Early on during the No. 11 Ole Miss Rebels’ 45-34 loss to No. 4 Florida State, cornerback Ken Webster went down with a gruesome knee injury. The previous mark was two years ago when Winston rallied the Seminoles from a 21-point deficit to a 42-31 win at Louisville.
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The Seminoles came into the contest as heavy favourites, but went behind early in the first quarter, before finding themselves trailing 28-6 with 3:04 left in the first half.
But when the clock expired after midnight Monday – with FSU completing the largest comeback in school history in a 45-34 victory at Camping World Stadium in Orlando – Fisher’s reputation as college football’s Quarterback Whisperer was further validated. The Florida State freshman quarterback appears to be able to shoulder the weight that comes with the expectations and then some. With Francois dissecting a tired Rebels’ defense, the Seminoles scored 33 unanswered points to grab a 39-28 lead with 12:09 remaining on the fourth of Ricky Aguayo’s school-record six field goals.
The overpowering second half emergence of defense end Walker and the halftime locker room development of redshirt freshman quarterback Deondre Francois quieted FSU critics and change the moods of fans.
Yet it was Swoopes who won it in the end. With 59 rushing yards, Francois’ 478 yards of total offense are the seventh-most by an FSU player.
Kelly guided Ole Miss to a 28-6 lead in the second quarter, but the Seminoles stormed back with 33 unanswered points.
“We didn’t deserve to win the game with the way we played in the second half”, Head Coach Hugh Freeze said.
“In the first half Ole Miss couldn’t do anything wrong”. While he got off to a slow start, he eventually found his groove, leading the Seminoles to nine consecutive scoring drives before running out the clock on the final series. The Rebels were clicking on all cylinders, offensively and defensively, and senior quarterback Chad Kelly was picking the Seminoles’ secondary apart.
In a video that was captured by Showtime Sports, Winston was shown lecturing the Florida State players and urging them to “wake up”.
MS wide receiver Damore’ea Stringfellow catches a pass in front of Florida State defensive back Marcus Lewis during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Monday, Sept. 5, 2016, in Orlando, Fla. Although the ‘Noles could not reach the end zone, Ricky Aguyo hit his third field goal of the game, a 40-yarder, to reduce the lead to 12 on FSU’s first drive.
Sophomore DB Zedrick Woods led the team in tackles with a career-high 11.
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MS starting cornerback Ken Webster and backup running back Eric Swinney will miss the remainder of the season with knee injuries. Man, it has to suck to take two L’s in one night like Cool J. If FSU football can get that kind of support when it comes to neutral site games, they might not be so bad after all. Taking too many risks led to some costly turnovers that allowed Florida State back into the game.
