Most of the night the Rebels’ front seven was able to limit Seminoles star Dalvin Cook, who led the ACC in rushing past year.
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Perhaps Winston’s speech wasn’t the reason the Seminoles came back to win, but it certainly didn’t hurt.
The first one was penalty-riddled, poorly executed, and the Seminoles just got housed. Metcalf caught a 3-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Still, it won’t be remembered as Cook’s game.
Love him, hate him, think he’s Canton-bound or going to pan out as a dud, no one gives a halftime speech like Jameis Winston.
When the smoke cleared, Florida State, which was down 28-6 in the second quarter, had rattled off 33 straight points and taken a 39-28 lead to start the fourth quarter. No, it won’t be remembered as the defense’s game despite Demarcus Walker’s 4.5 sacks on the night.
But after accounting for 478 of FSU’s staggering 580 yards Monday night against a quality opponent, Francois is already generating comparisons to Winston.
In a first half dominated by Ole Miss, Kelly threw for 215 yards and three scores. He ran for 59 more. Not to be outdone was the play of three others that helped seal the biggest comeback win in school’s history. Instead, Francois protected his teammates by playing well in front of them. The run itself was impressive, but the way he took a hit in an attempt to dive into the end zone and immediately popped up was the kind of play that you want to see from a team leader.
Francois completed 9 of his 13 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown in the third quarter.
It was an fantastic turnaround. The Seminoles and Tigers became the first pair of ACC teams ever to open the season ranked in the Top 5 and will face each other in Tallahassee on October 29. The Florida State freshman quarterback appears to be able to shoulder the weight that comes with the expectations and then some.
And then he was a headliner. Francois received the opportunity to start as a result of Sean Maguire’s preseason injury. “We challenged him, as I know”.
Kicker Ricky Aguayo was named the specialist of the week.
The Rebels allowed a touchdown pass by FSU QB Deondre Francois with 28 seconds left in the half, and the game deteriorated from there. After that, Francois could not be stopped.
He showed no effects after halftime, as FSU outgained Ole Miss 214 to minus-7 in the third quarter.
It was the first time the offense looked like it was in a groove since the end of the first half.
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Tampa Bay’s second-year quarterback will be on a team plane to Atlanta Saturday when the Seminoles face Charleston Southern at Doak Campbell, but he was there in person when a star was born.
