Matt Hinton 9y

Another Favre-ian Escape for FSU and Jameis Winston

No play encapsulates Jameis Winston’s season, or his team’s, more fully than the interception he served up Thursday night against Louisville on the first play of the second half, which he subsequently managed to turn into a Florida State first down. On the front end, the reigning Heisman winner uncorked a howler of a pick, his third of the night, directly into the hands of Louisville safety Gerod Holliman, who had already recorded an interception in the second quarter to set up a Cardinals touchdown. On the back end, though, Winston caught up to Holliman as the defender attempted to juke his way to a few extra yards on the return, punching the ball free; FSU pounced on the fumble for a de facto gain of 16 yards and resumed possession with a fresh set of downs.

That was the night in a nutshell. As ever, Winston was both the cause of and the solution to virtually all the no. 2 Seminoles’ problems in their 42-31 win over no. 25 Louisville.

Besides serving as a heavy-handed metaphor, the reciprocal giveaways were also a turning point. In the first half, Winston had completed just 10 of 22 passes with two interceptions and no touchdowns, yielding a dismal 74.2 efficiency rating; meanwhile, Florida State had been shut out for 29 minutes and 27 seconds, its longest scoring drought of the past two seasons, before punching in a touchdown just before halftime to trail 21-7. In the second half — following the would-be turnover out of the chute — Winston completed 15 of 25 passes for 278 yards and a sky-high efficiency rating of 193.0; FSU hit paydirt on five of its last seven full possessions, with three of those scores coming courtesy of Winston’s right arm as he hobbled around on a visibly injured ankle. “Pain is temporary,” he said after the game, and his team’s 24-game winning streak is living proof.

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