2012 Clemson game set stage for 2013 title run; 'War Chat' with EJ Manuel

The Florida State football team had played in a similar game the year before.

At home. Sold-out stadium. Bright lights. National television audience. Two top-10 teams and a ferocious, rabid crowd that was standing most of the time and screaming virtually the entire time.

In 2011, the Seminoles weren't ready for that moment. Not only did they lose to No. 1 Oklahoma that Saturday night, but they went on to lose the next two games as well.

But in September of 2012, when they welcomed No. 9 Clemson to Doak Campbell Stadium, the No. 4 FSU squad was a year older and much more prepared for that type of stage.

The result was a 49-37 victory that not only was the best game of quarterback EJ Manuel's career, but the first real marquee victory of Jimbo Fisher's tenure. FSU actually trailed 28-14 early in the third quarter but stormed back for a victory that would lead to the Seminoles' first ACC title in seven years.

"It was an opportunity for me, specifically, to just show the country, my team, the state of Florida, the fans in Tallahassee, what kind of legacy I wanted to leave behind," said Manuel, who had gotten hurt the year before in the top-10 showdown with Oklahoma. "And the only way to really do that is in big moments. And that was a huge moment. (Clemson) had a really good team.

"They had a bunch of first-rounders and second-rounders on that team ... and we just went out there and wanted to make a statement. For me, I just always felt like I tried to show up when the lights were (brightest)."

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Manuel wound up playing the best game of his career that night in Tallahassee.

The senior completed 27 of 35 passes for 380 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for an additional 102 yards on 11 attempts as the Seminoles amassed a whopping 667 yards against first-year coordinator Brent Venables' defense.

Trailing by 14 points early in the third quarter, the FSU offense erupted for 35 points in the final 25 minutes to stun the Tigers.

Kelvin Benjamin had a 64-yard gain on a shovel pass, Rashad Greene and Rodney Smith both caught second-half touchdown passes, and Chris Thompson scored two second-half TDs, including the game-icing, 27-yard touchdown run with 8:34 left.

Thompson finished with 103 yards rushing on 15 carries and added eight catches for another 79 yards.

The Florida State defense struggled at times against a loaded Clemson offense that featured first-round wide receivers Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins had a 60-yard catch on the first drive of the game, and Watkins added a 52-yard TD pass to Wayne Ellington on a trick play early in the second.

But the Seminoles' defense played much better the final two quarters, limiting Tajh Boyd to just 43 yards passing after halftime. Nick Waisome had a critical interception in the fourth quarter to set up Thompson's game-clinching TD.

And players like Benjamin, Greene, Telvin Smith, Lamarcus Joyner, Timmy Jernigan and a stable of other stars from the 2013 national championship team got their first taste of winning a game of that magnitude.

Not only did that win over Clemson -- along with a gritty road victory at Virginia Tech later in the year -- pave the way for the Seminoles' first ACC championship since 2012, but it helped lay the groundwork for the undefeated team the following season.

"The funny thing is those guys were babies at the time," Manuel said of his younger teammates. "All the guys that won the championship the following year, they were sophomores and freshmen my senior year. So, it was just really cool to get that trend going in Tallahassee. And at that time, we were the big dogs in the ACC."

FSU's 2012 win over Clemson was arguably the biggest home victory for the Seminoles since Chris Weinke's Senior Night win over the Florida Gators in 2000.

Even though there were a couple of hiccups later in the year (looking at you, N.C. State game), the 2012 team won the conference for the first time in seven years and won 12 games for the first time since 1999.

"It just made me even more proud to know that I left Florida State football in a better situation than when I got there in 2008," Manuel said. "And I'm not saying I did that by myself. I did that with a bunch of other great players. But that was something I'm very proud of to this day."

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Talk about this story with other Florida State football fans in the Tribal Council