Rebels followed that up with Chad Kelly’s 20-yard dart to wide receiver Van Jefferson cutting the Seminole lead to 39-34.
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MS wide receiver D.K. Metcalf, right, catches a pass over Florida State defensive back Tarvarus McFadden for a 3-yard touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Monday, Sept. 5, 2016, in Orlando, Fla. 295 of Ole Miss’ 380 yards came in the first half.
The Rebels started the game with the ball, and they passed their way to the endzone.
Monday night is Deondre Francois’ debut as FSU’s starter. FSU football plays three other teams that like to do this too.
For most of the first half Monday night, the Florida State Seminoles were thoroughly outplayed by the Ole Miss Rebels.
Francois added 59 rushing yards to finish with 478 yards of total offense in the season opener.
Trying to extend a play while defensive end Demarcus Walker was bearing down on him, Kelly instead coughed it up with several garnet jerseys around him, handing the Seminoles possession at the 11-yard line.
The Rebels were a pretty good play past year for bettors, covering in eight of their 13 line games and winning by an average margin of 18.2 points per contest. The Rebels are playing a football game in Orlando, Florida for the first time in program history. “We did not deserve to win the game the way we played the second half”.
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.
In a first half dominated by Ole Miss, Kelly threw for 215 yards and three scores.
Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer rallied the Irish from a 31-14 deficit in the third quarter and finished with 215 yards passing and five touchdowns. “So as long as we can keep chunking it down the field and showing teams we can do it I think the running game will open up”. Ole Miss enters the day ranked number eleven in the nation, and the Rebels can climb much higher if they pull off the upset. “We’ve got to play a hard offense to defend and a short week, and then we’ve got two big conference games coming in”, Freeze said. These errors cost FSU 20 yards; when the ‘Noles finally got to the end zone, they had to settle for a field goal.
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The Rebels jump back onto the football turf hosting Wofford 3 p.m. Saturday in Oxford.
