CLEMSON, S.C. — Fourth-ranked Clemson hits the road for a second straight week, as it travels to Tallahassee, Fla., Saturday to take on Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium.
“It is hard to believe this is our last conference road game,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said Tuesday during his weekly press conference at the Allen Reeves Football Complex. “Seems like we just got started and now we are on our last road trip in this league.”
The Tigers (6-0, 4-0 ACC) already have ACC road wins at Georgia Tech, at Wake Forest and at Boston College this year. Their last road game of the season will come at Notre Dame on Nov. 5.
This will officially be Clemson’s first trip to Tallahassee since 2018, when it beat the Seminoles 59-10. However, the Tigers did make the trip in 2020, but the two schools’ medical teams could not come to an agreement to play the game after a Clemson player tested positive for COVID at the time.
The game was cancelled and led to a back-and-forth dispute between Swinney and FSU head coach Mike Norvell. The Seminoles did not cancel the game until three hours before kickoff, costing Clemson more $500,000 to travel to Tallahassee for a game they did not play.
But that is all water under the bridge now. The Tigers ae now getting ready to face their toughest road test to date.
“Definitely will be our toughest challenge and toughest environment for sure,” Swinney said. “Great place to go play a ballgame. It is one of the better environments that I think is out there in college football when it is rocking, and it will certainly be rocking on Saturday night.”
Injury News
Clemson will travel with some old friends when they head to Tallahassee later this week. Swinney announced defensive tackle Bryant Bresee and safeties Tyler Venables and R.J. Mickens will be return. He said nickel back Malcolm Greene will also be available, though he was available to play last week if they needed him.
Cornerback Sheridan Jones is the only questionable player at the moment. Swinney said he is day-to-day. They thought he might have been able to play last week, but by Friday they realized he would not be available.
On the offensive side, running back Kobe Pace is on the shelf with a high ankle sprain. Swinney says the team hopes to get him back by November.
Swinney said walk-on running back Domonique Thomas will move up and be the Tigers’ No. 3 running back at Florida State. Freshman Keith Adams, Jr., will also make the trip, but the goal is to not use him if they don’t have to. The coaches want to redshirt Adams, who has played in just one game to this point. He has three more games he can play in before burning his redshirt.
