As they head into Monday night's BCS National Championship Game against the turnaround Tigers of Auburn, the Florida State Seminoles are exuding confidence.
During Florida State's BCS National Championship Media Day session Saturday, the confidence was on full display in the radiant smile of Heisman Trophy-winning freshman quarterback Jameis Winston and the calm demeanor of linebacker Telvin Smith.
"Well, I'm glad they call Auburn 'the team of destiny' because at Florida State, we control our own destiny," Winston said, referring to the nickname Auburn has received from several media outlets throughout the course of the season.
The Alabama native praised Auburn during his press conference, highlighting Auburn's "intensity" and belief "that they can do anything," but he later set social media abuzz with a quote about the Tigers' finishes against Georgia and Alabama.
"That's one thing they talk about staying to the fourth quarter," Winston said. "But at Florida State, we are controlling our destiny and we are trying to do it big. We are not looking for miracles to happen. We are going to play football and do what we do."
Smith echoed his quarterback's message of confidence early in his interviews Saturday.
"We know what we're capable of," said Smith, a senior All-ACC linebacker who recorded a team-high 75 tackles for the Seminoles this season. "We know if we play hard and play hardnosed football for 60 minutes, no team can play with us in the country."
And Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher has embraced his Seminoles' confidence with open arms.
"I think we've practiced extremely well, and I like our mindset and our attitude right now," Fisher said. "I think we're very confident in what we do, but we're not arrogant. I think our kids believe in the system and the team we have, there's not a lot of arrogance where they're ignoring things and not preparing at the same time, and I think that's very critical."
Florida State's high levels of confidence have been backed up this season by its devastating run through the regular season.
As the only unbeaten team in college football, the 13-0 Seminoles have outscored their opponents 689-139 this season--a six-touchdown difference per game.
If you call Auburn "the team of destiny," you can call Florida State "the team of dominance."
"That's what we do, we dominate our opponent physical and mentally," said Winston. "That's what we want to do. Obviously with Auburn it's going to be a harder task because they're a great team, but we enjoy dominating our opponent, that's Florida State football."
With a top-ranked rushing offense that put up close to 300 yards against then-No. 1 Alabama and torched SEC East champion Missouri for more than 500 yards, Auburn will be the toughest matchup of the season for the Florida State defense--a defense that has only allowed five rushing touchdowns all season.
"They are going to run the ball," Smith said. "I think when they try to throw the ball, it's more when there's more of a trick play or something like that. So (Nick Marshall) is a great quarterback, but we're going to go out there and play hard for 60 minutes."
So how will Florida State be able to slow down a rushing offense that put up big numbers against the SEC's top two rushing defenses?
"That's Alabama, that's Missouri," Smith said. "We're Florida State."
Fisher expects a great game from both the offense and defense from Auburn, a school where he coached quarterbacks at from 1993-1998.
"Auburn is a great program," Fisher said. "I've coached there, I know it. They're in a great league, they have great coaches...and it's going to be a great ballgame on Monday."
How Florida State will perform in a great, close game--something they have not had to experience for most of the season--has been a recurring question for Florida State's coaches and players in the buildup to Monday's title showdown.
When asked the familiar question Saturday, Winston lit up.
"We are going to play better!" Winston said. "We're looking for a football game, we're not looking for a game that we go out there and blow everybody out. Ain't nothing wrong with blowing everybody out, but we're looking for a football game--and we expect Auburn to give us one."
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