QB Francois steps it up, improves running game
TALLAHASSEE — After struggling to get any traction, the Florida State offense finally showed flashes of what it could do running new coach Willie Taggart’s Gulf Coast offense during an early series of plays against Northern Illinois.
“Those first two drives could’ve been a bit smoother, but it was good to see what we are capable of and starting fast,” Francois said.
Taggart added, “You saw us run the football, and when we can run the football successfully, that’s when this offense can be what we all know it can be. It was good to start off that way, and we’ve got to put it together for four quarters.”
Short passes and small gains on the ground set the tone during the first two drives. The team rushed for 64 yards on 17 carries. The small gains led to Francois’ long passes. Wide receiver Nyqwan Murray’s opening 3-yard catch set up Francois’ 19-yard throw to wide receiver Keith Gavin.
Running back Cam Akers would rush for 22 yards, setting up wide receiver Tre’Shaun Harrison’s 12-yard reception and the 8-yard touchdown pass to running back Jacques Patrick.
“We did our job at a pretty high level there and we resulted in the end zone,” FSU offensive coordinator Walt Bell said of the first two drives. “Hopefully these kids, what they take from it is: ‘If I just do my job well over and over and over again, we’ll typically cross the white line and everybody will be happy.’ ”
Taggart found success using the jet sweep — when the quarterback motions a receiver before the snap.
Harrison’s first touch was during a jet sweep. He crossed Francois to the outside for 12 yards. Blocks by tight end Tre’ McKitty and Akers opened a clean lane for the gain.
Francois primarily used his wide receivers, though, for the long ball. His connected on a 39-yard throw to Gavin, who had a defender directly beside him, and a 30-yard play-action pass to Murray.
Francois put the ball in a position where his receivers could catch it.
But none of the plays was more impressive than Francois’ 78-yard pass to wide receiver Tamorrion Terry in the fourth quarter. The offensive line did not collapse, giving Francois time to plant his feet and lace a missile to Terry.
Francois passed for 119 yards on four passes in the second half.
During the first half, he completed 19 passes for 233 yards.
“We were up and we wanted to establish the run and get better,” Taggart said when asked about attempting just seven passes in the second half. “That was something we said we wanted to do. And we’re trying to establish an identity and do the things we said we wanted to do in that game, which is running the football, knowing that running would set up some other things for us, especially in the pass game.”
Francois continues to struggle at times with identifying the right receivers downfield. The drive that set up kicker Ricky Aguayo’s first field goal included a potential touchdown pass to Matthews, who was covered by four defenders. Two other receivers were open near both ends of the end zone.
Some mishaps are due to a weak pocket, but others are from blown reads.
“Are there a few plays a game where he can turn his brain off and execute blank?” Bell said on Francois’ reads. “Yes. That’s the point guarding aspect of this offense. That’s where we got to continue to get better.”
Though Francois is not executing the read option well every time, Bell still sees improvement.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Bell said. “Every rep, the speed of game play, seeing different defenses from week to week, they’ve got plans, too. But he’s better every week.” (2,947).
“One of the things is he’s big, he’s physical and he’s extremely fast,” Mullen marveled. “I think that’s the deceptive part of it is all the sudden you think I've got an angle on him, and you don't. He's running away from everybody.
“And then he has the physicality to run between the tackles and the speed to run on the outside.”
The Gators’ one brush this season with a mobile quarterback did not go well.
During Kentucky’s 27-16 upset win Sept. 8 in the Swamp, sophomore Terry Wilson ran for 105 yards on 10 carries and threw touchdowns of 29 and 54 yards.
Wilson also benefits from the presence of tailback Benny Snell, who ran for 175 yards against UF and leads the SEC in rushing.
Meanwhile, Mississippi State senior Aeris Williams has failed to build on a 1,000-yard season in 2017, while Kylin Hill has been slowed by injury since rushing for 211 yards during a Week 2 win against Kansas State.
When forced to carry the load himself, Fitzgerald can be stopped and forced into obvious passing situations, where at times he struggles. Mullen developed Fitzgerald as a passer, but the 22-year-old can suffer bouts of inaccuracy and interceptions.
Fitzgerald completed 55.6 percent of his passes for 15 touchdowns and 11 picks in 2017, solid but unspectacular