 2014.

Florida Stat football hasn’t beat Clemson since Jameis Winston led the No. 1 team

On Sept. 12, 2014, Florida State was the No. 1 team in the nation, led by quarterback Jameis Winston, who was coming off a Heisman Trophy win in 2013.

But the Seminoles were missing Winston for that September game — he was suspended due to a  “profane and sexually explicit outburst in the student union on campus” earlier in the week.

Instead, Sean Maguire took over at quarterback, completing 21-of-39 passes for 304 yards and one touchdown. Maguire was able to overcome two interceptions that gave Clemson some help, but when the two teams headed into overtime, FSU’s Karlos Williams took it home with a 12-yard touchdown run.

But Clemson put up a valiant effort with freshman quarterback Deshaun Watson, whose Florida State game was only his third collegiate game in his career. Watson completed 19-of-28 passes for 266 yards.

Overall, Florida State leads this rivalry in total wins with 20-13, but Clemson has become a monster of a program since 2014. Even in their 2014 loss, Clemson brought the game to overtime, showing just how close the game was at the time.

This year, Florida State is heading into this matchup with three straight wins, the first time that has occurred since 2017. Meanwhile, fortune has flipped again for Clemson, who is 4-3 and benched quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei in last week’s loss to Pitt that dropped them to third place in the ACC Atlantic.

Next. 50 best college football uniforms. dark

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.

Home/College Football