Only Winston, FSU can lead us to this situation one year later

Bill Bender

Only Winston, FSU can lead us to this situation one year later image

Only Jameis Winston can ...

There are about a million ways to finish that sentence.

Only Winston can throw three first-quarter interceptions against Florida then throw two TDs to give No. 1 Florida State a 21-16 halftime lead.

Only Winston can throw another interception in the second half and watch the Gators miss two field goals and drop a would-be first down on the final drive. 

Of course, the Seminoles escaped with a 24-19 win. 

Only Winston can throw 17 interceptions — that's more than Michigan's Devin Gardner (15) or Penn State's Christian Hackenberg — and still manage to splice in the right play at the right time all the time. 

Only Winston can win a Heisman Trophy, hold a 28-0 record as a starter and lead the only unbeaten team in the Power 5, which also happens to be ranked No. 3 in the College Football Rankings. 

Only Winston can drag us all down the same path in the first week of December twice in spectacular-similar fashion.

Remember 2013? The Seminoles were on a 14-game win streak. Florida State Attorney Willie Meggs announced Winston would not be charged for sexual assault on Dec. 5, and Winston led the Seminoles to a 45-7 win against Duke in the ACC championship game and the BCS championship win against Auburn. 

Florida State has won 14 more games since. Winston will have an investigative hearing into whether that alleged sexual assault violated the student conduct code on Monday. The Seminoles play Georgia Tech (10-2) in the ACC championship game five days later. 

It's almost a play-for-play re-run. 

Only Winston can take us on a 12-month ride that included a misdemeanor for stealing crab legs from a Publix, a one-game suspension for yelling obscenities at the student union and three double-digit comebacks on the episodes in between. 

Only Winston can lead two incompatible lines of questioning that meld the best and worst of those last 12 months. 

What will come of the committee hearing Monday? When will the decision be made? How can Florida State allow this guy to keep playing? 

Is there a better pressure performer in the country? Does he deserve to be invited to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony? Is he the best college football quarterback of all time? 

Only Winston can lead Florida State into the most-captivating game against a Yellow Jackets’ team on a five-game streak that continued with a win against Georgia. 

Which college football player can take us into the final week of the first year of a non-stop four-team race to Jerry World? 

There's only one answer to that question. 

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Bill Bender

Bill Bender Photo

Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.