Seminole fans were worried about losing EJ Manuel to the pros. At least they were before the game last Monday night on national TV when Jameis Winston took the field. Seldom has a freshman quarterback enjoyed such an awesome opening game not to mention Florida State fans!
Winston was the number one quarterback in the recruiting class of 2012. He looked at Alabama and Stanford and even visited LSU but, when National Signing Day came around, he stayed with his original commitment to attend Florida State University and become a Seminole.
Even before he had taken this first snap as a college quarterback Jameis was already in the discussion for next year’s Heisman Trophy setting up the possibility of a freshman winning the award for two years in a row after Johnny Manziel did it last year.
His fans and teammates call his ‘Famous Jameis’… and if you don’t count him as famous just yet, well, stick around. This guy is something special indeed. There was a lot of hype and speculation about Winston and it could be said that he faced unfair expectations, except that he exceed all of the hype and all of the speculation as well.
No one, neither fans nor sports writers counted on Jameis Winston scoring four touchdowns. No one predicted that he would complete 25 of 27 passes… without even coming close to throwing an interception. I saw one of the two incomplete passes, the receiver actually caught the pass…. just out of bounds.
Can anyone out there remember another college quarterback, in his first game in the NCAA, who completed 92.5% of his passes and scored four touchdowns? As if that were not enough, Winston also rushed for another touchdown…. just for fun.
The final score of the first game of the season was Florida State 41 and Pitt 13.
Jameis Winston made such an impression on Las Vegas oddsmakers during the Pitt game the his odds to win the Heisman Trophy dropped from 33-1 before the game to 10-1 after it was all over. That does not happen often.
Other major contenders for the nation’s highest collegiate football award are Teddy Bridgewater (5-1) of Louisville, Braxton Miller (13/2) of Ohio State, Oregon QB Marcus Mariota (8-1) and Clemson QB Tajh Boyd 8/1 oh yeah, and don’t forget Johnny Football now listed at 15/2.
While it might still be a bit early to talk too much about the Heisman, Florida State fans are going to enjoy another season of incredible gridiron action featuring yet another Saturday afternoon hero, Jameis Winston.
