Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, Jameis Winston used the stage presented by the ACC Championship game to finally look like one.
The Winston that led Florida State to a 37-35 win hadn’t been seen in going on 10 weeks.
Winston completed 21 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns, both highs for the sophomore since throwing for 401 yards and three scores against Louisville in Week 7.
Potentially the most important stat related to Florida State’s third-consecutive conference title was the one that didn’t appear on its side of the box score, next to Winston’s name:
Interceptions.
A week after throwing four against Florida, Winston didn’t throw a pick for the first time since a 36-30 win over Syracuse in Week 5.
This is particulary Impressive, considering Winston spent two days this week as the central figure in a student-conduct hearing at FSU related to an alleged sexual assault.
“Nothing was different," Winston said after the game. “I just felt like I probably needed that because there’s always adversity you’ve got to face.”
Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher praised his quarterback.
“He’s elite, he’s special. He’s different than anybody I’ve ever been around. That’s simple,” Fisher said. “He cares about his teammates and he can compartmentalize. When he has a job to do and people counting on him, that’s what a man does.”
When FSU’s opening drive ended after three downs and Georgia Tech followed with a touchdown, Winston took over the game. He directed the Seminoles to touchdowns on their next four possessions, throwing scoring passes to Nick O’Leary (46 yards) and Rashad Greene (44 and 9 yards). Freshman running back Dalvin Cook added a 1-yard TD run.
“When I can just go out there and put all that stuff behind me and just lock in and focus on (that), I’ve got to do this for the team and not myself, we go out there and have a great game,” Winston said.
FSU took its first lead, 28-21 with 30 seconds left in the first half. When the first 30 minutes ended, Winston already had 12 completions for 222 yards.
From there the Seminoles turned to Cook to eat up yards (he ran for 181 of them) and clock. All-American Robert Aguayo finished off the winning scores with three field goals and FSU forced Tech QB Justin Thomas into a late interception.
“We knew we weren’t going to get too many opportunities, so we had to capitalize on every chance we got,” said Greene, who finished with seven grabs for 123 yards. “It started in practice. Our preparation was tremendous this week.”
Due to Winston’s off-the-field issue, Fisher moved game-week practices to the evening, a move the fifth-year head coach said brought the best practice effort out of his team this year.
“We have a goal, a standard that we already set,” Greene said. “Practice needs to be like this every week, and you’ll get this type of outcome.”
Despite another close outcome, Fisher was particularly proud of this win — FSU’s 29th in a row — because a College Football Playoff spot and chance to play for a second consecutive national title were on the line.
“This team is an elite team. It’s 13-0, 13 wins, no losses, no matter what happens to us,” Fisher said. “Its resiliency to be unbroken is amazing to me, because it takes everybody’s best shot and looks you in the eye and just keeps playing.”
title: “Jimbo On Jameis He S Elite He S Special After Acc Title” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-31” author: “Elizabeth Dobson”
Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, Jameis Winston used the stage presented by the ACC Championship game to finally look like one.
The Winston that led Florida State to a 37-35 win hadn’t been seen in going on 10 weeks.
HAYES: Four in, four out | BENDER: Seminoles prove they’re still team to beat | MORE: College bowl schedule
Winston completed 21 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns, both highs for the sophomore since throwing for 401 yards and three scores against Louisville in Week 7.
Potentially the most important stat related to Florida State’s third-consecutive conference title was the one that didn’t appear on its side of the box score, next to Winston’s name:
Interceptions.
A week after throwing four against Florida, Winston didn’t throw a pick for the first time since a 36-30 win over Syracuse in Week 5.
This is particularly impressive, considering Winston spent two days this week as the central figure in a student-conduct hearing at FSU related to an alleged sexual assault.
“Nothing was different,” Winston said after the game. “I just felt like I probably needed that because there’s always adversity you’ve got to face.”
Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher praised his quarterback.
“He’s elite, he’s special. He’s different than anybody I’ve ever been around. That’s simple,” Fisher said. “He cares about his teammates and he can compartmentalize. When he has a job to do and people counting on him, that’s what a man does.”
When FSU’s opening drive ended after three downs and Georgia Tech followed with a touchdown, Winston took over the game. He directed the Seminoles to touchdowns on their next four possessions, throwing scoring passes to Nick O’Leary (46 yards) and Rashad Greene (44 and 9 yards). Freshman running back Dalvin Cook added a 1-yard TD run.
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“When I can just go out there and put all that stuff behind me and just lock in and focus on (that), I’ve got to do this for the team and not myself, we go out there and have a great game,” Winston said.
FSU took its first lead, 28-21 with 30 seconds left in the first half. When the first 30 minutes ended, Winston already had 12 completions for 222 yards.
From there the Seminoles turned to Cook to eat up yards (he ran for 181 of them) and clock. All-American Robert Aguayo finished off the winning scores with three field goals and FSU forced Tech QB Justin Thomas into a late interception.
“We knew we weren’t going to get too many opportunities, so we had to capitalize on every chance we got,” said Greene, who finished with seven grabs for 123 yards. “It started in practice. Our preparation was tremendous this week.”
Due to Winston’s off-the-field issue, Fisher moved game-week practices to the evening, a move the fifth-year head coach said brought the best practice effort out of his team this year.
“We have a goal, a standard that we already set,” Greene said. “Practice needs to be like this every week, and you’ll get this type of outcome.”
Despite another close outcome, Fisher was particularly proud of this win – FSU’s 29th in a row – because a College Football Playoff spot and chance to play for a second consecutive national title were on the line.
“This team is an elite team. It’s 13-0, 13 wins, no losses, no matter what happens to us,” Fisher said. “Its resiliency to be unbroken is amazing to me, because it takes everybody’s best shot and looks you in the eye and just keeps playing.”
