Clemson Laying 27 vs Florida State; Tigers Are 2-5 ATS In Last 7 As Favorites Of 21.5-31

• The under is 36-15 in the last 51 games that the Tigers are coming off a bye week
• The Florida State Seminoles have covered just five of their last 17 ACC games
• The Seminoles are 2-7 ATS in their last nine as a dog

The Clemson-Florida State rivalry used to be one of the most anticipated games on the college football calendar. This week, the Tigers return off their bye week and the FSU vs Clemson odds indicate that they’re laying almost four touchdowns. Are the Tigers the best bet in this spot or can Florida State keep this final scoreline respectable?

Florida State Seminoles vs Clemson Tigers Odds

*Odds taken 10/10/19

Seminoles Have Saved Their Season

The Seminoles started the year with a pair of disasters as they blew a 31-19 halftime lead at home to Boise State in the opener and then blew a 24-7 halftime lead at home to Louisiana-Monroe in Week 2, but they barely hung on to win 45-44 in overtime. After losing to Virginia in Week 3, they’ve managed to turn things around.

A switch from James Blackman to Wisconsin transfer Alex Hornibrook at quarterback has given the team some life. They easily handled Louisville 35-24 and then blew out NC State 31-13 in Week 5. Hornibrook has come in and thrown for 571 yards, five touchdowns and no picks so far as the Seminoles have looked like a completely different team.

However, the switch from Blackman to Hornibrook was due to injury and Blackman is healthy. Both should play and both will have to be effective if the Seminoles are to cover.

What’s Wrong With Clemson?

It’s weird to be asking this of a 5-0 team but the truth is something has looked off with Clemson all season long. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence was supposed to be a Heisman Trophy finalist but he’s been nowhere near that level, throwing just eight touchdowns so far with five interceptions. He has a total of 300 passing yards in the last two games combined.

While Clemson still mostly has blowout wins on their resume, seeing them struggle against North Carolina two weeks ago was a big red flag. Of course, the top teams in the country usually put up one stinker per year – usually on the road – and maybe that’s all it was for the Tigers. Struggle again and fire alarms will go off.

What’s the Best Bet?

It’s really hard to lay 27 in this spot with a team that hasn’t look like they’re a national championship contender – even if the College Football Championship odds indicate that. It’s hard to believe that Appalachian State scored 34 and won at North Carolina comfortably while Clemson only scored 21 and won narrowly.

The assumption is that this is the ‘get right’ game and much of that will depend on Florida State. If they’re the dumpster fire we saw from Weeks 1-3, Clemson is going to embarrass them like they did last year when they won 59-10.

However, I think Florida State remembers that game and is going to be really focused in this one. I definitely don’t see them winning this outright or coming close, but they’ll score in the 15-20 range and that should be enough for them to cover this massive spread.