The Seminoles barely survived a scare from the Cowboys, but don't dismiss them yet.
Reigning Heisman winner Jameis Winston and the defending national champion Florida State Seminoles opened their season Saturday night in Arlington against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, holding off a valiant comeback effort to secure a 37-31 victory.
Florida State looked surprisingly vulnerable, especially compared to their complete and total annihilation of their 2013 schedule. Oklahoma State was able to move the ball through the air with alarming efficiency against the Seminole secondary -- defensive lapses like this didn't hurt the Cowboys' efforts.
That score brought Oklahoma State within three points in the second quarter, which brought Jameis Winston very swiftly into Heisman mode.
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The run was a career-long for Winston, and went a long way towards making up for what had been a poor game by his standards. Winston threw two interceptions and looked generally off his Heisman-winning form. He ended up with fine numbers, completing 25 of 39 passes for 370 yards and a score, but did not give the kind of dominant performance expected of him.
Near the start of the fourth quarter, J.W. Walsh burst up the middle and dived into the end zone, cutting the lead to three points. The Seminoles kicked a field goal to bring the lead back up to six, and gave the Cowboys the ball near midfield. Walsh fumbled the ball on a scramble, giving the ball right back and effectively ending the game -- Winston connected with Rashad Greene on the very next play for a 50-yard score.
Three things we learned
1. Florida State is beatable. Oklahoma State almost beat 'em, for one! The Seminoles were pretty clearly outplayed in the second half, surviving on a combination of: A) a Heisman-winning quarterback B) a superior offensive line and C) blue-chip athleticism all the way down the depth chart. On a different night, this could have been a Florida State loss -- or a heavy Florida State win. Which brings us to our next point...
2. They're still a heavy favorite to make the playoff. Florida State played poorly against a good team and won. That's an encouraging sign for a team that didn't do much of the whole "playing poorly" thing last season, and you need only look at their blowout wins over Miami and Clemson to remember what they can do when they're playing well against a good team.
3..Don't sleep on Oklahoma State as a Big 12 challenger. Maybe the biggest surprise? Oklahoma State just looked plain faster than the Seminoles. Receivers beating defensive backs on deep balls, J.W. Walsh beating the entire Florida State defense en route to a flying Superman touchdown -- the Cowboys may have lost the largest number of lettermen of any Power 5 team, but they sure have some athletes left.