Deondre Francois

FSU Football's Top Questions Heading Into Orange Bowl: No. 5

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:19 p.m. ET

Fansided, Jason Parker/FanSided via Chop Chat

FSU football is preparing for their Orange Bowl showdown against Michigan – here’s one crucial question heading into the matchup.

For the 46th time in program history, FSU football will be playing another football game to end the season. After a early part of the 2016 season that had many wondering if the ‘Noles would go to a decent bowl game, a late season surge and some help from others means the Seminoles are heading to a New Years Six game for the third straight season.

December 30th, Florida State will be playing their second game of the year inside Hard Rock Stadium – this time against the Michigan Wolverines in the Capital One Orange Bowl. The game features two of the best players in the country, two of the top coaches in the game and two teams that had aspirations of being in the College Football Playoff when the season started.

The game will present challenges for both teams with plenty of questions left to be answered. Here’s one of the most important questions heading into the third ever meeting between the ‘Noles and the Wolverines.

No. 5 – Can the ‘Noles keep Deondre Francois upright for most of the game against the Michigan defense?

It’s no secret that the first two months of the year did not go well for the redshirt freshman quarterback, as he spent far more time being picked up off the turf or inside the medical tent on the sidelines than he should have. The last month, however, has seen D12 being protected and the results are a direct result.

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So far this season, the Seminoles have faced six of the top 25 ranked total defenses in all of college football. That number will become seven when the top ranked defense of the Wolverines head to South Florida – bringing along their 44 sacks to go along with the top ranked passing defense in the country.

Francois and the offensive line have grown up as the season has gone on – but this will be a different kind of animal they will face in the Orange Bowl. The Wolverines are a physical bunch that FSU football got a taste of in their final regular season game against Florida, but amped up by about 200 percent since all the Michigan starters are going to be healthy.

The reality is that the Wolverines are going to get theirs and may knock Francois on his butt a couple times and make him wince every once in a while. Where FSU football needs to counter that is plenty of quick hitting passes and shotgun formations to give D12 whatever time they can to avoid being sent back to the M*A*S*H unit over on the sideline.