Florida State vs Pittsburgh Position Battles: The Quarterbacks

April 13, 2013; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston (5) calls an audible during the second half of the Florida State spring game at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday we looked at some of the indirect details surrounding Florida State opening their season against the Pittsburgh Panthers. Today, however, we are going to take a more direct look. In fact, we are going to talk about the quarterbacks — a position that everyone likes to say is the most important position in American sports.

Luckily for the sake of sanity, both programs have officially named their starters. Florida State is going with the cheese ball loving, gunslinger freshman, Jameis Winston. Pitt is going with senior transfer, Tom Savage.

For an example, what we plan to do in other “Position Battles” during the week we will be breaking down one squad’s receivers against the other’s DBs, but it would be kind of lame to try to separate the two quarterbacks. Granted, they will never have to defend the other’s passes or even see each other on the field, but it is far easier to give analysis of the two when they are lumped together. Thus us at Chop Chat breaking form from what we intend to do with the other position battles.

Terrific Tom Savage

Okay, sure, I literally just made up the nickname for Savage — so sue me. Savage hasn’t seen a live college football snap since 2010 (Pitt is his third program). As in, he hasn’t played a game of college football since a couple of Miami Heat titles ago. Still, he has been on college campuses and whatnot participating in practices and getting reps. It’s not as if he was completely gone away from the game or anything.

Here is the thing, once upon a time Savage was a Freshman All-American while with Rutgers. His issues were with injuries not ability, although, the injuries eventually led him to losing his starting gig. Then he transferred to Arizona where he ended up getting homesick and eventually returned to eastern seaboard before he ever played a snap for a fancy dancer named Rich Rodriguez. That’s the short version of the wild ride Savage has been on to get to this point. What you really need to know about him, though, is his skills — and he has an admirable amount of those.

Savage is pretty accurate. In his only legitimate season as a college football player (as a true freshman), Savage completed over 50 percent of his passes. He did, however, throw an interception for every two times he tossed a touchdown. Those numbers don’t scream “I am a beast” although there was a point in time when people honestly thought he was going to be a really good starting college quarterback.

If he were to fail — even if it is in the first game — don’t be shocked to see the Panthers go to Chad Voytik (a name worth remembering, by the way) off the bench.

Jameis “Cheese Ball” Winston

I tried to push the “#MythologicalManBeast” nickname, but none of you bit (whatevs). So, in the interest of shorter hashtags, we are going with Cheese Ball Winston.

Winston is coming into the season with such huge hype surrounding him that he can do nothing but fall short of the expectations. It doesn’t really matter, though, as his natural talent is the thing that is going to keep Florida State in games and keep them around as legitimate contenders for an ACC Championship. I just hope people temper their expectations for Winston a little bit. If Florida State were to lose, it would be disheartening to see a fanbase blame Winston for the hype they put on him. I mean, he is only a (redshirt) freshman — if any of that makes sense.

Here is what we do know about Winston’s game for sure: He is athletic, strong-armed and is more accurate than his high school scouting report originally stated. What shouldn’t be overlooked, though, is his lack of in-game experience. Opening on the road, against a quarterback who might legally be 78 years-old, is a tough task to ask any player to take on — nevertheless a guy who is carrying a state’s worth of hope and expectations on his shoulders.

The Edge

Florida State has the edge. Savage might have the experience, but in reality it is nowhere as much as you think. He only has one full year of real game experience — that is it. If we were to believe even half the hype, Winston is going to outperform Savage in nearly every aspect of the game.

The more important battles for these two quarterbacks, obviously, is between them and the opposing defenses. While Winston might be the more talented guy behind center, the outcome of the game will hinge more on Savage’s ability to react to Florida State’s defense than it will be to Winston living up to the hype.

Sadly for Pitt fans, even if that last part ends up being more true than comparing  just the QBs, the edge still goes to Florida State.

Me, Twitter @JosephNardone