Seminoles Spear Cowboys

Oklahoma State Fans Rally In 3rdQuarter

Andre Odums
Ossports
 
The Florida State Seminoles road into Texas in a huge way.  No. 1 college football’s defending national champion.  Yes, they have been battle tested, but not with the same players as Jameis Winston gelled with to overcome a 17-point deficit against Auburn to win the National Championship.
This is the fifth time the Seminoles and Cowboys have met on the gridiron.
Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston is the second Heisman Trophy winner to play in the AdvoCare Cowboy Classic.  In 2009, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford bought the Heisman spotlight to Arlington.  Winston is the third consecutive Heisman recipient to play in AT&T Stadium, joining Baylor’s Robert Griffin III and Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel.
Florida State didn’t come out strong in the first quarter as if they were going to blow Oklahoma State out.  The Seminoles punted on the first possession.
“We overcame a lot of adversity and we caused a lot of adversity for ourselves,” Florida States Coach Jimbo Fisher said.  Give Oklahoma credit they came ready to play, we got to get much better on all three phases and I’m very proud of our kids for finding a way to win the game.”
Jameis Winston was intercepted on the second play of the game.
Oklahoma State was gaining momentum until the Seminoles put together a drive that came away with a 36-yard field goal by kicker Robert Aguayo.
Seminoles cornerback Nate Andrews intercepted J.W. Walsh and returns it for nine-yards for a touchdown, making the score 10-0 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Seminoles running back Mario Penders ran an 11-yard touchdown, adding to the lead 17-0.
With Florida State in command of the game, it seemed a blowout was evident.
However, the Cowboys battled back when senior running back Desmond Roland plunged in from a yard out, trimming the Seminoles lead, 17-7.
On the next series, the Seminoles went three and out with the help of Cowboys sophomore defensive end Ogbah Emmanuel adding to his tackle total and recording a sack on the drive.
Now on offense, Oklahoma State went three and out but soon after received a break after junior cornerback Ashton Lumpkin intercepted Winston.
That led to a 37-yard field goal courtesy of sophomore kicker Ben Grogan just before halftime.  That made it a seven-point advantage, 17-10.
The Seminoles began the 3rd quarter as they did the first with a field goal from Robert Aguayo, this time from 27 yards out to extend the lead 20-10.
Early in the 3rd quarter the Cowboys stroke back with J.W. Walsh hitting David Glidden on a 55-yard scoring pass, closing the gap 20-17.
The crazed Oklahoma fans shouted, chanted, stomped, and waved signs that said, let’s rally right now.
With the crowd excited as the Seminoles went three and out again, the moment shifted toward the Cowboys.
They moved the ball with using the hurry up offense, as J.W. Walsh connected on passes of 12 yards to J. Seales and 13 to B. Sheperd.
On the very next play, the Cowboys suffered a nine-yard loss and turned the ball over on a fumble.
With 8 minutes left in the third, the Seminoles took over.
Winston finally had his way as he dropped back to pass, he spotted an open receiver with the blitz coming.
Winston took off straight up the middle hurdling two of his own teammates, 28 yards later he dove into the end zone to push the score back to a ten-point lead 27-17.
Jameis Winston who had a his career touchdown run of 28 yards said, ” I just got to give the credit to my teammates, they put it all on the line, offense went down the field and made great blocks and I got it into the end zone and we are still playing like we champions”.
Both teams traded possessions before Oklahoma State marched 75 yards in seven plays.
J.W. Walsh almost duplicating J. Winston run with one of his own, capping a 24 yard run to the end zone, drawing within three points, once again, 27-24 to begin the fourth quarter.
Later, the Seminoles added three points to take a six-point lead 30-24 Aguayo’s 37-yard field goal.
The Cowboys starred at chance close in or take the lead but J.W. Walsh fumbled the ball on the 48 yard line.
Two plays later Winston hooks up with R. Greene on a 50 yard touchdown pass to put Florida State up 37-24 with 3:48 left to play.
Walsh brought the Cowboys closer with a seven-play, 39-yard drive that watched as he went in from three yards out, edging closer, 31-37.
That would be as close as the Cowboys would get.
Florida State got the ball back with 1:53 seconds left and after six plays time expired.