In his Florida State debut, Deondre Francois seizes the moment

BOX SCORE: Florida State 45, Ole Miss 34

-----------------

ORLANDO -- She couldn't quite put her finger on it. All Janice Francois knew was that something was wrong.

Her son, Florida State redshirt freshman quarterback Deondre Francois, was not acting or playing like her son. Some of his attempts were not accurate. There were moments when his calm demeanor appeared shaken.

"Something just wasn't right," Janice Francois told Warchant after Monday's season opener. "Now, the second half? I said, 'That's my son! That's who I know! There it goes!'"

Playing in his hometown on national television in prime time, the college football galaxy was officially introduced to Deondre Francois, and FSU's electric young quarterback threw for 419 yards and two touchdowns in his first collegiate game. He also ran for 59 yards to lead the No. 4 Seminoles' 45-34 comeback win over No. 11 Ole Miss at Camping World Stadium.

Finally, the unknown was known. Not that one game tells everything, but FSU (1-0) was listless, having fallen behind 28-6 in the first half until Francois threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to trim the lead to 28-13 with 28 seconds left in the second quarter.

Right when he released the ball, Francois was leveled with a punishing hit. He was down for a few moments but was able to get up and recover.

"All [the hits] were hard. I haven't been hit since high school," Francois told reporters. "Every lick was pretty hard, but that's football. I love it. Every time I got hit, it made me want to score even more."

Francois and FSU's offense didn't do it alone; they were sparked by a pair of third-quarter turnovers -- an interception from defensive back Marcus Lewis and a forced fumble by DeMarcus Walker. But once they took control, the Seminoles would go on to score 33 straight points to take a 39-28 lead early in the fourth quarter. In all, FSU scored on nine consecutive possessions.

"We said the score was '0-0,'" junior offensive tackle Rod Johnson said of the Seminoles' halftime mindset. "We're just going to do our job, play ball and have fun. Deondre had a heck of a game. He showed very good leadership skills. He's very mature, and he's just one good quarterback."

Francois opened the third quarter with three straight completions, leading to freshman placekicker Ricky Aguayo drilling a 40-yard field goal to cut the Rebels' lead to 28-16.

His first pass on the next series was errant, but on the second play, Francois showed why he's more than a passer with a strong arm. The Rebels sent pressure, and Francois turned it into a 31-yard run that set up another touchdown. Suddenly, the Seminoles were trailing by just five points, 28-23, with 11:28 remaining in the third quarter.

Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly was sacked and fumbled on the following drive, and it set FSU up at the Rebels' 11. Three plays later, FSU scored again to take a 29-28 edge.

Yet what might have been Francois' defining drive was the next one. On a third-and-10, Francois broke off another 31-yard run and then threw an eight-yard pass to Da'Vante Phillips. Francois connected with tight end Ryan Izzo for a 29-yard pass and then threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Izzo for a 36-28 advantage with 4:12 left.

"I'm not surprised, but I wouldn't have been surprised if he would have [struggled]. There was a couple times that he got a little shook on the sidelines," Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher said of Francois' poise. "The thing about it, he bounced back, and that's what he did in practice."