Florida State sophomore Francois wants more consistency
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Deondre Francois had an appropriate answer when he assessed his performance last season — bumpy.
The Florida State quarterback is hoping things go a little smoother in his sophomore season.
“I feel like last year was a blessing because I learned a lot. Every game, I feel like a learned a lot,” he said. “I know my strengths and my weaknesses. I have to continue to focus on my strengths and don't forget about them just to get my weaknesses up. But get my weaknesses up too.”
As Florida State's second freshman quarterback in four seasons, Francois led the Seminoles to 10 wins, directed six fourth-quarter rallies (including four wins) and threw for the fifth-most yards in school history (3,350).
That would be judged as a successful season for most freshmen quarterbacks. However, when the standard at Florida State is Jameis Winston — who won the Heisman and led the program to its third national championship in 2013 as a freshman — it is considered good.
“Obviously it wasn't a year that Jameis had as a freshman, but it was a whole lot better than the kind of year most freshman had,” said offensive coordinator Randy Sanders. “There's obviously opportunities for him to improve.”
Francois said that he talks with Winston from time to time and that the biggest advice Winston gave him was to listen to what coach Jimbo Fisher tells him and to not necessarily take the method how Fisher does it to heart.
Fisher, who can be tough on quarterbacks, senses a more confident Francois and hopes he can build on that.
“Last year he proved he could do it on the field. You watch situational football, as good as anybody,” Fisher said. “He can do the things he did last year, and he can grow in other areas.”
The biggest areas where Francois wants to improve are accuracy and getting rid of the ball quicker. He completed 58.8 percent of his passes, which was 66th among 100 quarterbacks in the Football Bowl Subdivision to average 15 or more pass attempts per game.