Florida State (2-0) came out of the gates firing against Charleston Southern (1-2) in the ‘Noles home opener. Francois and the Seminoles cruised to a 52-6 victory in a game that was all but decided in the first quarter.
Francois found Rudolph from 36 yards out on the opening possession to give the ‘Noles the early 7-0 lead. Florida State was able to take full advantage of Back-to-Back Charleston Southern fumbles in the Buccaneers first two possession. Dalvin Cook was able to sneak into the end zone to extend the lead to 14-0. Francois once again connected with Rudolph from 21 yards out this time making it 21-0.
Francois would not play too deep into the second half of his home opener, but when he was on the field he was good. In his Tallahassee debut, the freshmen QB threw for 262 passing yards and three touchdowns on 32 attempts.
“I could have been better, I’m still learning.” Deondre Francois said when asked about his performance “ There’s a lot of things we can learn from watching the film.”
Heisman hopeful Dalvin Cook had yet another slow half, rushing for just 37 yards on nine carries against a Charleston Southern team that has been crippled by suspensions.
Jesus Wilson capped off a strong first half for Florida State with a 89 yard punt return, the first FSU punt return since Tyler Hunter did it in 2012 against Duke.
“We gave him some room to make the return” Head coach Jimbo Fisher said “He is a really talented fast guy, we just have to give him the room to make plays,”
Charleston Southern joined the action with just a few minutes to play in the half; CSU quarterback Robert Mitchell was able to find Kameron Brown for a 57-yard touchdown on what looked to be basic blown coverage on safety Derwin James.
The second half was much of the same; Dalvin Cook had a very important run just five minutes into the 3rd quarter. From 37-yards out Cook broke a few tackles and really showed off his aggressive running style that many Florida State fans have been waiting to see while also extending the lead to 42-6.
FSU would tag on another touchdown and field goal in the 4th quarter, while Charleston Southern added a safety on their side bringing us to our final score of 52-6.
It was never in question who would win this game, FSU needed to play the game well enough to keep head coach Jimbo Fisher happy and avoid injury. They did one of the two.
Safety Derwin James, who is one of the most import pieces of this Florida State defense, injured what look to be like his knee on a blown coverage pass that forced him across the field to make a play. Fisher said he will not know how sever the injury is until James sees a doctor.
Florida State will return to action this Saturday when they travel to take on Lamar Jackson and the Louisville Cardinals at 12 P.M.
