FSU QB Winston proves he's one of the nation's elite players

Staff report

FSU QB Winston proves he's one of the nation's elite players image

As the final seconds ticked off the clock of FSU's 63-0 annihilation of Maryland, Jameis Winston signed garnet and gold hats by the brick wall behind the Seminoles bench.

As if you didn't already know, he's a big deal in Tallahassee. And around the nation, too.

It's time to quit straddling the fence on whether or not Jameis Winston is a real Heisman candidate.

He is, people. Indeed, he is.

The redshirt freshman led the Seminoles to touchdowns on six consecutive possessions Saturday as No. 8 FSU overwhelmed the No. 25 Terrapins who arrived at Doak-Campbell thinking upset.

In a game that was supposed to be Winston's -- and FSU's -- first real test of the season, the first-year starter passed with flying colors.

He completed 23 of 32 passes and career bests of 393 yards and five TDs. For the season, he's completing 73.1 percent of his throws for 1,441 yards, 17 touchdowns and two interceptions.

His five TD passes were the most for an FSU quarterback since Christian Ponder did it in 2009.

"He's an outstanding football player," Maryland coach Randy Edsall said after the game. "We had him a couple of times; one of the things we worked on all week was to tackle him low, wrap his legs, and we didn't do that, we were up too high."

His next big test -- and it's the ACC's marquee matchup of the season - comes Oct. 19 (the Seminoles are off next week) at Clemson.

"The defense was clicking," said Winston, crediting the other side of the ball for the offense's success. "They kept giving us the ball, and when you keep giving our offense the ball, something's going to happen."

After scoring on its first possession Saturday, FSU punted on its next two against the Terps. Winston then hit 3 of 4 passes for 64 yards as the Seminoles marched 80 yards on 9 plays to take a 14-0 lead with 6:15 left in the half.

It got worse from there.

Winston capped off the Seminoles' next five possessions with TD passes of 5, 8, 21, 12 and 21 yards and with a 49-0 advantage, Winston's day was done to start the fourth quarter.

Winston arrived at FSU as one of the nation's most-sought-after quarterbacks and baseball players. The Texas Rangers drafted him in the 15th round of the 2012 MLB Draft.

While he spent his freshman season as a redshirt player on the football team while now-Buffalo Bills rookie QB E.J. Manual played quarterback, he did not wait to leave his mark on the FSU baseball team.

On outfielder and pitcher, Winston pitched in 17 games, going 1-2 with a 3.00 ERA. He threw 27.0 innings, allowed 18 hits and struck out 21. At the plate, he batted .235 with 28 hits in 119 at-bats. He had seven doubles, was second on the team with three triples and drove in nine. 

The 6-4, 220-pounder will certainly continue drawing attention from Major League scouts, but with the way he's playing quarterback, he looks like a future first-round pick in the NFL.

UGA's MARSHALL INJURED

Georgia running back Keith Marshall suffered what looked like a season-ending injury to his left knee Saturday midway through the first quarter against Tennessee.

With Todd Gurley already sidelined while recovering from an ankle injury suffered in last week's victory against LSU, the Bulldogs turned to Marshall as their go-to guy.

But on pass in the flat, Marshall was upended by Tennessee's Cam Sutton, and was down.

With his knee iced on the sideline, Gurley and other players took their turn hugging Marshall as well as other staff members. The sophomore was visibly upset and in tears with a towel draped around his head.

While CBS announced on the telecast that Marshall was out for the game, there was no additional news, but the body language on the sidelines indicated that Marshall's injury was more serious and possibly a season-ender.

Marshall had five carries for 33 yards before the injury. On the season, he has 56 carries for 252 yards and a touchdown. Gurley has 71 carries for 461 yards and four scores.

Brendan Douglas entered the game to replace Marshall and ran twice for 12 yards as Georgia pulled ahead 10-0 on a 1-yard TD pass from Aaron Murray to Chris Conley.

AARON MURRAY SETS SEC RECORD

It was just a matter of when Aaron Murray would do it.

On fourth down from the Tennessee 39 in the second quarter Saturday, Murray hit Chris Conley for a 24-yard gain to become the all-time passing yards leader in SEC history.

He passed former Georgia QB David Greene, who threw for 11,528 yards from 2001-04. Murray entered the game needed 99 yards to tie Greene. Murray finished the game with 11,625 career passing yards.

This season, Murray passed Chris Leak (11,213), Peyton Manning (11,201), Eric Zeier (11,153), Danny Wuerffel (10,875), Jared Lorenzen (10,354) and Eli Manning (10,119).

With his three TD passes, Murray has 109 for his career and is five short of Wuerffel's record 114 TD tosses.

UTAH STATE LOSES QB KEETON

Utah State junior quarterback Chuckie Keeton will miss the rest of the season after injuring his left knee Friday night in the first quarter of the Aggies' home loss to BYU.

Keeton tore his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments. He will have surgery in the next week.

"Very unfortunate situation for both Chuckie and our team," coach Matt Wells said Saturday. "We've lost a great leader, great teammate and a very productive football player. I have all the confidence in the world in Chuckie, along with our doctors and staff that he will come back stronger than ever next season."

Keeton was 136 of 196 for 1,388 yards with 18 touchdowns and only two interceptions this season. He also rushed for 241 yards and two TDs on 55 carries for the Aggies (3-3).

Craig Harrison took over after Keeton was hurt. He threw a late TD pass in Utah State's 31-14 loss.

REPORT: OSBORNE ON COMMITTEE

Former Nebraska coach and athletic director Tom Osborne will be on the College Football Playoff selection committee, ESPN.com's Bretty McMurphy reported Saturday.

Also, the Associated Press reported that former Stanford and Notre Dame coach Ty Willingham will be added to the committee.

The 12-to-18 member committee is taking shape. BCS executive director Bill Hancock has not revealed any names or confirmed any reports. He said Friday that when the selection process is complete, an announcement will be made.

The other people reportedly included on the committee include:

-- Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

-- College Football Hall of Famer and former Ole Miss QB Archie Manning

-- Former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese

-- Former NCAA executive Tom Jernstedt, who worked with the basketball tournament selection committee

-- Former Air Force Academy superintendent, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Gould

-- USC AD Pat Haden

-- Arkansas AD Jeff Long

-- Clemson AD Dan Radakovich

-- West Virginia AD Oliver Luck

-- Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez

Contributors: Ken Bradley, The Associated Press

PHOTOS: College football Week 6

Staff report