However, Deondre Francois also had ideas of his own and the redshirt freshman quarterback did what was necessary to get his team back into the contest. Including that late first half touchdown, the Seminoles scored 33 unanswered points to take a lead they’d never relinquish.
Advertisement
Let’s take a look at the five things they need to improve upon from the Ole Miss game. That’s the largest margin ever overcome in an FSU victory. The 45-34 win was great for the school, but it may turn out to be bad for the rest of college football. Rebel receivers were running free.
No. 3 – What didn’t make the fans and coaches smile was the play of the offensive line. “We got the best running back in the whole damn league”, he continued.
Francois stood tall and delivered a strike to receiver Travis Rudolph for a 16-yard touchdown with 28 seconds left before halftime.
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.
Instead, they stayed mentally engaged, made adjustments, played with ferocity in the second half and showed this is an extremely talented team.
“In the first quarter, I had just had to get hit a couple times”, Francois told ESPN afterwards. James also picked up the first interception of his career in the first quarter of the game.
It was a insane, crazy way to finish an unpredictable first weekend of the College Football season. The Seminoles finished with 580 yards.
ABOVE VIDEO: Akeem Judd’s second quarter touchdown run that made the score 28-6. The Seminoles converted 9 of 18 third downs.
Entering the night with perhaps the biggest shoes to fill, Aguayo was flawless in his first game as a Seminole. Francois kept making good decisions, flipping short passes to keep the chains moving and adding 59 rushing yards to convert critical third downs.
Webster started every game at cornerback last season for the Rebels and tied for third on the team with 12 passes defended.
He even called Shane Buechele’s mom the night before to say her son would start against No. 10 Notre Dame.
For as good as the second half was, the first half was nearly just as bad for FSU football against Ole Miss. McFadden’s pick with under three minutes to play sealed the game.
Francois fueled the Seminoles offense with 3 of 52 passes for 419 yards and two touchdowns while Aguayo set a new school record with six field goals in his debut. Coming into Monday, Ole Miss had only played one other season opener at a neutral site: a 35-13 win against Boise State in 2014 … With the likes of Alabama, Georgia and LSU still on the schedule, as well as a potential SEC Championship Game appearance, the Rebels have ample opportunity to climb into the College Football Playoff race.
Advertisement
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole.
