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FSU Football facing historic underdog role Saturday at Clemson

Based on the opening line posted on Sunday -- and depending on the action this week -- the Florida State football team could be a bigger underdog this Saturday at Clemson than the Seminoles have been in a college football game in more than three decades.

When this week's initial point spreads were posted in Las Vegas late Sunday afternoon, Clemson was listed as a 27-point favorite against the Seminoles, although that number quickly shifted to 26.0, according to VegasInsider.com.

If it stays there or goes back up, that number will surpass the previous largest underdog role the Seminoles have faced in recent history, when they were 25.5-point "dogs" against rival Florida in 2009.

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James Blackman was a true freshman when he started at Clemson in 2017.
James Blackman was a true freshman when he started at Clemson in 2017. (Logan Stanford/Special to Warchant.com)
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Sports betting website Covers.com maintains a listing of all college point spreads dating back to the 1985-'86 season, and the Seminoles have never been a bigger underdog than they were in that Florida game one decade ago.

If another team was ever a bigger favorite over the Seminoles, it would have had to have been before that 1985 season, and those records are not available online.

Both Florida State and Clemson are coming off of bye weeks, and FSU head coach Willie Taggart said last week that the Seminoles were already beginning preparations for the Tigers, while also focusing on cleaning up their fundamentals.

"It's a great Clemson team," Taggart said. "So you can't practice one week and think you're going to knock 'em off."

Clemson, the defending national champion, has been a massive favorite in every game this season. The Tigers were favored by 37 points against Georgia Tech, 16.5 against Texas A&M, 28 at Syracuse, 41.5 against Charlotte and 27.5 at North Carolina. The Tigers are 5-0 overall but 3-2 against the spread this season -- they didn't cover against UNC or Texas A&M.

Florida State is 3-2 overall and 2-2-1 against the spread, with both covers coming in their last two games -- double-digit victories against Louisville and N.C. State.

The Seminoles are not exactly strangers to being substantial underdogs in recent years. They were double-digit 'dogs three times last season -- they got 14 points at Miami, 18 points at home against Clemson and 17 points at Notre Dame.

The 'Noles were 16.5-point underdogs in their last trip to Clemson two years ago.

For Florida State to pull off the upset, Taggart said the Seminoles will need to do what they've been doing the last few weeks -- avoid turnovers, make good decisions and play "winning football."

"It's about Florida State and about us playing our best," he said. "And we're going to need to be at our best against Clemson at their place."

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