Jameis may be two years removed from his collegiate days with FSU, but he wants to see his team succeed, and will undoubtedly do everything in his power to see that happen.
Advertisement
Florida State rallied in the second half for a 45-34 win over their SEC opponent.
After the second-half kickoff, it was all Florida State. When Florida State fell behind 28-6 midway through the second quarter, Winston again told Francois to be a leader and keep a smile on his face despite everything that was going wrong. Wideout Travis Rudolph and tight end Ryan Izzo both caught touchdown passes in the win. Engram posted a catch of 14 yards in the first quarter and another of 26 yards in the second. Credit has to be given to Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher for this rapid turnaround.
Then came the pivotal drive in the game, with FSU moving 75 yards in nine plays; the drive lasted 2:36 and ended with a TD pass on a third-and 10 from the 16 that made it 28-13. Ole Miss was forcing a supposedly electric Florida State offense into an array of mental mistakes.
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.
This was a well-executed play by the Florida State offense.
Heisman hopeful running back Dalvin Cook was expected to lead the Seminoles, but he struggled to find holes against Ole Miss’ tough front seven. The Seminoles were flagged for 11 of their 15 penalties in the first two quarters and a leaky offensive line didn’t give Francois enough time to ravage Mississippi’s soft secondary.
Freshman kicker Ricky Aguayo, brother of former Seminoles All-American Roberto Aguayo, went 6-for-6 on field goals in his debut.
He converted from 25, 21, 40, 40, 44 and 30 yards.
FSU held a 28-5 advantage in shots with 18 shots after halftime but could not beat US freshman keeper Justice Stanford, who had eight stops in just her second collegiate start. Ken Webster is out for the season with a knee injury, Eric Swinney appears to be out for an extended period of time with a knee injury as well. He was carted off the field. The Rebels scored again early in the 4th, bringing the game back to one possession.
ESPN’s streaming audience set new all-time highs for a regular season ESPN college football game with an average minute audience of 231,000 viewers and a total of 854,000 unique viewers viewing 59,700,000 minutes overall. Kelly found receiver D.K. Metcalf, who battled a Florida State defensive back for the ball, for a 3-yard score in the second.
Sports headlines from Albany Herald.
Advertisement
Success! An email has been sent with a link to confirm list signup.
