Jameis Winston had a feeling Kelvin Benjamin would have an easy time exploiting Florida’s undersized cornerbacks.
Early last week, Florida State had a meeting in which “we called each other out,” Winston said. The freshman quarterback’s target on that day, as it was during most of Saturday, was the 6-foot-5 receiver from Belle Glade.
“I said, ‘K.B., you are our unstoppable force. If you do what you got to do, you are unstoppable and no one can cover you,’ ” Winston said. “And I told him in front of the whole team, I said, ‘AND NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO COVER YOU.’ ”
No one could and now No. 2 Florida State moves on from the first 12-0 regular season in school history after an easy 37-7 victory over Florida. Next up is the ACC title game Saturday night in Charlotte, N.C., against Duke and then, with a win over the Blue Devils, a trip to the national championship game in January.
“This means a lot,” senior center Bryan Stork said. “But then again there’s a lot more at stake this year then there has been in past years.”
With No. 1 Alabama’s stunning last-second loss at No. 4 Auburn later Saturday, Florida State is expected to rise to the top spot in the newest BCS standings, which will be released Sunday night.
The Seminoles continue to look unstoppable in a season in which their closest challenge has been a two-touchdown victory at Boston College. Included in those beatings were wins over their two in-state rivals by a combined 57 points, giving coach Jimbo Fisher a 7-1 mark against Miami and Florida, which also is the best four-year record in school history against the two rivals.
And as dominating as Saturday’s effort was — FSU outgained the Gators 456 yards to 193 and converted 9-of-15 third downs compared to 1-of-11 for UF — it wasn’t until Benjamin’s size and talent advantage kicked in that FSU got started.
Benjamin caught nine passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns, all from Winston — which gives the quarterback 35 TD passes, surpassing Chris Weinke’s school single-season record of 33. Benjamin had the Noles’ first touchdown of the day, a 45-yarder that came with 4:24 remaining in the half and capped a 96-yard drive, and the last, a 4-yard catch in which he was looking over his right shoulder when Winston released the ball and corralled it looking over his left.
“K.B. has some real advantage with his size and speed and athleticism,” Fisher said. “He can be a very, very special player, and he’s starting to really develop into that guy.”
Benjamin’s size advantage was unfair to the Gators (4-8), who decided to play man-to-man. “We knew they were going man, so we had to win the matchups,” Benjamin said. The two most picked on defenders were 6-foot Loucheiz Purifoy and 5-11 Vernon Hargreaves.
“They did a good job of getting him matched up on some of our smaller DBs by moving him around a little bit,” Florida coach Will Muschamp said. “We knew he was a matchup issue coming into the game.”
Benjamin’s day, though, didn’t start so well. The second time he was targeted, Benjamin dropped a perfectly thrown ball that likely would have gone for a TD. Winston and Benjamin shook it off.
“I mess up more than they mess up, so I’m not going to get on anybody when they drop the ball,” Winston said.
At the time, FSU’s offense — which entered the day ranked second nationally with 55.2 points per game — was sputtering. The Seminoles started with an interception, field goal and two punts.
Then they found themselves on their own 4.
Winston had a message for his teammates.
“If we can just shove it down their throats, this drive, 96 yards, we will win this football game,” he told them.
The Seminoles converted a third-and-26 when receiver Kenny Shaw absorbed a hard hit and held on to the ball before Benjamin hauled in his first score, breaking or bouncing off at least five potential tacklers.
Benjamin said he was surprised he found the end zone and recalled a conversation he had with running backs coach Jay Graham.
“(Graham) told me when they try to tackle you, just keep your feet moving,” Benjamin said. “They couldn’t really wrap up.”
Although it was just 10-0, the rout was on.
“We got it going in the passing game first, which opened up the run later on,” Fisher said.
The next series ended with a 29-yard Benjamin TD catch, giving him 108 yards at the half.
Benjamin then had a 56-yard grab in the third quarter and overcame his third drop of the game in the fourth quarter before his third touchdown of the day. Benjamin now has 12 TD receptions on the season, tied for fourth in school history.
