While Florida State University was No. 1 last year and started as No. 1 this year, it’s toying with failure the farther into the season it gets. Apart from the fact that Jameis Winston has screwed up more times than any other college athlete – and continues to do so – the team needs to prove it deserves to be on top.
The team may be undefeated, but there have been games where winning seemed to be questionable. For some games, an FSU win wasn’t certain until the last quarter, last minutes or overtime.
On Sept. 20, FSU pulled through with a 17-23 overtime win against Clemson.
Clemson’s kicker Ammon Lakip missed two short field goals, which prevented the Tigers from having a larger lead throughout the game. Then with six minutes and four seconds left in the fourth quarter, a 74-yard pass to Rashad Greene allowed FSU to tie the game for overtime. After declining an attempt at a 33-yard field goal on first possession, Clemson’s running back Adam Choice was stuffed for no gain on fourth-and-one, leaving FSU with the final possession and touchdown.
At the time, Clemson was ranked No. 22 and FSU was first – the game wasn’t expected to be as nerve-wracking as it was.
With the unranked North Carolina State on Sept. 27, FSU played another rocky game. NC State gained 24 points within the first quarter, the most points given up by FSU. By the end of the game, the 41 points scored by NC State are the most gained against FSU since 2010. Although it let NC State have the lead through most of the third quarter, FSU clinched the victory during the fourth quarter for a 56-41 win.
Facing an unranked team when ranked No. 1, FSU let many points slide by.
Then in saturday’s game, it wasn’t until the last 13 seconds that FSU ended up with the 31-27 win over Notre Dame – FSU ranked second, Notre Dame ranked fifth.
The game was back-and-forth until the end. With those 13 seconds left and on the 2-yard line, Notre Dame’s Everett Golson threw a touchdown pass to Corey Robinson. Before Notre Dame’s celebration could start, refs called pass interference. With a receiver blocking Robinson’s defender, the touchdown was not counted. The game-altering call had Notre Dame moved back to the 18-yard line for fourth-and-goal. Notre Dame went for it, and FSU’s linebacker Jacob Pugh picked off Notre Dame’s last desperate throw to end the game.
While a win is still a win, FSU plays with failure as its wins become sketchier by the game. The team is ranked second. It shouldn’t have fans sitting on the edge of their seat unhappily until the last few plays of the game. One of these days, FSU isn’t going to be able to come back in the end.
