Box Score: FSU 28, Louisville 24
Deondre Francois passed for four touchdowns, including a stunning 58-yarder to Nyqwan Murray in the final two minutes, to lift Florida State past Louisville, 28-24, on Saturday in Cardinals Stadium.
The win lifted Florida State's record to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. It helped the Seminoles avoid what could have been only the second 0-3 start in ACC play in school history.
It also gave first-year head coach Willie Taggart his first ACC win.
For a while Saturday, it appeared as if the Seminoles might actually get blown out by the Cardinals, as Louisville took a 21-7 lead into halftime and had opportunities to extend that advantage in the third quarter.
But FSU got back in the game with a nice punt return by D.J. Matthews and a 55-yard touchdown strike from Deondre Francois to Tamorrion Terry; that cut the Seminoles' deficit to 21-14 late in the third.
Then after the Cardinals (2-3, 0-2) pushed their lead back to 10 points with a field goal, Francois engineered another touchdown drive to slice the margin to three. FSU converted a pair of fourth downs to keep the drive going, then Francois connected with tight end Tre' McKitty on a 25-yard touchdown pass to make it 24-21.
Despite the rally, Florida State's fate appeared to be sealed as Louisville went on a time-consuming drive late in the fourth quarter. But the Cardinals inexplicably threw a pass on a first-and-10 deep in FSU territory, and it was intercepted by safety A.J. Wetbrook with under three minutes remaining.
Moments later, Francois hit Murray with a pass over the middle, and Murray out-raced several Louisville defensive backs to the end zone.
Although there were several rough patches, this was Florida State's most productive offensive performance against a Power 5 opponent this season. The Seminoles had averaged just 5.0 points in their first two games against that level of competition -- seven points vs. Syracuse and three against Virginia Tech.
Francois finished with 294 yards on 16-of-27 passing; he had four touchdowns with no interceptions. Murray led FSU's receivers with six catches for 114 yards and two scores.
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