The sequel to the Jameis Winston Show started slowly Saturday afternoon.
After missing on two of his first four passes — equaling the number of incompletions he had in his opening game — the Florida State freshman overshot Kenny Shaw, resulting in a Nevada interception.
Winston rebounded nicely, however, completing his next 13 passes, connecting with Shaw and Rashad Greene on second-quarter touchdown passes as FSU shook off its early struggles to rout the Wolf Pack 62-7 before 73,847 fans at Doak Campbell Stadium.
“What I like about it was, he made a mistake but he didn’t get gun-shy,” FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. “He went right back in and started making throws and made some good plays.
“They’re going to happen in bigger games, in bigger moments. You just have to keep growing. You have to remember he’s just a freshman.”
Winston threw for 214 yards and added a 10-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. The Seminoles’ running game was dominant, accounting for 377 yards, including touchdowns by James Wilder Jr., Devonta Freeman, Karlos Williams and Ryan Green.
After completing 25 of 27 passes and throwing for 356 yards and four touchdowns in his college debut at Pittsburgh, Winston was more anxious to please than he should have been.
“First home game, I was just pumped,” Winston said. “I tried to do too much. That’s why I think I forced that turnover. I messed up.”
No. 10 FSU (2-0) had a three-and-out on its next drive. But then the Seminoles scored on nine of their next 10 drives en route to 59 unanswered points.
Winston carved up the Nevada defense in the second and third quarters, finishing the game 15 of 18 for 214 yards, three touchdowns and the interception.
In two games, Winston is 40 of 45 (88.8 percent) passing for 570 yards, six touchdown passes and two rushing scores.
The lead was just 17-7 at the half, but Freeman, Williams, Wilder Jr. and Winston had touchdown runs on consecutive drives to put the Seminoles ahead 45-7 during a 10-minute span in the third quarter.
On Williams’ first college rush, the junior safety-turned-tailback ran off tackle and quickly covered 65 yards, going untouched for a touchdown.
“Once I saw daylight, I used what God gave me and that was speed,” said Williams, who picked up blocks from Chad Abram, Bobby Hart and former Glades Central standout Kelvin Benjamin on the play. “I just tried to get to the end zone as fast as possible.”
Williams had 110 yards on just eight carries, while Freeman had a career-long 60-yard run and had 109 rushing yards on nine attempts. Even linebacker Freddie Stevenson and true freshman tailback Ryan Green had 1-yard TD runs in the fourth quarter.
Nevada (1-2) struggled to get in the end zone. The Wolf Pack’s star quarterback, Cody Fajardo, who threw for 2,786 yards and ran for 1,121 yards last season, did not play Saturday because of a sprained right knee.
The Wolf Pack were still able to move the ball early, capitalizing on Winston’s interception and taking a 7-3 lead with 11:31 remaining in the half on Devin Combs’ touchdown pass to Brandon Wimberly.
Nevada had 95 first-half rushing yards but was held to just 33 yards on the ground in the second half. The Wolf Pack had six punts and an interception in the second half, struggling even against FSU’s backups on defense.
“We had a lot of guys that got in the game and made plays — that’s going to be critical for us,” Fisher said. “How good we can be is valued on how our youth keeps developing — developing depth, developing players on the field.”
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