Florida State, minus Jameis Winston, gets by Clemson in overtime
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — With Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston watching from the sideline, No. 1 Florida State came back to beat No. 22 Clemson, 23-17, in overtime on Karlos Williams’ 12-yard touchdown run Saturday night.
Winston was suspended for the game against Clemson (1-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) after making “offensive and vulgar” comments on campus.
His backup, Sean Maguire, had an up-and-down night, and Clemson had enough missed opportunities to allow Florida State (3-0, 1-0) to extend its winning streak to 19 games.
Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney declined to attempt a 33-yard field goal on the first possession of overtime and Adam Choice was stuffed for no gain on fourth and one. Two plays later, Williams bounced outside and went untouched into the end zone.
Clemson kicker Ammon Lakip had missed two short field-goal attempts earlier in the game.
Maguire made the first start of his career. He was regularly pressured by a loaded Clemson defensive line and completed 21 of 39 passes for 305 yards with two passes intercepted and a 74-yard touchdown to Rashad Greene to tie it at 17 with 6:04 left in the fourth.
The teams went into overtime after a fourth quarter of mishmash, game-changing plays on both sides. Clemson freshman quarterback Deshaun Watson threw a beautiful 39-yard pass in between two defenders, caught by a diving Mike Williams to set up a two-yard touchdown run by the quarterback.
Maguire had an intercepted pass that gave Clemson to ball in Florida State territory with 2:14 left in the fourth. But Clemson’s C.J. Davidson was stripped by Eddie Goldman and the Seminoles recovered at 1:36 inside the Florida State 20-yard line, and the Seminoles then played for overtime.
Clemson absolutely dominated the first half on both sides of the ball. The Tigers outgained the Seminoles, 249-84. Florida State was held to minus-22 rushing yards, including negative 21 yards on three sacks.
Watson threw for 266 yards and ran for 30.
More to Read
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.