Somehow, Jameis Winston has superseded the hype.
Florida State’s top-rated recruit established himself as a freshman phenom before his first game was over, dropping jaws and sparking imaginations with his 25-of-27, 356-yard, five-touchdown debut.
Through four games, Winston has 1,048 yards, 12 touchdowns, two interceptions and a 73.6 completion percentage, but on Saturday, the 19-year-old faces his first real test.
When No. 8 Florida State (4-0) takes on No. 25 Maryland (4-0), the fourth-highest scoring offense will meet the Terrapins’ third-ranked defense, allowing 10.3 points per game.
Coming off a 37-0 win over West Virginia, Maryland has had two weeks to prepare for college’s most famous freshman, bringing a defense tied for the most sacks in the country and tied for eighth in interceptions.
After a 2012 season which saw Maryland lose four quarterbacks to injury and ultimately use a reserve linebacker under center, senior C.J. Brown has returned and been just as vital as Winston to his team’s success.
He has thrown for over 1,000 yards with only one interception, while rushing for six TDs and 6.3 yards per carry, and should be able to exploit the Seminoles’ defensive flaws exposed against Boston College, which ran for 200 yards and scored 34 points last week.
Tallahassee will be tough, but take the Terps (+15½) in their biggest game in more than a decade.
Ucla over (-5¹/₂) UTAH: Another day, another game to marvel at the chasm between UCLA and USC.
SYRACUSE (+13½) over Clemson: South Carolina travels to upstate New York for an ACC showdown. Conference realignment is the worst.
Georgia (-10¹/₂) over TENNESSEE: Common thinking predicts a Bulldogs letdown after the epic win over LSU. Rational thinking says Georgia wins by at least three touchdowns. I think, therefore Georgia runs wild.
Rutgers (-5) over SMU: (Reading the Mustangs’ résumé) Well, I see you have three losses by an average of 26 points to legitimate opponents and one, one-point home win over Montana State. Well, thanks for your time. We’ll let you know.
MIAMI (-5) over Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets’ defense couldn’t contain Logan Thomas and Virginia Tech’s inept offense. Good luck against Miami’s balanced attack.
Minnesota (+19¹/₂) over MICHIGAN: Memo to Vegas: It’s 2013. Most of the country has access to television and the Wolverines’ 4-0 record isn’t fooling anyone. A second near-upset against UConn, after almost falling at home to Akron, shows how deeply flawed Michigan is this season, largely due to quarterback Devin Gardner, who has more interceptions (eight) than touchdowns (seven).
COLORADO (+39) over Oregon: The Ducks likely will be without running back De’Anthony Thomas, which won’t change the outcome, but will limit the carnage. Out of respect to Kordell Stewart and Rashaan Salaam, I can’t lay more than six touchdowns in a conference game on the road against the once-proud program.
Lsu (-9¹/₂) over MISSISSIPPI STATE: The Tigers will bounce back in a big way after last week’s heartbreaker at Georgia.
Tcu (+10¹/₂) over OKLAHOMA: The Sooners will see their first mobile quarterback this season in Trevone Boykin, giving the Horned Frogs enough of a variable to keep it as close as last year’s seven-point loss.
Arkansas (+11) over FLORIDA: The Razorbacks will control both sides of the line and will be more than adequately prepared for Tyler Murphy after last week’s meeting with Johnny Football.
Arizona St. (-5¹/₂) over Notre Dame: Tommy Rees’ play is eerily reminiscent of Brady Quinn’s and Jimmy Clausen’s — in the NFL.
NORTHWESTERN (+7) over Ohio State: Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald’s loose approach will relax his team, taking on a championship contender with all the pressure and without star safety Christian Bryant. And with all the action going to Ohio State, buck the Buckeyes trend.
West Virginia (+27¹/₂) over BAYLOR: Don’t expect anything resembling last year’s 70-63 video game reenactment. As good as Baylor has been, the Bears’ three games have come against junior varsity teams, while the Mountaineers’ defense held Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to an average of 18.5 points.
STANFORD (-7) over Washington: With the aerial attack now as dangerous as the ground game, Stanford could find its way into the BCS title game. Its biggest hurdles — against Washington, UCLA and Oregon — all come at home.
BEST BETS: Georgia, Minnesota, Rutgers
Record: 17-11-2
Best Bets: 3-3