Tallahassee, FL – After what seemed to be a struggling first half for the Florida State Seminoles, they hope to move up in BCS rankings after claiming their fourth straight home-opener win after defeating the Nevada Wolf Pack on Saturday afternoon at the Bobby Bowden Field in Doak S. Campbell Stadium with a final score of 62-7. Previously, at Heinz Field against the Pittsburgh Panthers, Florida State took an exciting win home, 41-13, with Seminole-debuting-quarterback Jameis Winston accounting to five touchdowns. While there was doubt in replacing former Florida State quarterback EJ Manuel—Jameis Winston has proved to be efficient, focused, and talented on the field. On Saturday afternoon alone, he had 15-of-18 complete passes, 2 pass touchdowns, 1 rush touchdown, and a total of 214 yards.
Although Nevada was the first to put up points on the board in the first quarter, it was the one and only time they were able to do so for the remainder of the game. “First half I did think our offense fought their tail off,” said Nevada Head Coach Brian Polian, “we controlled the time of possession like we had hoped to.” But it wasn’t long before Florida State dominated the Bobby Bowden Field before the end of the first half. Florida State’s senior WR Kenny Shaw caught a beautiful 24 yard pass with 3:21 left in the half, making it Florida State’s seven-play 92 yard scoring drive—the longest yet for the 2013 season. Soon after, there was another touchdown by WR Rashad Greene with 38 seconds left on the clock, Florida State leading 17-7. “We had to settle in and get everyone on the same page,” commented Seminole Rashad Greene on Florida State’s slow first half, “We want to come out next week definitely like we came out before the second half of this game.”
The second half opened up with two incredible 60+ yards touchdowns by Florida State running backs Devonta Freeman and Karlos Williams, and RB James Wilder, Jr. with a 1 yd. touchdown run, leading over Nevada 38-7 with 10:06 remaining in the third quarter. Both Freeman and Williams had over 100 yards rushing Saturday afternoon.
After Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston rushed for a 10 yard touchdown in the middle of the third quarter, second-string QB Jacob Coker and other Florida State players were placed in the game. Florida State WR Kermit Whitfield and RB Ryan Green put up 2 additional touchdowns in the last few minutes of the fourth quarter; final score 62-7. “Good win. I was proud of our kids,“ said Florida State Head Coach Jimbo Fisher, “I thought Nevada did a tremendous job early in their game plan.”
73,847 fans attended Saturday afternoon’s game. The Nevada Wolf Pack is Florida State’s 110th different opponent they have ever faced in their history. Records prove that Florida State has a winning track record with first-time opponents since its first inaugural season in 1947.
Florida State’s next game will be against another first-time opponent, the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, on Saturday, September 21st, 6pm ET at Doak S. Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, FL. For tickets and/or more game-day information, please visit www.seminoles.com.
