Follow me … don’t cost nothin’ @PeteFiutak

Florida State might have just gotten its Jameis, without all the Jameis.

Everett Golson isn’t going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, and he’s not going to be the same type of free agent signing that Russell Wilson was for Wisconsin in 2011, but if Florida State wants a national title-level quarterback to step in and try to keep the fun going, it just got one.

Sean Maguire can play. He’s a big, 6-3, 224-pound passer who looks the part, was an excellent prep prospect, and has the skills and talents to progress into the type of leader who can take Florida State back to the playoff. But Golson has the magical quality. He has the IT factor.

He also throws lots of interceptions.

Florida State is used to that, with Jameis Winston putting the team in a hole time and again by trusting his arm too much, and in most games, there shouldn’t be a problem surviving a Golson mistake here and there. But the Notre Dame transfer is the type of addition who can instantly walk into a locker room full of star prospects and players who have just gone through two straight unbeaten regular seasons, a national title, and three straight ACC championships and still make the team his.

Golson isn’t an NFL passer, but he’s accurate, can make plays on the move, and can add a different element to the Florida State offense it didn’t have with Winston or E.J. Manuel. More than anything else, he has a flair for the dramatic, and he has the resume of comeback wins and coming through in the clutch, almost doing it in Tallahassee last season.

He knows what it takes to get through a tough schedule and have the spotlight on each and every week, and he knows how to handle the scrutiny and the pressure of the big moments. And that’s what Florida State is at this point – a series of big moments.

Can he be the key to a win over Clemson? Can he get the Seminoles by Florida? Most importantly, can he make Florida State a 12-1 – at worst – ACC champion, which would then almost certainly mean a return trip to the College Football Playoff?

The Seminoles might be rebuilding a bit, but they still have more talent across the board than anyone else in the ACC. It’s going to take something special to beat them, and it’s going to take Golson to not screw things up with fumbles and mistakes.

If nothing else, Florida State did what it had to do to become a major player in the playoff race again. All it’s doing is keeping up with everyone else, with Florida State transfer Jacob Coker possibly starting for Alabama, Eastern Washington’s Vernon Adams likely getting the nod at Oregon, and Ohio State’s quarterback situation still under the microscope to see if one of the options might go the free agent route and make some other top program bigger factor.

Florida State got its guy. Golson got his program and his shot.

Brian Kelly, Malik Zaire had better be really, really good.