No. 4 Florida State comes from behind, beats Clemson 31-24 in overtime

Florida State somehow found a way.

The No. 4 Seminoles went into Death Valley to face Clemson and never had a lead — until overtime.

Florida State trailed 17-7 late in the first half and then 24-17 late in the third quarter, but found a way to pull out a gutsy 31-24 win in overtime to post its first win over Clemson since 2014 and remain undefeated.

Keon Coleman caught the game-winning touchdown in overtime as he high-pointed a beautiful pass from Jordan Travis over a Clemson defender. And when the Clemson offense got its turn in overtime, Florida State’s defense stopped the Tigers on fourth down to seal the victory.

It was a remarkable turn of events after things looked bleak for the Seminoles late in the third quarter. Clemson had a 24-17 lead and was driving into FSU territory to take a two-score advantage — until the FSU defense made a huge play.

The Seminoles sent a blitz and Kalen Deloach put a major hit on Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik. Deloach knocked the ball out of Klubnik’s hand as he looked to throw downfield, scooped up the loose ball and took off running for a 56-yard touchdown to tie the game at 24-24.

And then late in the fourth quarter, Clemson had a chance to retake the lead. With just under two minutes remaining, Clemson kicker Jonathan Weitz — who wasn’t even on the team until this week — had a chance from 29 yards out. He had made all of his kicks earlier in the game, but this kick sailed wide to ultimately send the game to overtime.

That’s when the Travis-to-Coleman connection that was on display in FSU’s triumphant Week 1 win over LSU re-surfaced. Coleman’s remarkable touchdown grab proved to be the game-winner.