The final game to signal the opening of the college football season kicks off Monday night in Orlando as the 11th ranked Ole Miss Rebels are set to tangle with Number 4 Florida State. 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.
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Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze must have felt like he was dreaming.
Francois completed 33 of 52 passes for 419 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 59 yards.
“He made plays with his feet and his arms but more importantly, he made it with his mind, and that’s the key to playing quarterback”, Fisher said.
After a slow start, Francois got Florida State’s offense on a roll. No, it won’t be remembered as the defense’s game despite Demarcus Walker’s 4.5 sacks on the night.
Things weren’t going exactly as Florida State’s redshirt freshman quarterback had hoped.
The Seminoles shook off a awful first half, rallied from a 22-point second quarter deficit and dominated in the second half to hold onto their Top 5 ranking for at least one more week.
During halftime of Monday’s game, with Florida State down 28-13, Winston, who was on the sidelines for the game, delivered a rant for the ages.
Swinney’s absence creates a major depth problem for Ole Miss at running back, as junior Jordan Wilkins, who has 740 career rushing yards, was already suspended for the season for academic reasons. College football creates excitement every week with a multitude of talented players putting up video game-like numbers, but four hours is just too long to sit through a football game. On the other side, star Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly and an athletic receiving corps carved up the Florida State secondary. It would have been nice for him to hit the century mark in both categories, but getting over 90 against one of the best defenses and being able to catch the ball consistently (one of the knocks about his game) is something to make everyone smile.
Florida State continued their momentum by converting a field goal and early touchdown by fullback Freddie Stevenson to cut the Rebel lead to 28-23.
FSU’s next game is in four days against Charleston Southern at noon in Doak Campbell Stadium. “I took some of his attributes and how he rallied up guys when they were trailing like in the national championship game (against Auburn)”.
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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. As far as mental toughness, want-to, resiliency and character go, there’s no doubt the Seminoles have got it.
