Florida State’s 33 unanswered points proved to be the difference as the Seminoles opened up the season with a big win over Ole Miss 45-34 in front of 63,402.
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Kermit Whitfield finished the drive off with a touchdown run, giving the ‘Noles its first lead of the game 29-28. The game was technically close until the very last minutes, but the instant that Florida State took the field in the second half, they looked completely different and they didn’t take steps back. In the middle of the second quarter, running back Dalvin Cook, who essentially was the team’s only offense in the first half, had a clear path to the end zone after a swing pass, but dropped the ball on the way to score. The win marked Francois’ first college victory.
Seminoles freshman quarterback Deondre Francois was 33-52 for 415 yards and two touchdowns in his first game as a college quarterback. The Rebels had rolled up 312 yards of offense and looked unstoppable. Francois threw for 101 more yards than the highly regarded Chad Kelly of Ole Miss and three fewer interceptions.
Stringfellow made the first touchdown reception for the Rebels on a quick slant pass. As good as they may be in the FCS ranks (and they are really good), Florida State should manage to avoid any real threat of a massive upset in Tallahassee. He probably should have had a third touchdown pass, but the receiver fumbled the ball right as he was about to cross the goal line.
It hasn’t always been that way and that, at least in part, is why Kelly is at Ole Miss instead of Clemson, where his college career began and nearly ended when he was dismissed from the team.
MS starting cornerback Ken Webster and backup running back Eric Swinney will miss the remainder of the season with knee injuries. Some critical passes floated high, some fell short, and the fourth-ranked Seminoles trailed No. 11 MS by 22 points before the end of the first quarter. As an underdog Ole Miss was 1-0 against the spread and in non-conference games, the Rebels were 4-1 at the betting window, winning by an average margin of 37.8 points per game in those situations.
Things went smooth for Ole Miss on its first drive of the game, which culminated with a three-yard Kelly strike to Damore’ea Stringfellow.
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Freshman quarterback Deondre Francois led a furious Florida State comeback. He blew by Jameis Winston’s mark of 356 passing yards.
