TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Clemson’s ineffective passing game found a little life as the Tigers traveled to Doak Campbell Stadium and held off a late Florida State rally to win 36-24 on Halloween night in Tallahassee. This marks the program’s fifth straight road win over FSU.

After last weekend’s heartbreaking loss at home to Virginia Tech, most everyone had the Tigers written off for dead, but freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds did just enough in the passing game to breathe some life back into the season. After having thrown just one touchdown all season, Reynolds tossed two in the win.

The freshman finished 18-of-32 for 189 yards with the two scores. While he only had 62 passing yards after halftime, it was his legs that made the difference.

Facing a 29-10 deficit early in the third quarter, the Seminoles mounted a furious rally, scoring two late touchdowns to make the Tigers sweat and pulling to within five at 29-24 with about five minutes left. Then, with Clemson facing a 3rd-and-12 and on the verge of losing all momentum, Reynolds broke off a 77-yard run to put the game away.

Too Many Explosives

The Seminoles ripped off too many explosives in the air, but the Tigers held Ashton Daniels and the FSU offense to just 62 yards on the ground, and the unit did not give up a third-down conversion all night long (0-for-8).

The Noles were held to less than 2.5 yards per carry as the Tigers gave up just one rush that went longer than 10 yards. The defense also sacked Daniels four times and picked him off three times, winning the margin 3-0. Elliot Washington had two of those interceptions, giving him five on the season.

The only negative was those explosive plays that were allowed. FSU picked on nickel Donovan Starr some, as the sophomore allowed multiple big plays in the passing game. Daniels passed for 350 yards and 271 of those came on “big plays.” Eight times the Seminoles had passing plays of 15 yards or longer, with three of those going for more than 40.

Too Many Drops

These Clemson pass catchers have to be of more help to Reynolds. There were at least four drops in this one. Bryant Wesco was responsible for two, while T.J. Moore and Tyler Brown had one each. Moore’s came in the end zone on a ball that could not have been thrown much better.

With the Tigers breaking in an inexperienced freshman at quarterback, these receivers need to be doing more to help.

Hauser for Groza

Is there a kicker having a better season than Nolan Hauser? The junior kicker hit all five of his attempts in the win over Florida State, including a 50-yarder and two 49-yarders. He is now 23-of-24 this season. His longest is 59 yards. Hauser has to be a realistic candidate to win the Lou Groza Award, given annually to the nation’s best kicker.

There’s the Tight Ends

Christian Bentancur and Olsen Patt-Henry have not been as involved in the passing game this season as most had envisioned. Some of that is due to some of the pass protection issues up front and those two players helping in that regard.

However, this game was different, as Reynolds was looking for them early. Patt-Henry finished with four catches for 30 yards and a touchdown. The senior had just 10 catches all season coming into Saturday night.

Bentancur only had one catch, but it was a big one, as he hauled in an 18-yard touchdown in the first half. It was his second touchdown grab of the season.

Road Vibes

Clemson has now won 11 of its last 13 road games against Power-4 teams. The Tigers will stay on the road next weekend, making a trip up to Syracuse.