Ole Miss vs Florida State: Highlights, score and recap
Monday night’s Ole Miss vs Florida State game was one of the more anticipated contests of opening week and the Seminoles recorded a huge victory.
Florida State opened the season ranked No. 4 in the country while Ole Miss sat at No. 11, both looking to make a statement and jump into the College Football Playoff conversation early on. Nothing will do that more than beating a top-ranked team in week one.
Playing a “neutral-site game” at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla., the Seminoles and Rebels were playing dangerously close to Florida State’s stomping grounds. The ACC needs to make as many statements early on against the SEC as possible because the conference doesn’t get much recognition.
The game started quickly with an Ole Miss touchdown from Chad Kelly to Damore’ea Stringfellow to set the tone. The Rebels wound up scoring three more touchdowns in the first half to take a 28-6 lead before a quick Florida State touchdown before halftime made it 28-13 Ole Miss.
Florida State opened the second half with some fire, kicking a field goal and scoring three touchdowns within the first 10-plus minutes of the third quarter. Redshirt freshman Deondre Francois was looking solid in his first start.
The second half was all Florida State as the Seminoles’ defense shut down Ole Miss, holding them to just six points and taking the victory, 45-34. Florida State made a statement.
Three Stars
Deondre Francois: The redshirt freshman just jumped into the Heisman race with 420 passing yards and 59 rushing yards with two total touchdowns.
Dalvin Cook: Although he had just 4.0 yards per carry with 91 total rushing yards, Cook was effective in the pass game, catching seven balls for 101 yards.
Jesus Wilson: The senior receiver emerged on offense as a viable target for Francois, catching a game-high nine passes for 125 yards.
Highlights
Kelly to Stringfellow. Rebels take the 7-0 lead early. #SidelineCam https://t.co/pF4u0bz06k
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 6, 2016
#FSU DB Derwin James @derwinjames6 gets the interception, jumping in front of Chad Kelly's pass #FSUvsOleMiss pic.twitter.com/HrJBU54P6l
— Ben Bolton (@BBoltonMedia) September 6, 2016
Chad Kelly has an amazing ability to throw at a defender who will swat the ball into his WRs hands for 6 https://t.co/tyDqZIDXD1
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) September 6, 2016
Chad Kelly with a nice touchdown throw. #MISSvsFSU https://t.co/ygqzfN2bnl
— JAiHAWKFLY℠ (@JAiHAWKFLY) September 6, 2016
Nice little, nifty TD run by Akeem Judd for the touchdown. #OleMiss pic.twitter.com/cgmVtqAphr
— Curtis (@Curtos07) September 6, 2016
When you're so excited about the TD you're about to score...you forget to bring the ball with you.https://t.co/mA4QxhIaA6#FSUvsOleMiss
— My2CentsOnSports (@My2CentsOnSport) September 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/AudibleSports/status/772989516382670848
Francois is ON! His 2nd TD of the game to extend Florida State's lead. This one to Izzo. #MISSvsFSU https://t.co/WmyVrFtdyu
— Jonathan Valencia (@JonValenciaDTSN) September 6, 2016
Kelly picked off by Tarvarus McFadden https://t.co/k8ipAi0aWs
— Ty Wurth (@lostyhighway) September 6, 2016
Betting Odds
Related Story: 27 most shocking college football upsets ever
The Seminoles were 5.5-point favorites and the over/under was set at 59 points. Florida State covered the spread with a huge comeback in the second half and the over/under was easily surpassed with a combined 79 points.
Looking Ahead
Florida State hosts Charleston Southern on a short week, which will be a nice tune-up game for No. 19 Louisville the following week. Ole Miss will also have a warmup game against Wofford on Sept. 10 before playing No. 1 Alabama the following week in the SEC opener.