CHARLOTTE, N.C. – They are as different in stature and scheme, as far apart in fame and foibles, as two quarterbacks could be.
That said, it became something of a challenge Saturday to separate the deeds of Georgia Tech’s Justin Thomas and Florida State’s Jameis Winston. The title of best quarterback on the field did not reveal itself nearly as early in the evening as two very different resumes would suggest.
With Famous Jameis throwing for as many touchdowns in the first half (three) as Georgia Tech had pass attempts and Just Plain Justin running Tech’s triple option with the precision of Robert Spano directing the Atlanta Symphony, the two demonstrated that there is no single formula for offensive gunpowder. The result was an achingly close 37-35 FSU victory.
“I thought that both quarterbacks played well. I was proud of the way Justin played, and certainly Jameis played a good game. He played one of the cleaner games he’s had this season. My hat’s off to them,” Tech coach Paul Johnson said.
At maybe 5-11 and 189 pounds, Thomas could be confused for the 6-4, 235-pound Winston’s little brother. The little brother who obviously had the shorter reach at the dinner table.
But size was hardly a factor Saturday. One team (FSU) couldn’t tackle and one team (Tech) couldn’t cover, which nicely complemented both quarterbacks’ strengths.
Winston had the 13th 300-yard passing game (309 Saturday) of his career and his fourth game this season in which he threw at least three TD passes. With his team-leading 104 yards rushing, on top of the sharp decision-making on the option, Thomas became the fourth player to run for more than 100 yards on the undefeated Seminoles this season.
Thoughts that Winston might be off his feed a little following a week that featured two appearances in a FSU student code of conduct hearing were misplaced. He badly missed his first two passes of the night, then got engaged by completing a drive-sustaining pass to tight end Nick O’Leary on third-and-15. On the next play, he hit an utterly alone O’Leary for the first of his evening’s touchdown throws (46 yards).
“My week has been great. It ended with another ACC championship,” Winston said.
Tech’s Thomas committed the only turnover of the game with a fourth-quarter interception, and threw another fourth-down pass to nowhere with just more than seven minutes left to play, two moments that ultimately separated the quarterbacks. Yet, when pressed to pass with the Yellow Jackets last possession, Thomas led the team 97 yards for a touchdown – with every blessed yard coming through the air.
Saturday was not the first time these two have faced each other. Winston is now 2-0 against Thomas, their head-to-head dating back to a 2005 Pop Warner tournament game when both were still south of adolescence, as reported in ESPN.com.
In that distant meeting in their native Alabama, Winston was the already overgrown quarterback/linebacker who led a hotshot team from Hoover. And Thomas was the QB/DB gnat that no one could swat, the player who reportedly scored the only touchdown for Birmingham on a 95-yard fumble return.
Nearly a decade later, their means and methods hadn’t changed so much.
And the difference between them was as slim as the two points that separated FSU and Georgia Tech Saturday.
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