Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Jameis Winston kept Florida
State’s national title hopes alive as the Seminoles improved to 6-0 over
all for the first time since their 1999 championship season.
CLEMSON, S.C. — This was Jameis Winston’s introduction to stardom:
silencing Death Valley on Saturday night, quarterbacking Florida State
to a signature win over Clemson and making a firm case for the Heisman Trophy.
Winston is electrifying college football as a redshirt freshman, just as
Johnny Manziel did last season. Florida State fans call him Famous
Jameis. Remember the name, they say.
On his first big stage, against his first big opponent, Winston showed
why. He and No. 5 Florida State smashed No. 3 Clemson, 51-14. Winston
threw for 444 yards and accounted for four touchdowns, giving him 23
total touchdowns on the season. All that was missing was his Heisman
pose.
“He’s not a freshman,” Rashad Greene, a Florida State receiver, said, adding, “That’s a grown man.”
No opponent has ever scored more points at Memorial Stadium.
Winston kept Florida State’s national title hopes alive. But he had
plenty of help in lifting the Seminoles, who are 4-0 in the Atlantic
Coast Conference, to 6-0 over all for the first time since their 1999
championship season. His receivers — Greene, Kelvin Benjamin and Kenny
Shaw, as well as tight end Nick O’Leary — made spectacular catches. His
team’s defense was relentless and stingy.
Winston, though, outplayed Tajh Boyd, a Clemson fifth-year senior, on a
night when their quarterback matchup took center stage.
ESPN’s “College GameDay” was here. Lee Corso dressed up like Chief
Osceola, and the actor Bill Murray, whose son attends Clemson, playfully
tackled him.
Much was at stake, with two Heisman candidates at quarterback and two top-five teams from the A.C.C.
Much had been expected from Clemson and Florida State in recent years.
They were the cream of the crop, the standard-bearers for the
conference. They were supposed to compete with the teams from the
Southeastern Conference for national titles and college football
supremacy.
Neither did exactly that. But Boyd led Clemson to back-to-back wins over
SEC powers, beating Louisiana State in the Chick-fil-A Bowl last season
and Georgia in this season’s opener. And Florida State had Winston,
which by itself seemed to give the Seminoles a chance.
On Clemson’s first play, Boyd connected with tight end Stanton
Seckinger, who fumbled as he went down. Three plays later, Winston
lofted a 22-yard pass toward the 6-foot-5 Benjamin at the goal line.
Benjamin was tightly covered, but the throw was perfect, high and to the
outside. Benjamin turned and snatched the ball for a touchdown. Winston
jogged off the field nonchalantly.
After Boyd and the Clemson offense stalled, Winston led a 16-play,
77-yard drive that ended in a field goal. He looked like the senior,
standing tall in the pocket.
Death Valley was already quiet. Then Boyd faked a handoff near midfield,
was drilled by Lamarcus Joyner on a cornerback blitz and fumbled.
Defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. scooped up the ball and rumbled for a
37-yard touchdown and a 17-0 Florida State lead.
Boyd tried to rally. He tossed a 3-yard touchdown pass to his star
receiver, Sammy Watkins, and the Clemson defense intercepted Winston on
the ensuing possession. But Winston responded, dumping a pass to Greene,
who had found a pocket in the Clemson defense. As two defenders dived
at Greene’s feet, he turned upfield and took off, outrunning everyone
else for a 72-yard touchdown.
Death Valley was silent by halftime, with Clemson (6-1, 4-1) trailing,
27-7. The night seemed reminiscent of Texas A&M’s win over Alabama
last season behind Manziel, its dynamic quarterback. The Tigers were not
the Crimson Tide, but like Manziel, Winston held everyone’s curiosity.
He was young and clearly talented. But he had been portrayed as the
anti-Manziel. He was a polished pocket passer, confident and composed,
unafraid to challenge his teammates or make a big throw. He asked to be
reprimanded if he ever had what he called the “Manziel disease.” Yet he
was still every bit as exciting.
In his collegiate debut, he completed 25 of 27 passes in a rout of
Pittsburgh. Against Boston College, he broke two tackles and threw for a
score on a 55-yard heave just before halftime. The next week against
Maryland, he wiggled out of a tackle, rolled right and fired a 12-yard
touchdown pass to the corner of the end zone. The ball was placed
perfectly over a defender, but low enough to keep his receiver inbounds.
It was a play typical of Manziel. Of course, the attention on Winston
was only growing. T-shirts were made depicting him as Jesus, calling him
“The Chosen One.”
Winston is already the face of the Seminoles, and now, having throttled
Clemson, he could be the best hope for the A.C.C. He will face two more
real tests this season, in two weeks against Miami and in Florida
State’s regular-season finale, against Florida. He will have time to
grow and learn even more by then. The attention will grow, too.
But it will surely be fun to watch. When Winston flipped a quick pass to
Greene on their first drive of the second half and Greene scampered for
a 17-yard touchdown, orange-clad fans started to file out of Memorial
Stadium. They had seen enough.
