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Footballifact: Jameis Winston, FCS Wins and Boise State's Rebuilding Project

A look at where some of the conventional wisdom and storylines of the year stand after the latest weekend of college football

Justin K. Aller

Jameis Winston will be famous: Mostly True
Let's admit up front that first games can be a mirage and that the Heisman is not won in September. (Hello, Denard Robinson.) But Jameis Winston was something else against Pitt on Monday night. The line: 25-of-27 (and it really should have been 26-of-27, but college coaches are still ignorant about instant replay) for 356 yards, four touchdowns and an no interceptions. And he tacked on a rushing touchdown. If he can keep that pace up for the next 11 games, it's going to be very hard to beat Florida State or to deny Winston a trip to New York City.

FCS games are easy wins: Half True
There's no reason to recount the carnage among teams who thought they had paid for a win and instead ended up paying for the most embarrassing loss imaginable. But there is a reason that these games have usually been a few overrated teams getting stunned at home in the course of a season: FBS teams get 22 additional scholarships and usually have the resources to draw the best talent. An FCS team can sometimes take advantage of lengthy planning to spring an upset, but for the most part these are still easy games for the upper-level programs.

Boise State is always a Top 25 team: Mostly False
The Broncos were not even competitive against Washington in a 38-6 dismantling. They gained just 3.8 yards a pass while giving up almost seven yards a play to the Huskies, who finished up with 592 yards on the evening. Chris Petersen and Boise aren't going anywhere just yet, mind you, but the signs are there that even the Broncos have to go through a rebuilding year every now and then. Boise State could get back into the poll by dominating the Mountain West, but they lost their only chance against BCS AQ opponent this weekend and could find that a few of the teams in the league aren't going to be doormats this year.

Georgia should be worried about the defense this year: Mostly True
Clemson is undoubtedly one of the most dynamic offense the Dawgs will face this year, so we'll have to see if there's more to Saturday's loss than meets the eye. But the fact is that the Tigers gained 6.1 yards per play, Tajh Boyd completed an even 60 percent of his passes and Roderick McDowell ran for 132 yards on 22 carries. (Boyd added another 42 yards and two touchdowns on 13 runs.) As we've noted, Georgia actually outgained Clemson, but there is definitely cause for concern about the defense after the early returns.

Southern Cal could be poised for a rebound this year: Half True
The Trojans didn't look like a team out to prove that 2012 was a fluke in their win against Hawaii. They were more than 25 minutes into the game before they overcame an early 5-3 lead by the Warriors. A combination of Cody Kessler and Max Wittek completed barely half the passes they attempted and ended up with a mediocre 106.03 passer efficiency rating. The Trojans did gain 192 yards on 45 carries in the rushing department, but they benefited from four interceptions. The defense actually did well, holding Hawaii to 0.7 yards per rush and grabbing those four picks, but it remains to be seen if that means Southern Cal can make noise in the Pac-12.