TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Clemson’s plan on defense was simple – contain Florida State quarterback Ashton Daniels as best it could.

Executing that plan was a little more difficult.

However, for three quarters in Saturday’s 36-24 victory over the Seminoles, the Tigers executed the game plan almost perfectly. They limited the dynamic quarterback to 177 passing yards, and his legs were non-existent.

They intercepted Daniels two twice and forced a fumble, while building a 29-10 lead.

Everything was working fine and then it was not.

The senior threw for 173 yards in the fourth quarter alone, ran 13 yards for a touchdown and threw a 41-yard strike to put the Seminoles within five points, 29-24.

 “We had a plan. There is really no excuse there at the end there. We were playing a Cover 2, and I am frustrated with that,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “We played really good all night as far as executing the plan and I think we got a little too cute right there at the end instead of playing the middle of the field closed and keeping it front of us there and got ourselves in a bind.”

Clemson quarterback Tait Reynolds got the Tigers out of the bind, thanks to a record-setting 79-yard TD run with 3:17 to play to seal their 12-point win. Clemson’s Elliot Washington then picked off Daniels for a second time, this time in the end zone, to preserve the victory.

Daniels completed 21 of 32 passes for 350 yards and accounted for 3 TDs. However, the Tigers intercepted him three times, forced a fumble and sacked him four times. They also limited the Seminoles’ second leading rusher to 21 rushing yards, as he had no run longer than 13 yards.

“That kid is a baller,” Swinney said. “We tried to minimize him and when he did run, we were effective against him, so he never really got loose like you have seen him do really on everybody.”

For the most part, it was a solid night for the Clemson defense. Safety Jerome Carter had one of the Tigers’ four sacks, while also picking off Daniels in the second quarter to set up a Clemson touchdown.

Washington also had a first half interception that set up another score. Defensive end Will Heldt had five tackles, a sack and 2.5 tackles for loss, while linebacker Sammy Brown and defensive tackle Darien Mayo each had a sack as well.

Clemson (5-3, 3-2 ACC) held FSU to 65 rushing yards, the third straight game an opponent produced less than 100 rushing yards. The Seminoles were 1-for-11 on third and fourth down combined and averaged just 2.2 yards per rush.

The Tigers finished the evening with nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

“I think our pressure really got to (Daniels). I think our disguise really got to him really well,” Brown said. “I think we were able to show a lot of stuff that he did not like or did not know and I think that was reflected with the turnovers.”

In other words, the Tigers executed the game plan – sort of.