FSU Grinds Out Another ACC Title With a Win Over Georgia Tech
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Florida State's modus operandi this season has been to play down to the competition and do just enough to come away with the win. As F.S.U. traded touchdowns with Georgia Tech during the first half of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game - the teams combined for seven touchdowns on the first nine possessions - it seemed as if the Seminoles were headed for another nail-biter, one that would probably go their way, but might not.
And so it was. No. 2 Florida State (13-0, 8-0), the defending national champion, played with discipline, making no mistakes on offense, and never trailed by more than 7 points. Behind stellar play when it counted from quarterback Jameis Winston, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, the Seminoles slowly but surely broke away and, despite an extremely late and extremely scary last effort from the Yellow Jackets, held on to beat No. 12 Georgia Tech (10-3, 6-2), 37-35.
It was the Seminoles' most impressive win of the season. They extended their winning streak to 29 games, seized a third straight A.C.C. championship and dared the College Football Playoff selection committee to leave the last undefeated team in the Football Bowl Subdivision out of the inaugural four-team playoff. The Seminoles were fourth in the playoff rankings, with the final rankings scheduled to be released a little after noon on Sunday.
Before this weekend's games, six teams were seen as deserving of the playoff's four spots. All six won. Alabama and Oregon did so in dominating fashion in the Southeastern Conference and Pacific-12 championship games and were already ranked first and second; they ensured themselves berths. With a third-string quarterback, Ohio State humiliated Wisconsin, 59-0, for the Big Ten title, making a powerful case. Texas Christian and Baylor also ended on high notes, with identical 11-1 records and virtually identical schedules.
Florida State typically won ugly this season. It beat No. 19 Clemson in overtime, 23-17, at home. It came from behind on the road to beat No. 21 Louisville (which was up by 24-7 as late as the third quarter) and Miami (23-7, second quarter). In its last two games, it beat Boston College and Florida by 3 and 5 points.
But it always won. And while that has not been enough to keep the playoff committee from ranking one, then two, and most recently three one-loss teams ahead of it, the committee's 12 members have not yet been willing to shove it out of the playoff, and they will be hard-pressed to do so after Saturday's performance against a good team.
There was concern that Winston might be distracted by a university disciplinary hearing this week concerning an allegation that he had raped a fellow student in late 2012.
But before the game, Coach Jimbo Fisher, who has typically backed his signal-caller to the hilt, denied that the hearing had hurt his team's or his quarterback's focus.
'He's probably had one of the best weeks of practice he's had all year,' Fisher said.
It showed. Coming off one of the worst games of his career - he threw a career-high four interceptions against Florida - and aided by a game plan unusually heavy on running, Winston was superb. He finished 21 for 30 for 309 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
The halftime score - 28-21, with Florida State in the lead - paid poor tribute to just how easily both teams scored in the opening half. Their run-heavy offenses ate up the clock, suppressing point totals.
The game's first punt did not occur until the third quarter was almost complete.
It came after Justin Thomas, Georgia Tech' quarterback, failed to convert a third-and-8 on a pass. When he did drop back to pass - all 14 times - he looked positively frenzied. He did not come here to throw the ball. In the fourth quarter, he failed to convert a fourth-and-5 on an attempted pass to Darren Waller. On the next drive, Johnson threw an interception - the game's only turnover - to safety Lamarcus Brutus.
Though he did lead a last-ditch drive in the fourth quarter, capping it with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Waller, the subsequent onside-kick attempt, with 1 minute 47 seconds left in the game, failed.
Georgia Tech, which runs the triple-option, entered with the third-most rush yards in the F.B.S. The Yellow Jackets ran 27 rushing plays before attempting their first pass of the night (it was Thomas's best, a beautiful 27-yard back-shoulder throw to slotback Deon Hill). Thomas was the top rusher, for 104 yards, while running back Synjyn Days ended the night with 67 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries.
But the Seminoles also committed to the run. On one drive, running back Dalvin Cook - tasked with workhouse responsibilities after the starter Karlos Williams was ruled out with a concussion - rushed seven times for 68 yards. Cook finished with 177 yards on 31 carries.
The tactic bought Winston lots of time in the pocket, and he made a lot of use of it. His favorite targets were tight end Nick O'Leary, who ended with 97 yards on three catches and a touchdown, and receiver Rashad Greene, who did everything from grabbing move-the-chains short passes to also getting wide open for a 44-yard score. He finished with 123 yards and two touchdowns on seven passes.
As the fourth quarter dawned and Winston converted a third-and-11 - again to Greene - and then another (to Cook) so that the Seminoles could make a chip-shot field goal, it became clear that, yet again, the Seminoles would be able to do enough. On Sunday they will learn, finally, whether enough is enough.
Post a Comment for "FSU Grinds Out Another ACC Title With a Win Over Georgia Tech"