By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Here is a position-by-position breakdown of Saturday’s Clemson at Florida State game.

Quarterback: All the national media has really talked about when breaking down this position is Florida State quarterback E.J. Manuel. But the reigning First-Team quarterback in the ACC is completing 73.3 percent of his passes, and has thrown six touchdowns to one interception this year. Granted Manuel is a great athlete, and he is completing 71.2 percent of his passes, but Boyd has put up solid numbers against an SEC team in Auburn, while Ball State, who beat Indiana last week, can probably take it to a bad Wake Forest defense. I will also take my chances with Furman over Murray State and Savannah State.  Advantage: Clemson

Running back: FSU’s Chris Thompson rushed for 197 yards last week and had touchdown runs of 74 and 80 yards. He looked good and the FSU running game looks like it might be back. Clemson’s Andre Ellington leads the ACC in rushing with 109.3 yards and has scored four touchdowns the last two weeks. He is also healthy, and Clemson’s running game is a whole lot better when No. 23 is rolling. Advantage: Clemson

Wide receiver: Sammy Watkins had seven receptions for 141 yards and two scores against the Seminoles last year. He made his debut after a two-game suspension last week against Furman and had 119 yards on only five touches. DeAndre Hopkins leads the ACC with 8.7 receptions per game for 106.3 yards. He also has four touchdowns. Florida State’s Kenny Shaw and Kelvin Benjamin lead the team with 10 catches each with more than 140 yards. Rashad Greene had eight catches for 98 yards and a touchdown in last year’s game at Clemson. Advantage: Clemson

Offensive line: For the first time since the Auburn game the Tigers are expected to have its five best offensive linemen up front. That offensive line allowed Clemson 326 yards on the ground against Auburn. Now, Clemson’s line will have more of a challenge than the FSU line will have Saturday, but considering Clemson’s group had success against a good defensive line against Auburn, and the best defensive front  FSU’s line has faced thus far was Wake Forest which was minus All-ACC tackle Nikita Whitlock. Advantage: Clemson

Defensive line: Do I really need to break this one down? The Seminoles lead the ACC with 11 sacks, with defensive end Bjoern Werner recording six of those. The 6-foot-4, 255-pound end also has nine tackles for a loss. Clemson has not put much pressure on the quarterback at all, and the team only has a combined three sacks for the season.  Advantage: Florida State

Linebackers: FSU middle linebacker Vince Williams has nine tackles and a tackle for loss. He also has two quarterback pressures. Clemson’s backers continue to get better with Stephone Anthony leading the way with 27 tackles. But the Tigers are young and an experienced FSU linebacking corps gets the edge. Advantage: Florida State

Secondary: Xavier Rhodes and Lamarcus Joyner are supposed to be better than anyone in Clemson’s secondary. And thy might be. But, Boyd with the help of Watkins and Hopkins torched the FSU secondary with Rhodes and Joyner being the primary victims. Still, they are better than Clemson’s, who has major issues at safety. Look for Manuel to try and exploit this weakness.  Advantage: Florida State

Special teams: Dustin Hopkins kicked a 55-yard field goal to beat the Tigers in 2010, and Greene has two punt returns—47 and 60 yards—for touchdowns already this season. Clemson kicker Chandler Catanzaro can set a school record for consecutive field goals. Also, will the ‘Noles kick the ball to Watkins? My guess is no. Advantage: Florida State

Prediction: Look, Florida State is good on defense, and if it was playing anyone else, they would dominate. The fact is, however, there are some teams that teams don’t match up well with. Like Georgia Tech is to Clemson, Clemson is that team for Florida State. I don’t care what people say. The success the Tigers had on offense last year against seven of these same FSU defenders does matter. It does give Clemson confidence to move the football and I think they will wear the Seminoles down and force Manuel and the FSU offense to try and keep up. Welcome to big-boy football, FSU. Clemson 34, Florida State 23