Ole Miss Rebels

FSU Football vs. Ole Miss In-Depth Recap: What We Learned

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Here’s the most in depth recap of FSU football and their latest game and what we learned from their win over Ole Miss.

In what was one of the wildest – if not THE wildest – games in the history of the Florida State Seminoles football program, FSU set a record by coming back from 22 points down to take out Ole Miss in the season opener Monday night.

It wasn’t pretty to start with (as head coach Jimbo Fisher will be the first to admit), but the Seminoles showed that they had no intention of giving up, even when it looked like the season was going to open with a loss for the first time since the 2009 season.

From a redshirt freshman starting things off at quarterback to a defense that has plenty to work on if they want to be a championship unit, the win over Ole Miss had plenty of points to address.

Here’s a look at what we learned from FSU football’s latest game against the Rebels.

Sep 5, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois (12) throws the ball in the second quarter against the Mississippi Rebels at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

No. 1 – On offense, much of the attention was paid to how Deondre Francois was going to do in his first game as FSU football’s starting quarterback. 419 yards in the air – along with 59 on the ground – later, there weren’t many questions left to be answered. Francois started off shaky like anyone else making their first start, but showed plenty of poise in the second half and won over people when it came to what was once a debate about who should start.

No. 2 – Dalvin Cook is going to end up on the blooper reel for his dropped ball when he was going in for a sure fire touchdown in the second quarter, but there is nothing funny about his 91 yards on the ground and 101 yards receiving. It would have been nice for him to hit the century mark in both categories, but getting over 90 against one of the best defenses and being able to catch the ball consistently (one of the knocks about his game) is something to make everyone smile.

No. 3 – What didn’t make the fans and coaches smile was the play of the offensive line. Far too many penalties to go along with plenty of coverage issues when it came to a Rebels defense that blitzed all the time is something that should concern everyone involved. With Louisville looming in under two weeks, that unit needs a fire lit under them.

Sep 5, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Mississippi Rebels running back Akeem Judd (21) is tackled by Florida State Seminoles defensive back Derwin James (3) and linebacker Matthew Thomas (6) in the third quarter at Camping World Stadium. Florida State Seminoles won 45-34. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

No. 4 – On defense, the hot and cold play of that side of the ball was enough to make people scream for Charles Kelly’s job in the first half and praise his name in the second. You knew that Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly was going to get his when it came to yards and big plays, but early on the Seminoles made it too easy by allow the tight end and slot receivers to run free in the middle of the field.

No. 5 – That being said, plenty of credit has to be given to that side of the ball in the second half, forcing three turnovers (four total for the game) and holding the Rebels to NEGATIVE seven yards in the third quarter alone. Safety Derwin James was a beast with a team leading eight tackles to go along with an interception early on – only matched in “grown man” numbers by DeMarcus Walker, who had a mindboggling four and a half sacks in the game.

No. 6 – If there was any concern about the kicking game heading into the season, that went away with Ricky Aguayo’s record six field goals in the game and Logan Tyler’s massive kickoffs all game long to go along with his decent punts. For Fisher and the rest of the coaches, not having to worry about special teams goes a long way in what could be a championship season.

Sep 5, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles defensive end DeMarcus Walker (44) sacks Mississippi Rebels quarterback Chad Kelly (10) during the second half at Camping World Stadium. Florida State Seminoles defeated the Mississippi Rebels 45-34. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Extra Point

It’s just one game, but this one was big for a variety of reasons. One of the biggest would be that this was an Ole Miss team that, quite frankly, has talked a lot of trash about how great they are without having anything (like a conference title or even a divisional crown) to back it up. It’s yet another win under Fisher against the SEC, which is something that FSU football fans take pride in because of all the smack talk from fans of teams in that conference.

Going For Two

Mad props need to be given to FSU fans that made it to Orlando for Monday’s showdown. It was by far a pro-Seminoles crowd, with plenty of garnet to go around and the Tomahawk Chop constantly going. In the current state of college football, it can be hard to get good teams to actually come to play at the home of other good teams. The Rebels didn’t want to come to Tallahassee (one of the reasons for the people in Orlando to step in and help make this happen), so the Seminoles brought Tallahassee to them. If FSU football can get that kind of support when it comes to neutral site games, they might not be so bad after all.

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