It’s stunning to watch Jimbo Fischer and Jameis Winston’s reaction to their loss against Oregon. I expected to see a coach impressed by the pace of play that the Ducks have become known for. I expected some admiration about Marcus Mariota and Royce Freeman. I expected some frustration over the opportunistic Ducks ball hawk defense that forced more turnovers than they were given. What I saw instead was a defiant tone from both head coach and star QB. I heard a coach and Quarterback say they beat themselves in a game they lost by 39 points. And maybe there is the genius of the 29 game win streak. It was their own disillusionment that allowed them to win despite everyone knowing and telling them they weren’t very good.
Winston Nearly Benched
In a Vine that has made the rounds on twitter you can see Jimbo threaten to bench Winston after a fourth and five where he was seemingly tackled and stripped by air. Certainly to anyone watching, that play which was returned for a touchdown was a clinching moment of the game and an unraveling point for the calm leader of the ‘Noles. It also was the most emotion we’ve seen from Mariota as far as I can remember.
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So in the press conference, I really just didn’t expect there to be much to discuss. Florida State had just been routed. Oregon’s pace, athleticism and turnover creation led to a very lopsided loss for FSU. I certainly didn’t expect defiance. The last thing Winston says in the Seminoles YouTube post was the most puzzling. When asked what he thought about if they were pressing he said “By pressing do you mean trying to make a play? Uh I think that’s just a competitive nature that you’re going to try to make a play when things are going bad. You know tonight was unfortunate, you know it wasn’t just they were stopping us. Their offense did great, their defense was great but we were never stopped, at all.” Guess he forgets the overturned touchdown?
Oregon will meet Ohio State for the National Championship on Monday, December 12th in Dallas. (5:30pm PT, ESPN)