FSU football falls flat in disastrous loss to Clemson, 24-10 to drop to 4-5 this season

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CLEMSON, S.C. – Florida State football failed to score more than 10 points for the first time this season as the Seminoles fell to Clemson 24-10 on Saturday, Nov. 8, here at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 8.

Clemson has won nine of the last 10 matchups between the programs as the Seminoles fall to 4-5 and 1-5 in ACC play. Quarterback Tommy Castellanos went 23-of-43 for 250 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

The Seminoles trailed 18-7 at halftime after a pair of touchdowns from Cade Klubnik, one rushing and a passing touchdown.

Klubnik led Clemson on a 13-play, 75-yard drive capped off by his four-yard rushing score to cap off the Tigers' first possession. After a drop from a wide open Randy Pittman Jr. on a fourth down, Clemson punished FSU with Klubnik throwing a 34-yard touchdown pass on a flea flicker. Castellanos got the Seminoles' lone score of the first half with a 7-yard touchdown to Lawayne McCoy.

FSU's best and lone scoring chance of the second half was a missed 40-yard field goal. Clemson converted on a pair of field goals in a lackluster second half.

Here are three takeaways from FSU's 24-10 loss to Clemson.

Careless mistakes pile up again for the Seminoles

The Seminoles squandered multiple scoring opportunities in the first half as careless mistakes continue to plague FSU's season.

After forcing Clemson into a punt inside their own 10-yard line, Tigers punter Jack Smith shanked his kick and set up FSU with field position on the 35-yard line. After driving to the Clemson 11-yard line, Castellanos fumbled the exchange with running back Samuel Singleton, which Clemson recovered.

It was the first of multiple unforced errors on potential scoring plays for FSU.

A fourth and short play action got tight end Randy Pittman wide open, and Castellanos delivered the ball to him, only for it to be dropped with about 50 yards of open grass ahead of Pittman. Later in the first half, Castellanos overthrew a wide-open Squirrel White by five yards, for what would have been a touchdown if it had been completed.

The trend carried into the second half, with a third and short first down run by Singleton called back by an illegal hands to the face, and a pass from Castellanos to set FSU up on the two-yard line called back for holding among the more prominent errors.

FSU football's offense lacked cohesion, ran out of ideas

The Seminoles' offense struggled to find consistency, and outside of one 75-yard scoring drive in the first half, FSU failed to generate any offense to threaten Clemson.

While the mistakes took points and over a hundred yards of offense off the board, the Seminoles didn't do enough to generate big play opportunities consistently. Multiple trick plays dialed up by Gus Malzahn were snuffed out by Clemson's defense before they could begin.

Castellanos faced consistent pressure from the Clemson defensive line, and he was sacked six times while having multiple scrambles cut short after a yard or two gained.

Running lanes were limited, with the best run of the night a Singleton 12-yard gain that ended after he collided with the referee.

An interception from Castellanos with 2:27 left in the game sealed the Seminoles fate.

Missed tackles give Clemson extra yardage; the Tigers converted on explosive plays

The Seminoles allowed explosive plays and missed multiple tackles, which allowed Clemson to rack up extra yardage on plays.

There was a two-play stretch by defensive back Jerry Wilson where he missed a tackle for loss on a first-down play that resulted in a 20-yard pickup for Williams. On the next play, Klubnik found Adam Randall for another 20-yard gain, where both Wilson and Edwin Joseph failed to make an effective tackle, which allowed Randall extra yardage.

Those moments put FSU under needless pressure, and often let Clemson sneak into field goal range, where the Tigers converted all three field goals attempted.

The Tigers had five passing plays of 20 yards or more, with one a touchdown.

Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football offense falls flat in 24-10 loss at Clemson

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