Clemson vs. FSU: Score and Twitter Reaction

A quarterback battle between Sean Maguire and Jameis Winston won't be brewing anytime soon, but the sophomore quarterback did just enough to push the No. 1 Florida State Seminoles through to a 23-17 overtime win at home against the No. 22 Clemson Tigers.

The 'Noles were outgained by nearly 100 yards (407 to 318) and turned the ball over one more time than Clemson, but FSU somehow found a way to win.

After the game head coach Jimbo Fisher praised his players for "knowing how to win," per ESPN.com's Brett McMurphy:

Maguire nearly threw the game away with 2:14 remaining in the fourth quarter and the game tied, 17-17. He was intercepted by Clemson safety Jadar Johnson who returned it to the FSU 26-yard line.

Two plays later, Maguire could breathe easy as Clemson running back C.J. Davidson fumbled on the FSU 14-yard line. ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach alluded to the Tigers' habit of often being their own worst enemy:

Florida State sat on the ball and settled for overtime.

Clemson turned it over on downs after failing to convert on a 4th-and-1 on the first drive of OT. Seminoles running back Karlos Williams promptly ran the ball twice for 25 yards, scoring the winning touchdown on a 12-yard scamper.

Maguire finished with 305 yards through the air with one touchdown and two interceptions on 21-of-39 passing.

The Seminoles were of course without Winston after the school suspended him for the game for yelling an obscene phrase on campus, per USA Today's Dan Wolken.

The biggest question coming into the game was how well Maguire would perform in his first collegiate start. Beating the No. 22 team in the country is hard enough as is. Beating the No. 22 team in the country while the suspended incumbent Heisman Trophy winner stood on the sidelines is a different prospect entirely.

Former Florida State QB and current ESPN analyst Danny Kanell questioned whether having Winston constantly hovering on the field would do more harm than good:

Winston caused a bit of an issue before the game when he suited up in full pads and warmed up with the rest of the Florida State quarterbacks. Fisher had a word with Winston, and the sophomore returned in street clothes, per Sports Illustrated's Andy Staples:

Through the first half, Maguire looked very much like a QB making his debut against a tough pass rush. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Maguire had eight dropbacks in the first half in which he wasn't under duress:

Clemson defensive end Vic Beasley was a constant presence in the pocket. Bleacher Report's Cian Fahey thought that not having an extra blocker on Beasley courted disaster:

"

When they're not giving Beasley extra attention, he's doing well for the most part.

— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) September 21, 2014"

Seminoles offensive tackle Cameron Erving, who's graded as a second-round prospect on CBSSports.com, was lined up most often against Beasley. Grantland's Matt Hinton thought the way Beasley was manhandling Erving was bound to hurt Erving's draft stock:

When starting an inexperienced quarterback, it's always nice to have a steady running game to ease some of the pressure on your signal-caller.

Florida State had the opposite of that in the first half. Williams, Mario Pender and Rashad Greene combined to rush for minus-one yard through the first two quarters. That placed more of the offensive burden on Maguire, and he was clearly laboring under that weight.

The door was open for Clemson to assert itself in the first half, and that's exactly what the Tigers did.

Things didn't really start going Clemson's way until Deshaun Watson replaced Cole Stoudt at quarterback. Stoudt wasn't awful, but the offense remained stuck in neutral when he was under center.

Watson got the Tigers on the scoreboard on his first drive of the game, leading the Tigers 75 yards in 4:43, tying the game 3-3.

The Tigers saw a marked improvement with Watson on the field. He finished the first half 8-of-12 for 132 yards. ESPN.com's Jared Shanker was most impressed with the freshman's poise:

Clemson took a 10-3 lead with 5:56 to go in the half. Taking advantage of great field position, Watson led a six-play, 47-yard touchdown drive, with running back D.J. Howard punching it in from a yard out.

On FSU's first drive of the second half, Maguire went 6-of-7 for 53 yards as Florida State kept moving the chains. Eventually, Pender scored on a one-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 10-10 a little less than four minutes into the half.

He was a vastly different QB over that stretch, not panicking under pressure and getting his passes off in time.

Clemson nearly went up 17-10 as the third quarter drew to a close. Watson hit tight end Stanton Seckinger for a 19-yard pass to the FSU 1-yard line. The officials initially ruled that Seckinger scored, but after reviewing the play, they marked him down at the 1. That proved pivotal a few plays later, when Ryan Norton's snap sailed over the head of Watson and back to the 24-yard line.

That was the first real moment of "Clemsoning," per CBSSports.com's Will Brinson:

The drive ended when Ammon Lakip missed a field goal from 40 yards.

Luckily for the Tigers, the missed opportunity didn't come back to bite them as Maguire was intercepted by safety Jayron Kearse. Four plays after that turnover, Watson scored on a two-yard touchdown run to give Clemson a 17-10 lead with 11:44 in the game.

Things were beginning to look very bleak for Florida State after Maguire was sacked for a loss of 14 yards a few drives later. The play encapsulated why the sophomore was struggling so much, as he saw Corey Crawford applying pressure but held onto the ball rather than throwing it out of bounds.

Of course, on the very next play, Maguire connected with Greene for a 74-yard touchdown to tie the game with 6:04 to go. Clemson defensive back MacKensie Alexander slipped, allowing Greene to jog into the end zone.

As Hinton pointed out, it was a cruel twist of fate for a Tigers defense that had been great for so much of the game:

The Tigers' bad luck was only the beginning, though. Between two missed field goals and the turnovers, head coach Dabo Swinney will surely be ruing what was a golden opportunity to earn a statement win and take the driver's seat in the ACC.

With the win, the Seminoles cleared one of the biggest regular-season hurdles they have left. Notre Dame is the only top-25 team FSU has on its schedule between now and the ACC championship if the team gets that far.

Clemson's hopes of making the ACC championship took a massive blow on Saturday. Even if the Tigers win out, they can only hope that the 'Noles slip up at some point the rest of the way. Right now, that doesn't appear likely.