Snap Count Review: Clemson vs Florida State

In a tough environment (until the third quarter at least), the Tigers refused to get shaken despite some early FSU scores, and with a strong “middle-eight” effort remained unbeaten on the season.

With the victory over the Seminoles, Clemson now has one main challenger remaining on their ACC schedule - undefeated Syracuse. The home matchup against the Orangemen will be the first game in the history of Death Valley to feature two teams who are at least 6-0!

Before we look too far ahead, let’s see how the numbers played out for the Tallahassee game. All snap counts come from the official Clemson report found here; numbers do not necessarily denote official plays, but rather non-special-team snaps.

Wide receiver numbers were much more spread out than in recent weeks, with the highest snap count only reaching 39 (Beaux Collins); five receivers logged at least 27 snaps. Strangely, only 3 of DJ’s 15 completions went to his wideouts: 2 for Antonio Williams and 1 for Joseph Ngata.

Will Shipley and Phil Mafah in turn accounted for 9 total receptions and 61 receiving yards. Numerous swing passes out to the flats represented most of those catches, but they were effective for the most part.

Davis Allen and Jake Briningstool pulled down 3 receptions of their own, combining for 2 touchdowns and 47 more yards, including this clever flea flicker called straight out of halftime for style points:

The offensive line continues to be almost exclusively the starting five registering snaps, with the one exception of Mitchell Mayes making an appearance for 13 reps this week. With the substitution, Will Putnam now leads all players for most snaps (inconsequential but fun to note).

Almost all the defensive starters were back in action for the showdown at Doak Campbell stadium, including senior Sheridan Jones. The numbers at corner reflected his return, with him and Wiggins taking all but 3 snaps at the position. Wiggins has responded quite well to the Wake Forest game and is holding his own out there, even against the giant Johnny Wilson.

Xavier Thomas recorded 32 snaps, a step up from his highly effective 6 snaps against Boston College last week. Nick Eason appears to be easing him back into the lineup, and although his numbers weren’t as eye-popping this week, Thomas’ return will only strengthen this defensive front.

Bryan Bresee also returned after missing the previous two games with 22 snaps. The development of Ruke Orhorhoro has been so crucial in a season where the expected starter has struggled with some health issues. He is an underrated monster for this defense, in my opinion.

Barrett Carter tallied a career-high 80 snaps (!!) to lead the linebackers once again. Keith Maguire cleared 200 snaps on the year and Bentley is not far behind with 136 to his name.

At safety it was the usual suspects - Mukuba and Phillips started and RJ Mickens supplied 37 reps of his own.

Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports

Clemson moves to 7-0 and now faces Dino Babers’ unbeaten Syracuse squad at home before the bye week. Five more games remain in a potential 12-0 regular season, and Clemson sits squarely in the driver’s seat for the Atlantic division title. I also don’t see anyone from the Coastal being able to challenge Clemson for a conference championship, should they make it that far. Nothing is guaranteed of course, so enjoy the ride folks!