Jameis Winston, Dalvin Cook Save Florida State's Season with Clutch Comeback

Count on Florida State being down. But don't count the Seminoles out. 

Even staring in the face of a 21-point deficit on a Thursday night in a tough road environment? Nope.

As long as FSU has time left on the clock, there's apparently enough time for a comeback. No. 2 FSU has done it time and again in 2014, and on Thursday, the Seminoles dug themselves another hole only to climb out and emerge with a 42-31 win over No. 25 Louisville.

After dismantling teams in 2013, FSU has been resilient in 2014. The Seminoles shook off a 24-7 deficit at North Carolina State and came back to secure a 56-41 win. And just 12 days ago, FSU responded by matching then-No. 5 Notre Dame score for score in the second half before a goal-line stand gave the Seminoles a 31-27 win.

Good? Lucky? FSU has been both this season en route to an 8-0 start. And the Seminoles needed to be both again on Thursday.

Quarterback Jameis Winston was awful in the first half, completing just 10 of 22 passes for 123 yards. And he tossed a pair of interceptions that gave Louisville a short field and led to two Cardinals touchdowns that helped them jump out to a 21-0 lead.

The second half was a far different story. Playing from the shotgun after hurting his ankle and limping the rest of the way, Winston completed 15 of 26 passes for 278 yards after halftime—including touchdown passes of 68 yards (to Travis Rudolph), 47 yards (to Ermon Lane) and 35 yards (to Freddie Stevenson).

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Even Winston's third interception, on the first drive of the third quarter, was turned into something of a positive when the FSU quarterback jarred the ball loose from Gerod Holliman and forced a fumble. (It was the second lucky break for FSU on Thursday, including tight end Nick O'Leary's fumble recovery in the end zone that gave the Seminoles their first points.)

While it was beginning to look like Winston's worst college game for the first 30 minutes, he did what has become almost routine. Winston now has six 300-yard passing games in seven ACC road contests the past two seasons. He finished Thursday night with 401 passing yards, half of it a stick-figure-ugly drawing and the other half a museum-worthy masterpiece.

With Winston hobbling, FSU turned to its struggling running game. Coming into Thursday's contest, FSU was 104th of 128 FBS teams in rushing. The Seminoles were averaging just 125.86 rushing yards per game. And Louisville had the nation's best rush defense, allowing just 68.75 yards per game.

FSU found a way to run, however, even with Karlos Williams limping. Williams had 72 rushing yards but has been battling an ankle injury and hobbled to the sideline against Louisville. True freshman Dalvin Cook ran nine times for 110 yards, including second-half touchdown runs of 40 and 38. And he grabbed four passes for 40 yards.

Garry Jones/Associated Press

On one drive alone, Cook caught three straight passes from Winston before ripping off a 38-yard TD run. True freshmen aren't supposed to do that on the big stage. But Cook turned short-yardage plays into big gains.

He used his breakaway speed on the second run to put FSU ahead 35-31 to stay—ensuring that the Seminoles won their 24th straight game and would remain in the playoff picture.

View this FSU team however you like. On one side, FSU is inconsistent and flawed, possessing a shaky offensive line and an injury-depleted defense. On the other, FSU has an offense that just simply puts points on the board each week. Winston has now played 21 college games. And he's never been held under 30 points.

There are four regular-season games left. How much longer can FSU keep up the Houdini act? It's bound to catch up with the Seminoles at some point...but then again, it also hasn't.

No matter what the perspective is on FSU, the Seminoles keep showing their response in the face of adversity. Ugly? Yes. But unbeaten? Also, undeniably, yes.

And nearly two years after losing its last game, at home to Florida on Nov. 24, 2012, FSU is still very much in the playoff picture.

Bob Ferrante is the Florida State Lead Writer for Bleacher Report, all quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow Bob on Twitter. All stats courtesy of seminoles.com.