After a horrific start in which they looked overmatched against Ole Miss, the Seminoles expedited the adjustment process and instead went from pretender in the first half to expected national championship contender in the second half of a 45-34 comeback win over the Rebels in Orlando.
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Francois, the fourth freshman to start the season at quarterback in FSU history, led the largest comeback in Seminoles history – 22 points – after a shaky start in the classic SEC-ACC showdown. On a night where senior defensive end DeMarcus Walker was a half-sack shy of tying an FSU single-game record, running back Dalvin Cook tallied almost 200 yards from scrimmage and the defense forced the SEC’s best quarterback into four turnovers, the biggest takeaway for the Seminoles wasn’t to be found in the box score.
“It was a nightmarish second half”, Freeze said.”I really thought things started to turn a little bit on that last drive of the first half”.
Four members of the Florida State football team earned player of the week honors from the Atlantic Coast Conference on Tuesday.
The Noles embarked on a 33-0 run that spanned from late in the second quarter until early in the fourth to take control over the Rebels en route to a 45-34 win. He threw for 419 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 59 yards.
Florida State Head Coach Jimbo Fisher is more than impressed with Kelly’s play.
In a first half dominated by Ole Miss, Kelly threw for 215 yards and three scores. He finished the game with 420 passing yards, which marks the second most ever by a Florida State freshman, trailing only Jameis Winston.
The FSU Florida State Seminoles vs Ole Miss Rebels in a college football game on the first big Monday night of the 2016 schedule calendar.
For as good as the second half was, the first half was nearly just as bad for FSU football against Ole Miss. Kelly found Engram twice for 20 yards on the drive before hitting Damore’ea Stringfellow on a 3-yard slant for the touchdown. They gave up 21 points in the SECOND quarter on Monday night, and allowed almost eight yards per play in the first half.
Derwin James looked in top form, getting the first interception of the game as well as several crucial tackle for losses, and the re-ermergence of Mathew Thomas was one of the best storylines of the game.
You can catch the entirety of Winston’s speech and the rest of the premier episode of Showtime’s “A Season With Florida State Football” on Showtime tonight at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Entering the night with perhaps the biggest shoes to fill, Aguayo was flawless in his first game as a Seminole.
Tennessee, ranked No. 9, needed a missed extra point and a missed 42-yard field goal in regulation by Appalachian State to reach overtime before prevailing 20-13.
He converted from 25, 21, 40, 40, 44 and 30 yards. He was leveled by Ole Miss end Marquise Haynes and appeared dazed as he left the field. The opening episode of will feature footage from Monday’s game. But facing one of its toughest opponents of the season, Florida State couldn’t afford to wait until its second game to fix its problems.
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