The Florida Gators were playing for pride and their in-state rivals were playing for a chance to play for a second straight national championship but Jameis Winston and the Florida State Seminoles made it an interesting affair
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All Florida State had to do was knock off a team who has already fired their head coach to reach the ACC Championship Game undefeated for the second straight year and keep their national championship hopes alive, but Jameis Winston did his best to lose the game for the Seminoles.
The defending Heisman winner threw three interceptions in the first quarter and four in the game, but Florida State was able to overcome his mistakes to prevail as they have done 28 straight times and pulled off the win over Florida.
Florida jumped out to a 9-0 lead due in large part because of Winston’s passed to the other team but the Gators’ inability to get in the end zone and turn those turnovers into seven points loomed large as Florida settled for three early field goals.
Meanwhile, Florida Stats capitalized on an interception by Treon Harris when Terrance Smith returned the pick 94 yards for a touchdown in a huge 14-point swing. Florida was looking at a 16-0 lead but instead led only 9-7 after dominating the opening quarter.
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The second quarter belonged to Winston and Nick O’Leary as he found his senior tight end for a pair of touchdowns to build a 21-9 lead, but Harris found Clay Burton for a touchdown with 47 seconds left in the half to narrow the gap to 21-16.
Florida opened the scoring in the second half with a field goal from Austin Hardin, but he would miss a field goal in the fourth quarter that would have given the Gators a one-point lead and new life.
Florida State added to their lead with a field goal from Roberto Aguayo to extend the lead to 24-19 and turned their defense loose against Florida’s freshman quarterback Treon Harris, a one-time Florida State commit, could not lead the comeback effort.
The Seminoles take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the ACC Championship Game next Saturday and the Gators await where their bowl game destination and who their next head coach will be.
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