FSU's offense revved up

CLEMSON — Florida State's offense deteriorated from great to grotesque in recent years, and no one has known that better than Clemson.

The Tigers have successfully pounced on the Seminoles' fundamental weakness, using dominating defensive performances to usher a dramatic shift in the rivalry's tenor.

Now, perhaps the most pressing question entering Saturday's 3:30 p.m. game in Tallahassee, Fla., is whether Clemson (4-4, 2-3 ACC) can continue to bottle up a Seminoles offense that's found a spark under second-year coordinator Jimbo Fisher.

"They're playing much, much better on offense," Clemson interim coach Dabo Swinney said Tuesday. "Jimbo's done a great job. He's got those guys heading in the right direction."

For so long, the Seminoles' offense seemed headed down the tubes. From 2004 to 2007, FSU finished no better than 59th nationally in total offense. Its rushing offense ranked 109th in 2005, 103rd in 2006 and 91st last season.

Clemson has won three straight over the No. 24 Seminoles (6-2, 3-2) and four of the last five after dropping 11 straight from 1992 to 2002.

There's no mistaking how the about-face has been accomplished: FSU's offense has produced a total of four touchdowns in the Tigers' four victories, and in the last three the Seminoles have averaged 228 yards.

All that could change Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium. The playmaking ability of sophomore quarterback Christian Ponder has helped diversify FSU's attack while juicing up the Seminoles' statistics.

FSU is averaging 35.2 points per game, its highest clip since the 2000 season. The Seminoles' 197 rushing yards per game are their highest since 1995. And their total yardage (393 per game) is their highest since 2003.

Clemson defensive coordinator Vic Koenning said the Seminoles are much more dynamic with Ponder running the read-option scheme that's become so popular across college football. Ponder is the team's third-leading rusher with 259 yards, including 118 lost yards largely from sacks.

Sophomore quarterback D'Vontrey Richardson is also giving Koenning something to think about; he engineered a dramatic comeback last week at Georgia Tech before a late fumble by Marcus Sims sealed a 31-28 defeat. Richardson and Ponder combine to average more than 75 rushing yards per game.

Koenning said FSU is also benefiting from another year under Fisher, the coach-in-waiting whose offense made improvement over the second half of last season. Fisher left a coordinator's post at LSU to join Bobby Bowden in Tallahassee.

"His system is extremely, extremely multiple," Koenning said. "Last year we had them the first game, so we were able to spend practice time getting prepared for all the different looks and plays and screens and this and that."

From 1992 to 2002, Florida State averaged 38.1 points in its winning streak over Clemson. But when the Tigers snapped the streak with a 26-10 triumph in 2003, the Seminoles managed merely a garbage-time touchdown.

After a 41-22 Florida State victory in 2004, Clemson resumed the defensive domination. The Seminoles couldn't muster an offensive touchdown in a 35-14 loss in Clemson in 2005.

The Tigers won, 27-20, in Tallahassee two years ago, and in that game FSU's offense reached the end zone just once. Then in the Tigers' 24-18 win last year in Clemson, it wasn't until 46 seconds remained in the third quarter that the Seminoles finally scored a touchdown on a 1-yard run by Antone Smith.

That's one offensive touchdown over a span of almost 11 quarters. During that stretch, the Seminoles' special teams scored two touchdowns on a blocked punt return (2005) and a blocked field goal return (2006).

This year, the Seminoles began their ACC slate with more of the same in a 12-3 home loss to Wake Forest. But after that inept showing (220 yards, seven turnovers), FSU has averaged 32.8 points in five games — four of them victories.

Swinney said the Seminoles' offensive resurgence "all starts with the quarterback," but Koenning said he's also seen a difference in the mentality of the receivers.

"That's probably the position that I see the most difference in," he said. "They're running downfield, 10 or 15 yards and cutting guys. They're playing much harder than I think they have in the past couple of years."