What a disappointing start to the season it’s been for Clemson. A perennial National Championship contender, the Tigers now find themselves with a 4-3 record.
A few years ago, the winner of this game would be in the driver's seat for the ACC Championship. That’s not the case this year, but bragging rights will still be on the line in this heated rivalry game.
Will Clemson be able to get back to its winning ways this weekend?
Check out our picks and predictions for the Florida State Seminoles vs. the Clemson Tigers on Saturday, October 30 to find out.
Florida State vs Clemson odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
Clemson opened -10, but the line has moved to -9.5 across most books at the time of this writing.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full college football odds before placing your bets.
Florida State vs Clemson picks
Picks made on 10/28/2021 at 8:40 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Florida State vs Clemson game info
• Location: Memorial Stadium, Clemson, SC
• Date: Saturday, October 30, 2021
• Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN
Florida State vs Clemson betting preview
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key injuries
Florida State: Renardo Green DB (Questionable), Sidney Williams DB (Questionable)
Clemson: Kobe Pace RB (Out), E.J. Williams WR (Probable), Joseph Ngata WR (Probable), Frank Ladson WR (Out), Braden Galloway TE (Out), Hunter Rayburn OL (Probable), Matt Bockhorst OL (Out), Joseph Charleston S (Questionable), Justin Foster DL (Out)
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Tigers are 0-8 ATS in their last eight games overall. Find more NCAA betting trends for Florida State vs. Clemson.
Florida State vs Clemson predictions
Florida State +9.5 (-110)
Covering the spread has been a foreign concept for this Clemson team. The Tigers sit at 0-7 ATS during what’s been a massively disappointing campaign.
The issues range far and wide, but the root of the problem from a handicapping perspective is this: the offense hasn’t been able to score any points. Featuring a struggling quarterback, injured offensive line, and receivers who can’t create separation, this offense has yet to reach 20 points in regulation against an FBS team.
How can you trust a team to cover a point spread of nearly 10 points when the offense can’t be trusted to score more than a handful of points?
Florida State began the season with an ugly 0-4 record, but has won three straight to move to 3-4. It’s not a coincidence that those wins have all coincided with the move to Jordan Travis at quarterback, whose dual-threat ability pairs nicely with running backs Jashaun Corbin (7.9 YPC) and Treshaun Ward (7.4 YPC).
This isn’t a play with the utmost confidence in Florida State as a football team. Rather, it’s a fade of a Clemson team that’s been overvalued in the betting markets all season long, failing to cover the spread even once. The offense is broken, and it's hard to expect much to change until there are evident signs of improvement.
One could make the argument that Florida State has the motivation edge in this spot as well. Clemson hasn’t played “meaningless” (in regards to the playoff picture and ACC title) football in ages. The Tigers are not accustomed to being in such a position and may have little motivation to cover a multi-score spread. Florida State, meanwhile, views this as an opportunity to take a game from their rivals while they are down.
Under 47.5 (-110)
This Clemson offense has been brutal. The Tigers have eclipsed 335 yards of offense only once against FBS competition all year long and have the 115th-ranked scoring offense at 20.0 points per game.
The running game hasn’t been good (86th with only 147.9 yards per game), and now starting running back Kobe Pace is out due to COVID protocols. The passing game has been even worse (111th with only 176.1 yards per game), and now there’s a quarterback controversy after D.J. Uiagalelei was pulled for portions of last week’s game in favor of Taisun Phommachanh. The quarterback room may be a mouthful to pronounce, but they certainly haven’t been a handful for opposing defenses to contain.
Florida State’s strength defensively is along the D-line, led by Jermaine Johnson, who has 45 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks. This strong defensive front should serve the Seminoles well against a Clemson team dealing with injuries and subpar play along the offensive line.
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