But the night’s big story is how Fisher, considered the country’s top quarterback tutor, has seemingly unearthed another gem in Francois, an Orlando native from IMG Academy who took a redshirt year in 2015.
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Fourth-ranked Florida State, down by 22 points in the second quarter, mounted a historic rally to defeat 11th-ranked Ole Miss 45-34 Monday night in the Camping World Kickoff.
This was not one of those games.
Because they’re only going to get better.
The Rebels lost 45-34 after leading 28-13 at halftime. Gone. Wiped as clean as Florida State’s play in the second half that led to 16 points in the first five minutes, and 33 unanswered before Ole Miss would score again.
Ricky Aguayo, another freshman, converting an FSU-record six field goals on six attempts breaking a mark shared by his brother Roberto.
“I couldn’t panic because my team looks at me as a leader”, Francois said. You keep chopping, you keep sawing. “We were down 28-6, but I couldn’t let them see me down, I had to portray the image that we were not about to lose this game”.
Francois scrambled for two runs of 31 yards to set up scores by senior fullback Freddie Stevenson and tight end Ryan Izzo, with a 3-yard handoff to wide receiver Kermit Whitfield in between, to take a 38-26 lead in the third quarter.
“I thought we didn’t handle adversity very well in the second half when it came”, Defensive Coordinator Dave Wommack said. Laquon Treadwell may be in the National Football League, but Evan Engram had a fantastic night, catching 9 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown.
“It was a nightmarish second half”, said Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze. Francois went from looking like a rattled rookie to seasoned veteran, with his second half bringing to mind Jameis Winston’s redshirt freshman debut in 2013. “On the women’s side, the Seminoles” Carmela Cardama-Baez took first place out of the whole field, helping to lead FSU to a third place finish behind the Gators and host Appalachian State. The 19-year-old signal-caller added 59 rushing yards on nine attempts to almost give him 500 yards of total offense in his debut. Combined among the four players, there were just three turnovers compared to seven touchdowns. Cook finished the first half with 35 yards on 11 carries but finished the game with 192 all-purpose yards. FSU will have to clean up some sloppiness after committing 15 penalties for 127 yards.
Florida State offensive lineman Roderick Johnson (77) lifts up wide receiver Kermit Whitfield (8) after Whitfield scored a touchdown against MS during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Monday, Sept. 5, 2016, in Orlando, Fla. North Carolina fell to Georgia as the SEC went to 7-7 in the opening weekend.
Heading into each season in college football, there are always teams that we don’t know exactly what to make of due to the fact that they have a young player stepping into the most important role on the field: starting quarterback. Fisher and Cook said he was simply exhausted after the game.
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Florida State: The Seminoles won the time of possession battle 42:39 to 17:21.
