Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois (12) runs past the MS defense for yardage during the closing moments of the second half of an NCAA college football game, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016, in Orlando, Fla.
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From that point on, FSU’s embarrassed defense – led by 4.5 sacks from defensive end and Sandalwood High product DeMarcus Walker – flipped a switch by holding Ole Miss to minus-7 total yards in the third quarter and forcing three second-half turnovers.
“The thing about it, he bounced back, and that’s what he did in practice”, FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said of Francois.
Ole Miss starting cornerback Ken Webster was carted off the field with a left knee injury early in the first quarter against Florida State on Monday night.
Kelly tossed a third interception late in a frantic comeback bid and had four turnovers on the night.
But that Panthers’ team was nowhere near the level of Ole Miss, which made Francois’ performance even more impressive given the 22-point deficit he had to overcome.
In fact, many of Francois’ completions were dinks and dunks, but left uncovered they were lethal. The fumble cost Florida State four points after the Ole Miss defence held them to a field-goal, and when Akeem Judd ran into the endzone from 17 yards out on the ensuing drive, Hugh Freeze’s Rebels were 28-6 up and seemingly on their way to a comfortable victory.
The Rebels played six cornerbacks in the game and struggled at all positions to take away the short passing game. Kelly threw up a 50/50 ball to the corner of the endzone with his next pass, and an excellent tip by D.K. Metcalf helped him make the touchdown grab over the Seminole defensive back.
The FSU defense couldn’t stop the peewee team down the street in the second quarter. Brown and Evan Engram, Damore’ea Stringfellow hauled in a slant from Kelly to cap a six-play 75-yard drive less than two minutes after kickoff.
Francois’ first touchdown didn’t come until he passed 16 yards to Travis Rudolph just 28 seconds before halftime, and it came with a price.
He showed no effects after halftime, as FSU outgained Ole Miss 214 to minus-7 in the third quarter. For a while, Ole Miss looked destined for a jump into the top 10, but things unraveled in the second half.
He often targeted Engram, who had seven catches in the half.
Right from the get-go, the Rebels offence laid down a marker in the game’s opening possession.
Ole Miss nickel back Tony Conner – trying to make a comeback from two surgeries to fix a torn meniscus suffered in Week 3 a year ago – gave up a big play in pass coverage in the first quarter, and his playing time diminished as the half wore on.
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On a broken play, Francois rushed for 30 yards to the two after choosing to keep the ball on a designed-option run, with full-back Freddie Stevenson barreling his way into the endzone two plays later to cut the gap to five.
