Clemson–Florida State football rivalry

Clemson–Florida State football rivalry
Clemson Tigers Florida State Seminoles
Total meetings	28
Series record	Florida State leads, 20–8
First meeting	November 7, 1970 Florida State 38, Clemson 13
Last meeting	September 20, 2014 Florida State 23, Clemson 17
Next meeting	November 7, 2015
Largest win	Florida State, 57–0 (1993)
Longest win streak	Florida State, 11 (1992–2002)
Current win streak	Florida State, 3 (2012–present)

The Clemson–Florida State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Clemson Tigers football team of Clemson University and Florida State Seminoles football team of Florida State University. The schools have played each other annually since 1992. Both universities are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and since the ACC initiated divisional play in 2005, both teams have competed in the ACC's Atlantic Division. For several years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the matchup was known alternatively as the Bowden Bowl for the father, former head coach Bobby Bowden of the Seminoles, and the son, Tommy Bowden, formerly head coach of the Tigers.

Series history

Clemson and FSU first played in 1970, predating Florida State's membership in the ACC. The actual rivalry started to emerge in 1988 when the No. 3 Clemson Tigers hosted the No. 10 Seminoles in a grueling match-up, that was ultimately decided by Leroy Butler's 78-yard "puntrooskie" run, costing Clemson the victory and dashing their national title hopes.^[1] Clemson avenged the loss in 1989, with a 34–23 victory in Tallahassee, marked by a 73-yard scoring run by Terry Allen and a 73-yard interception return by Wayne Simmons.^[2] The Seminoles and Tigers finished the 1989 season with 10–2 records, and ranked No. 3 and No. 12 in the final AP poll, respectively. Prior to FSU's arrival, Clemson was a dominant team in the ACC winning 6 of the past 10 ACC titles from 1981–91. However, after the departure of Clemson's national championship winning coach Danny Ford in 1989, the 1991 ACC title would be their last until 2011, as Florida State's success continued for much of the 1990s, with less consistent opposition in the conference. The rivalry picked up, however, when Tommy Bowden, son of FSU coach Bobby Bowden was hired at Clemson University in 1999, in an attempt to help rebuild the program.

Tommy vs. Bobby

When Tommy Bowden was named head coach of Clemson on December 2, 1998, the opportunity arose for the first ever meeting between a father and his son as opposing head coaches on the football field. This became known as "The Bowden Bowl". Florida State and Clemson have faced each other on a yearly basis since Florida State joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1992. In 2005, when the ACC expanded to twelve teams, Clemson and Florida State were placed together in the Atlantic Division; this allowed the teams to continue to face each other without interruption. The first meeting in 1999 was the largest crowd ever to watch a game at Memorial Stadium at Clemson University with an attendance of 86,200. Bobby won the all-time series, with five wins and four losses. Tommy Bowden's first win came in 2003 on his father's birthday, defeating then third-ranked FSU, damaging their prospects for a national championship. The Bowden vs Bowden editions of the series ended when Tommy resigned as head coach six games into the 2008 football season.

Post Bowdens

The rivalry lives on past the departure of Tommy Bowden, who was replaced mid-season by Wide Receivers and Interim Head Coach Dabo Swinney in 2008. The games in 2008 and 2009 both came down to the 4th quarter with the home teams winning respectively, and influencing the Atlantic Division standings. During the 2009 season, Clemson went on to clench the Atlantic Division after a 40–24 win in Death Valley, while similarly, Florida State won the division after a 16–13 down to the wire decision the following year in Tallahassee. At the end of the 2009 season Bobby Bowden retired from Florida State University leaving his Offensive Coordinator and Head Coach in Waiting Jimbo Fisher as head coach of the team. In 2011, Clemson brought the ACC Championship back to the Atlantic Division with a dominating win over Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game. In the decade prior, the series was evenly split, with each team winning 5 games. Both teams in 2012 were ranked in the Top 10 for the first time since 2000, in a game that was also decided in the 4th quarter, with FSU winning 49-37. In 2013 the game between No. 5 Florida State and No. 3 Clemson was called the biggest game in ACC history as both teams were ranked in the Top 5 and it had national title implications. ^[3] Clemson even tried to break the noise record,^[4] but it was not to be as Florida State dominated the Tigers 51-14 in Death Valley for their first win in Clemson since 2001. FSU's score of 51 points was the most points ever scored on Clemson at Death Valley. Their 2013 meeting marked the first time both teams were ranked simultaneously in the Top 5.^[5] FSU went on to have a perfect season winning the national title, while Clemson finished with an 11 win season and a victory in the Orange Bowl. The 2014 matchup was also a Top 25 classic as #22 Clemson controlled the line of scrimmage by holding #1 Florida State to 13 yards rushing, but came up short with critical errors in a 23-17 overtime loss.^[6] The Seminoles were without quarterback Jameis Winston, who was suspended for the game for yelling an obscene expression on campus a few days before the game.^[7]

Atlantic Coast Conference championships

Clemson and Florida State have combined to win 29 ACC titles with Clemson having 14, and FSU having the most with 15. As a charter member, Clemson's first ACC championship was in 1956. Clemson's 8th ACC championship came in 1981 with a perfect season and a Consensus National Championship. Clemson won their 13th ACC title in 1991. The Seminoles immediately dominated the conference when Florida State entered the ACC in 1992, winning 9 straight conference titles and two national championships while beating Clemson 11 years in a row from 1992 to 2002. Recently the Tigers won their 14th ACC title in 2011, while Florida State won their 14th ACC title on the way to their third national championship in 2013 and their 15th title in 2014.

Since 2009, the winner of the Clemson-Florida State game has ended up representing the Atlantic Division in the ACC championship game.

Game results

Clemson victories are colored ██ purple. Florida State victories are colored ██ garnet. Ties and future games are white.

References