FSU braces for hostile Clemson crowd at Death Valley

TALLAHASSEE — FSU is pumping artificial crowd noise over speakers at practice to prepare for a hostile environment when it plays at Clemson. Piercing cheers and screams reverberate throughout Florida State's practice field, spilling over to the Tallahassee campus.

The noise even echoes deep into the bowels of nearby Doak Campbell Stadium.

It is just a small sampling of what looms at Clemson for the Seminoles.

"It's tons of noise and you can barely hear in practice, but in Death Valley you can't hear at all," FSU running back Karlos Williams said. "It was very loud from the time we got off the bus through the time we were in the locker room, the warm-up, the kickoff through the end of the game. It was just loud. And it's going to be the same.

"You get goose bumps talking about it, goose bumps in the stadium."

The No. 5 Seminoles (5-0, 3-0 ACC) understand the challenge they face at No. 3 Clemson (6-0, 4-0 ACC) Saturday. Kickoff for the high-profile game is set for 8 p.m. and the game will air on ABC.

Clemson's Memorial Stadium, better known as Death Valley, seats more than 80,000 fans and is built with bleachers ominously looming over the field, capturing and magnifying noise.

"Since I've been in college, that's the loudest place I've ever played," FSU running back James Wilder Jr. said. "It was my freshman year, so I could've thought it was a little bit louder. I think it was louder than UF, Miami. . . . It's going to be a crazy atmosphere, that's something realistically we're going to have to know."

FSU has struggled playing in the hostile environment. The Seminoles haven't won a game at Clemson since 2001.

"I feel like history is history," FSU junior running back Devonta Freeman said. "I don't think it's that difficult, I think it's just a mind thing. People come into the game thinking 'oh, we're playing in Death Valley.' That already gets into people's heads. You can't focus on that."

FSU coach Jimbo Fisher has tried various techniques to prepare his players for the upcoming challenge. The Seminoles have utilized fake crowd noise at practice to work on communication skills, but they have also filtered in loud music to distract players.

Williams said the music is of "the boring genre."

"Sometimes they play, to me, they play some terrible music," Williams said. "It almost seems [like] the purpose [is] to drain practice, to get practice down, to make people not want to practice."

In addition to a rowdy and boisterous fan base, Clemson is home to one of college football's most unique traditions. The Tigers enter the field touching a rock — called "Howard's Rock," named after former Clemson coach Frank Howard — and then run down a steep hill.

"That right there, I'm not going to lie, I kind of like it. I don't like the team, but I like the whole entrance," FSU safety Terrence Brooks. "It is definitely going to be hectic out there. It's going to be wild, and I want that. I want as much chaos as possible. We want to cause as much chaos as possible on the field."

While upperclassmen like Freeman and junior receiver Rashad Greene have told younger players what to expect at Death Valley, they have avoided discussing the five-game losing streak against Clemson.

"I haven't talked to anyone about it, but those are different teams that went up there the past 12 years. This is a new team," Greene said. "We're going up there with a lot of confidence . . . to showcase what we're about."

bsonnone@tribune.com