#8 Florida State Beats #5 LSU; Duke Upsets #9 Clemson

Last week, LSU head coach Brian Kelly declared his Tigers would “beat the heck out of Florida State” in the college football season opener for both schools. The fifth ranked Tigers did take a 17-14 over the #8 Seminoles into the locker room at halftime in the game September 3rd. but then the wheels came off.

Florida State scored 31 points while holding LSU scoreless until a late fourth quarter touchdown to beat the Tigers 45-24 in Orlando. Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis completed 23 passes for 342 yards and four touchdowns, three of which were to Keon Coleman. Travis also rushed for a touchdown himself.

Afterwards, Kelly declared the effort was “a total failure from a coaching standpoint and player standpoint that we have to obviously address.” Yeah, probably a good idea.

An eighth ranked team beating a fifth ranked team is an upset, though it would be classified as a mild one. A bigger upset is the final game of Week 1, where unranked Duke beat #9 Clemson 28-7. Statistically, it looks like a Clemson win; the Tigers had 474 total yards to the Blue Devils’ 374; Clemson had 29 first downs to Duke’s 17; just five yards in penalties to Duke’s 45; and a time of possession of 33:33 to Duke’s 26:27. But the Tigers’ only score was a touchdown pass from Cade Klubnik to Will Shipley, while Duke scored three rushing touchdowns, two field goals, a point after touchdown, and a two point conversion. That adds up to 28, and the Blue Devils pull off a huge upset.

The basketball focused Blue Devils are improving in football; last year they were 9-4. So are Florida State and Duke the teams to beat in the ACC this season? Circle October 21st on your calendars. That’s when the Seminoles will host the Blue Devils in Tallahassee.