“We some dogs. We ain’t no puppies. We some dogs.”
These were some of the words that rang through the Florida State locker room as they trailed (at times hilariously) 28-13 at the half against Ole Miss on Monday night. Some sloppy defense and a costly fumble at the 3-yard line left the Seminoles scrambling for answers with a half left to play.
And they would find those answers after a passionate halftime speech from former quarterback Jameis Winston. We saw a portion of the speech thanks to Showtime Sports, which is following the Seminoles around all year for its show A Season With Florida State Football.
“Wide receivers, y’all cannot be stopped,” Winston continued. “The whole game. We got the best running back in the whole damn league. And we got a quarterback that’s gonna toss that thing. O-line, wake up!”
After the half, Florida State looked like a completely different football team and managed to win the game 45-34. There’s no telling whether Winston was the reason the switch flipped, but the defense created a few timely turnovers, intercepting Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly twice and forcing him to fumble once. On the other side of the ball, Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois made plays with his arm and feet, making a huge 31-yard run out of a broken play to set up a 1-yard Freddie Stevenson touchdown and ended a long eight-play, 77-yard drive with a touchdown pass.
Florida State gave up six points in the second half and came out of the half ready to play, recording 23 of their 34 second half points in the third quarter. It might not be Winston’s doing, but it certainly looks like he played a part in firing up the troops.
(via For The Win)
