SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 14, 2013
No. 9 Florida State 62, Nevada 7: Freshman Jameis Winston threw a pair of touchdown passes in a span of less than three minutes late in the first half as the host Seminoles overcame a sluggish start to rout the Wolf Pack.
Winston also ran for a score and Devonta Freeman rushed for 109 yards and a 6-yard touchdown that ignited a 31-point third quarter as Florida State (2-0) improved to 34-2 in its last 36 home openers.
Karlos Williams, a converted defensive back seeing his first action at running back, added a 65-yard scoring run in the third-quarter blitz and finished with 110 yards on eight carries. Kenny Shaw and Rashad Greene each had scoring receptions as the Seminoles rolled up 617 yards of total offense.
Nevada (1-2) hung tough early despite the absence of starting quarterback Cody Fajardo (knee) as backup Devin Combs threw an 11-yard scoring pass to Brandon Wimberly to give the Wolf Pack a 7-3 lead with 11:31 left in the half. Combs, though, injured his knee late in the second quarter and did not return for the second half.
Meanwhile, Winston connected with Shaw and Greene on a pair of 24-yard scoring strikes 2:43 apart to send Florida State into the locker room with a 17-7 edge. The Seminoles needed only two plays in the second half to find paydirt as Freeman followed his own 60-yard run with a 6-yard burst up the middle before Williams broke loose for a 65-yard touchdown on his first college carry to push it to 31-7 only 2:13 into the third quarter.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Winston, who set the school's single-game completion percentage record and had an FBS-best 252.2 passer rating in Florida State's opener, finished 15-for-18 for 214 yards, two TDs and one interception. He has completed 40 of his first 45 passes. ... Wimberly had five receptions for 23 yards to give him a reception in 43 straight games, the longest streak in the nation. ... Chris Solomon rushed for 108 yards on 26 carries for Nevada, which was limited to 214 total yards.