Francois stood in the pocket and delivered a 16-yard touchdown pass to Travis Rudolph, the first of 33 consecutive points for the Seminoles in a 45-34 season-opening win over Ole Miss – the largest comeback victory in school history.
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Much of Ole Miss’ offensive success came quick, and the Rebels possessed ball for less than a third of the game.
The FSU defense held Ole Miss to minus-7 yards in the third quarter.
Seminoles freshman quarterback Deondre Francois was 33-52 for 415 yards and two touchdowns in his first game as a college quarterback.
The Rebels allowed a touchdown pass by FSU QB Deondre Francois with 28 seconds left in the half, and the game deteriorated from there.
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.
Though Kelly struggled at times, he displayed great arm strength and the ability to read a defense while throwing for 312 yards and four touchdowns.
The ‘Noles surged out of halftime to take its first lead over Ole Miss, and a commanding one at that. It looked like FSU had no answer for the Rebels’ aerial onslaught by Chad Kelly.
Defensive end Demarcus Walker was named the defensive lineman of the week after his incredible second half performance against the Rebels.
Everything was breaking right for Ole Miss.
Ole Miss starting cornerback Ken Webster appeared to have a gruesome left knee injury during the open driving. DK Metcalf made a circus catch from Kelly to take a 13-3 lead at the time. Their 27 receptions were good for a game-changing 353 yards.
Ole Miss responded when Kelly found receiver Van Jefferson for a 20-yard score to bring the Rebels within five points, 39-34, with 12:09 remaining. It forced four turnovers and only allowed six points for the rest of the game after giving up 28 in the first half. “It’s the kind of game we want to be in and we have an opportunity to paned our brand at Ole Miss”, Ole Miss Head Coach Hugh Freeze said.
Florida State wide receiver Kermit Whitfield (8) runs past MS defensive back Jaylon Jones on a 3-yard touchdown during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Monday, Sept. 5, 2016, in Orlando, Fla. Cook was mere yards away from reaching the end zone in the second quarter on a pass play but for some reason switched the position of the ball in his hands before he crossed the goal line, uncontested.
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As fast as that lead was built was as fast as it was erased, though.
