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Clemson at Florida State

Prediction · week 9, 2026 · Sat Oct 31, 6:00 PM CT · Doak Campbell Stadium

Updated Sun Oct 25, 5:13 PM CT

Clemson4-2
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Sat Oct 31, 6:00 PM CT · Doak Campbell Stadium

CLEMClemson · 4-2 Sat Oct 31, 6:00 PM CT FSUFlorida State · 3-4

37%Our win chance63%

Our win chance: Florida State 63% · Clemson 37% · experimental, see how it is tested

Kickoff corrected (source: seminoles.com, checked Oct 21, 2026).

Model comparison

7 of 9 models favor Florida State

ModelSaysWin chance
SP+
Clemson +4.0 vs Florida State +4.9 · week 8 ratings
Florida State by 3.4Florida State 60%
Elo
Clemson 1532 vs Florida State 1609
Florida State by 5.6Florida State 66%
Our model · experimental
no snapshot for this game
n/a–
ESPN FPI
Clemson +6.5 vs Florida State +9.6
Florida State by 5.6Florida State 66%
SRS
Clemson +4.7 vs Florida State +5.6
Florida State by 3.4Florida State 60%
Sagarin
Clemson +76.2 vs Florida State +78.0
Florida State by 5.6Florida State 66%
Sonny Moore
Clemson +65.1 vs Florida State +76.6
Florida State by 15.5Florida State 87%
The Margin
The Margin's model
Florida State by 4.2Florida State 62%
Record
Florida State 3-4, Clemson 4-2
Clemson (better record)–
Market
the market's pregame margin
Clemson by 1.5Clemson 54%

Each margin is from the same weekly ratings the team pages use: SP+ and Elo from their rating gap, the home team given 2.5 points (none at a neutral site); Our model is this site's experimental rating; Market is the margin the market expected before kickoff; ESPN FPI, SRS, Sagarin and Sonny Moore are rating gaps like SP+'s (each with its own home field), The Margin is that site's own model, and Record names the team with the better record (the home team on equal records). How these work ›

Matchup efficiency

Efficiency matchup · season to date · Florida State 7 games, Clemson 6 games

Edge: Clemson wins 3 of 5

Clemson stops plays better, is more disruptive and allows fewer big plays. Florida State moves the ball better and has the edge on big plays.

Florida Statelonger bar = betterClemson
  • 44%✓ Moves the ballsuccessful plays 37%
  • 44% Stops playssuccessful plays allowed ✓41%
  • 14% Disruptionsacks, TFLs, turnovers ✓18%
  • 1.41✓ Big playson offense 1.18
  • 1.36 Big plays allowedon defense ✓1.13

Run game, head to head · season to date

Florida State's runs work 46% of the time; Clemson's run defense allows 47%. Clemson's runs work 38% of the time; Florida State's run defense allows 44%.

More numbers
MeasureFlorida StateClemsonEdge
Off. success rate43.6%36.8%Florida State
Off. explosiveness1.411.18Florida State
Def. success rate allowed44.5%40.6%Clemson
Def. explosiveness allowed1.361.13Clemson
Havoc created14.5%18.5%Clemson
  • Run game, success rate: Florida State offense 46.1% · Clemson defense allows 47.1% · edge: Florida State
  • Run game, success rate: Clemson offense 38.2% · Florida State defense allows 44.4% · edge: even
  • Run game, PPA per play: Florida State offense +0.20 · Clemson defense allows +0.12 · edge: Florida State
  • Run game, PPA per play: Clemson offense +0.09 · Florida State defense allows +0.17 · edge: Clemson
  • Success rate: how often a play does its job, gaining enough yards to keep the offense on schedule.
  • Explosiveness: how big a team's successful plays are on average; a higher number means more big gains.
  • Havoc: how often the defense blows up a play with a sack, a tackle for loss, a takeaway or a pass broken up.
  • PPA (predicted points added): how many points an average play is worth to the offense; above zero is good for the offense, below zero good for the defense.

How to read this

  • Each row compares the two teams on one measure of how well they have played this season, offense and defense, using every game so far with garbage time (plays late in a decided game) left out.
  • The run game rows pair one team's rushing offense with the other's run defense. The row goes to whichever side is further from the FBS baseline this season, the offense by how far it runs above it, the defense by how much less it allows (baseline: run success rate 43%, PPA per play +0.08, the midpoint of what FBS offenses gain and FBS defenses allow, since both also play FCS teams), so two strong sides or two weak ones are judged by which is the more so. Edges within 3 points of success rate or 0.05 PPA are even. A strong run offense against a weak run defense is where a team can control the game on the ground.
  • In the five rows at the top the longer bar is the better number: bars are scaled within each row, and in the two "allowed" rows the lower number gets the longer bar.
  • Success rate is the share of plays that kept the offense on schedule (half the yards needed on first down, most of them on second, all of them on third or fourth). Explosiveness is how big the successful plays were, on average, in points. Havoc is the share of the opponent's snaps the defense wrecked: a tackle for loss, a sack, a takeaway or a pass broken up.
  • "Allowed" rows are what each defense gave up, so the lower value wins.
  • These are not adjusted for who each team has played, so a light schedule flatters a team, and early in the season they rest on very few games.
  • Metrics explained: success rate, explosiveness and havoc ›

The prediction

SP+, Elo, ESPN FPI, SRS, Sagarin, Sonny Moore and The Margin favor Florida State; Record and Market favor Clemson (SP+ from the week 8 snapshot).

Our call posts Monday when this week's ratings are set.

SP+ has Florida State by 3.4, Elo has Florida State by 5.6, ESPN FPI has Florida State by 5.6, SRS has Florida State by 3.4, Sagarin has Florida State by 5.6, Sonny Moore has Florida State by 15.5, The Margin has Florida State by 4.2, and Market has Clemson by 1.5. The furthest apart are 17.0 points from each other.

Last 5 meetings

Florida State leads 21–17 · last: Clemson 24–10, 2025 · Clemson has won 2 straight

SeasonResultSite
2025Clemson 24–10Memorial Stadium (Clemson, SC)
2024Clemson 29–13Doak Campbell Stadium
2023Florida State 31–24Memorial Stadium (Clemson, SC)
2022Clemson 34–28Doak Campbell Stadium
2021Clemson 30–20Memorial Stadium (Clemson, SC)

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