Lucky bounces, breaks keep Seminoles and Jameis Winston on playoff path
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The game was won, the Florida State celebration had begun, and Seminoles assistant coach Odell Haggins was summoned by a fan to the stands in the corner of Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium.
The man in Florida State gear in the front row wanted to join the team on the field. Haggins talked to the security guard about letting him down. The security guard said no.
The man was displeased. Haggins went to Plan B and summoned Florida State associate athletic director Monk Bonasorte to the scene.
Bonasorte produced a green field pass and handed it to the man in the stands, saying that should clear things up. Still, the security guard said no.
Now the man was angry. He clearly did not expect this. He yelled at the security guard for quite a while. The security guard glared back, saying nothing.
Finally, the man turned and walked back up the stands into the cheering Florida State throng.
"Some player is his son," the guard explained. "But he's not allowed on the field."
And thus, a member of the Winston family actually was told "no." Imagine the shock.
Antonor Winston, Jameis' dad, was the parent requesting the special privilege of field access. Florida State was perfectly willing to accommodate him, and him alone, among those in the stands. The coddling continues.
But the stadium security setback ultimately would prove as temporary as Florida State's 21-0 deficit to Louisville on Thursday night. By game's end, the Seminoles had rallied for a 42-31 victory over the Cardinals, extending their winning streak to 24 games. The degree of difficulty keeps increasing, but defeat never comes.
In their past two games, FSU has not led until the fourth quarter. Their total time leading in those two games has been 14 minutes and 53 seconds. Their time trailing: more than 55 minutes.
But the only score that matters is the final score. Regardless of what it takes to get there.
"We do anything to win," Jameis Winston said afterward, and a whole lot of people will agree with him in a context extending beyond the actual field of play. When a good slice of the nation is rooting for Notre Dame and Bobby Petrino in succession against your team, it doesn't speak well for your approval rating.
As far as on the field? Winston's statement is true. The Noles aren't dominant and aren't overly healthy, but they are undefeated.
Thursday night, Winston had his first three-interception game of his college career – "I've never thrown three interceptions in my life," he said – and overcame it. He forced a fumble on the return of one of those interceptions. He threw three touchdowns, all in the second half, shredding what had been the No. 1 defense in the nation. He played through a twisted ankle, tomahawk chopping his way off the field in the end.
"I don't know why we put ourselves in those holes," he said, after the second game this year in which the Seminoles have overcome a double-digit deficit – and the second straight game in which they spent most of the night playing from behind.
Against a Louisville team that is much better now that offensive weapons DeVante Parker and Michael Dyer are healthy, Florida State did not lead until the fourth quarter. Then it promptly lost the lead again, and didn't regain it until scoring 14 points in the final four minutes. FSU's first 28 points of the second half were scored by freshmen, and the last seven by a little-used sophomore fullback.
"They're not freshmen anymore," senior wide receiver Rashad Greene said. "They're in the big leagues now. They've got to step up and make plays."
The one touchdown scored by a veteran came early, and it came with a large scoop of luck. Tight end Nick O'Leary fell on a fumbled handoff in the end zone late in the first half. That turned a potentially catastrophic turnover and a 21-0 halftime deficit into a 21-7 score, and changed the tenor of the game.
Florida State's fourth touchdown was another potential disaster that became a huge success. On third-and-10 from the Louisville 47-yard line, Winston was pressured and stepped up into the pocket. He fired the ball down the middle of the field, into what looked like a thicket of Cardinals.
But two of the defenders ran into each other as they converged on the pass, and Winston fit it through a sliver of daylight to freshman Ermon Lane. Linebacker Keith Kelsey stopped on the play, apparently thinking the pass had been batted down by his colliding teammates. Lane turned and ran unimpeded into the end zone, and FSU had its first lead at 28-24.
"I wasn't supposed to throw that ball," Winston said. "It was a blessing from above."
Wherever the blessings are coming from, Florida State seems to be receiving them in abundance. They've been good and they've been lucky, and now a primrose path to the playoff awaits.
The Noles could be double-digit favorites in all four remaining regular-season games: Virginia on Nov. 8, at Miami on Nov. 15, Boston College on Nov. 22 and Florida on Nov. 29. That would be followed by an Atlantic Coast Conference championship game in Charlotte, against what figures to be another major underdog.
At 13-0, Florida State would be a playoff lock. Yet seemingly still very vulnerable, and very unpopular.
Which is fine with them.
"When everyone is against you, it's a reality check," Winston said. "We get that chip back on our shoulders."
When Winston was done with his postgame interview, he walked into a hallway outside the visiting locker room. There to greet him was one Antonor Winston. His dad got where he wanted to go after all.
"You're a soldier, boy," he said, kissing his son on the cheek. "You're a soldier."
Florida State soldiers on. The Seminoles, their controversial star quarterback – and their controversial star quarterback's dad – refuse to be denied.
