SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 2, 2013
No. 12 Florida State 41, Pittsburgh 13: Jameis Winston completed 25-of-27 passes for 356 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for a score in his first career start as the visiting Seminoles welcomed the Panthers to the ACC.
Winston completed his first 11 passes and accounted for four scores in the first half alone as Florida State (1-0, 1-0 ACC) jumped out to a 28-10 lead at the break. Tight end Nick O’Leary was Winston’s favorite red zone target and finished with four catches for 47 yards and three touchdowns.
Tom Savage was making his first start as well but was not quite as sharp for Pittsburgh (0-1, 0-1), completing 15-of-28 for 201 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Devin Street caught six passes for 141 yards for the Panthers, who were playing their first game in the ACC after leaving the Big East.
Savage marched Pittsburgh down the field on the opening possession and hit Manasseh Garner with a 4-yard touchdown pass to grab an early lead. Winston took control from there, finding O’Leary for scores of 24 and 2 yards bridging the first and second quarters to put the Seminoles ahead.
Winston rushed in from 5 yards out with 2:13 left in the half and made the Panthers pay for a turnover by hitting Rashad Greene with a 23-yard touchdown pass with 39 seconds remaining to go into the break in control. Greene led the receiving corps with eight catches for 126 yards.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Winston did not have a pass hit the ground. Both incompletions were in the direction of Kenny Shaw, who made both catches but could not stay inbounds. Shaw ended up with four receptions for 94 yards. … Seminoles sophomore WR Kelvin Benjamin matched a career high with five catches and finished with 73 yards. … Pittsburgh freshman WR Tyler Boyd caught two passes for 26 yards and led the team in rushing with three carries for 54 yards.