RALEIGH,, N.C. — Jameis Winston was greeted by insults and unflattering signs when he took the field at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday.
And then it got much worse.
Before the first quarter ended, Florida State found itself in a 17-point hole. Sensing the upset, those fans were louder than ever and the Seminoles were staring at their first defeat in nearly two years.
But Winston focused on the field and went to work. And when it was over, Florida State overcame the worst defensive first quarter in school history and four turnovers to escape with a 56-41 victory over North Carolina State.
Winston, returning after serving a one-game suspension last week against Clemson, threw for 365 yards and four touchdowns. He also had a 20-yard scramble on third down that led to FSU’s final score with 2:07 remaining and sealed the Seminoles’ 20th consecutive victory.
“That was the motivation, to get back on the field,” said Winston, who completed 26-of-38 passes and had two interceptions. “There is no pressure on the football field. It’s a sanctuary.”
Top-ranked Florida State (4-0, 2-0 ACC) took its first lead at 42-38 on Winton’s fourth touchdown pass of the game with 3:24 remaining in the third quarter. The pass, to Rashad Greene, came two plays after the Seminoles finally coaxed the elusive Jacoby Brissett into a bad play, a sack and fumble that was caused by Lorenzo Featherston and recovered by Jacob Pugh on the NC State 6.
“Extremely resilient set of guys,” coach Jimbo Fisher said. “Guys who know how to compete as far as going to the next play, stay in the game. We’re still not playing the football we’re capable of, which at times is frustrating but also is very encouraging. We’re finding ways to win games.”
FSU has stared at defeat two weeks in a row. The Seminoles rallied for a 23-17 overtime victory over Clemson last week behind backup quarterback Sean Maguire.
Offensively, the Seminoles looked like the 2013 national title team, with the exceptions of the turnovers. The running game got untracked with Karlos Williams’ career highs of 126 yards and three touchdowns. Greene had 11 catches for 125 yards and Jesus Wilson had six for 109 and two touchdowns.
The biggest downer: Four turnovers, three the direct fault of the offense, which led to 20 N.C. State points.
But those points were possible because of Brissett, the former Dwyer High standout who transferred to N.C. State from Florida. Brissett electrified the crowd with his playmaking and elusiveness, throwing for 359 yards and three touchdowns.
“It was fun playing against him,” Winston said. “He had a lot of expectations for this game. This would have made their year if they won this game.”
N.C. State (4-1, 0-1 ACC) led 24-7 after the first quarter, the most points allowed by Florida State in the first quarter in school history, a stretch of 769 games. The Seminoles allowed more than 24 points in a game twice all of last season. and the Wolfpack’s 41 points were the most surrendered by FSU since a 44-33 loss to Virginia Tech in the 2010 ACC title game.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Williams said. “We’ve been here before. They play us tough here.”
Florida State snapped a two game losing streak in Raleigh.
Winston played his best game of the season in the first real hostile atmosphere he has faced this year. Although Winston said he did not hear the insults and see the signs, Greene said they were hard to miss.
“He did a great job of keeping his head in the game,” said Greene, who said he heard a bunch of “unnecessary stuff.”
The Seminoles got back in the game with two second-quarter touchdowns, cutting the deficit to 24-21. But FSU twice fell behind by 10 points in the third quarter before finally taking control.
Florida State drove 71 yards in five plays, capped by a 15-yard scoring pass from Winston to Wilson, to pull to within 38-35 with five minutes remaining the third quarter.
Then on N.C. State’s third play of the next series, Brissett was sacked by Featherston and Pugh recovered. Both are true freshmen.
Two plays later, FSU was able to get over the hump and take a lead it never relinquished.
N.C. State was not done, kicking a field goal to make it an eight-point game, but FSU didn’t give the Wolfpack the chance to get back into the game as Williams’ third touchdown capped a 75-yard drive.
“We keep proving that we have ways and guys who keep emerging,” Fisher said. “We have a lot of great young athletes. What we got to get is a lot of great young football players.”