Down 28-6 early, Florida State reeled off 33 straight points to complete the biggest comeback win in school history Monday night, defeating Ole Miss 45-34.
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It indeed followed the offseason path.
A young offensive line may need to lean on Kelly a bit in what will likely be a pro-Florida State environment. “In the first quarter, I just had to get hit a couple of times and throw a couple of incompletions just to get right”. For most Ole Miss fans, it’s at least a 10-hour auto ride to central Florida. The Rebels are 3-3 under coach Hugh Freeze against teams ranked in the top five.
Because after a first half in which everything went wrong, FSU bounced back with one of the most impressive second halves of the Jimbo Fisher era and beyond. The Rebels were rolling early, inspiring a notion that they might be a legitimate challenger for the SEC and national titles.
And while it held its own in the first half, Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois found his rhythm in the second half and finished 33-52 for 419 yards and two scores.
No. 11 MS (10-3 last season) vs.
“I think he’s got the skill set to be very talented”, Freeze said during Wednesday’s SEC’s Football Coaches Weekly Teleconference. Starting corner Kendarius Webster crumpled to the ground early in the first quarter and was in tears when he was carted off the field.
Florida State has 10 starters back on offense, but the one guy who isn’t is quarterback Deondre Francois, who is also the only freshman.
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.
Losing in the fashion that Ole Miss did is as crushing a start to the season as one can imagine. Francois also rushed for 59 yards on nine carries to pace the offense.
One positive for Ole Miss was that its run defense showed up.
KEEP AN EYE ON: Florida State junior outside linebacker Matthew Thomas.
Unfortunately for the Rebels, the young Seminoles came back swinging like a team that returned all 11 offensive starters from a year ago.
Rumors had been swirling for a week around a potential injury on the offensive line, and Are was eventually named as the person of interest. What should have been a Dalvin Cook touchdown for Florida State instead ended with a fluke dropped ball short of the goal line, which led to an FSU field goal instead.
Ole Miss will be led by the outstanding senior quarterback Chad Kelly, who is expected to give the Florida State defense more difficulties than it can handle. He directed Ole Miss to four touchdowns and the Seminoles were left hanging on the ropes gasping for air.
It’s stunning that FSU could go from looking so bad to turning it around so quickly to win the game.
Marcus Lewis, on the following drive, had a huge interception for FSU off a tipped pass, giving the ‘Noles possession at the Ole Miss 32. FSU then drove to a field goal that basically put it out of reach.
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A native of nearby Mascotte, Fla., Aguayo was a ideal 6-for-6 on field goal attempts Monday night, with makes of 21, 25, 30, 40 (twice), and 44 yards. Racking up a staggering 15 penalties for 128 yards did not help their cause either.
