Taggart: Better decisions from QB

TALLAHASSEE — Florida State’s offense has struggled to earn first downs this season.

FSU has earned 48 first downs this season — 12 against Virginia Tech, 25 against Samford and 11 against Syracuse — while the defense has allowed opponents to pick up 63.

While the offensive line has taken responsibility for the stalled offense, FSU coach Willie Taggart says the unit is only part of the problem.

Taggart said quarterback Deondre Francois sometimes backs out of the pocket, making it easier for a rushing defensive end to sack him.

“There’s times where he’s got to hitch up in the pocket too and not sit back at the top of his drop and be a sitting duck,” Taggart said. “So there’s things from a quarterback technique, things he can be a little better at too in hitching up to avoid some of those hits that he’s getting.”

During the last drive of the first half against Syracuse, Francois began a first-and-10 in the shotgun. After the snap, he stepped back 2 yards and looked to pass to running back Jacques Patrick. Francois never re-entered the pocket and got sacked.

Following the sack, Francois placed a 20-yard pass perfectly into the hands of wide receiver Nyqwan Murray. The quarterback would thread the needle again to Murray for a 16-yard reception and complete a tight 8-yard pass to wide receiver Keith Gavin to end the half.

“I’m comfortable throwing the ball on the run,” Francois said on finding comfort moving around in the pocket. “I think that’ll help the protection a little bit, too.”

Francois has failed to rack up many short-yardage plays this season. The majority of his passes are for long yardage, which contributes to the shortage of first downs. Francois leads the ACC in 20-plus yard pass completions with 14.

This either means Francois is getting pressured too soon off the ball or his receivers are not breaking open.

“We just have to catch more balls,” Matthews said. “Get more into our routes faster. Just be precise. Just help him out. I know he is taking a beating some times. We just have to help him out.”

Taggart and his staff expect Francois to get better with each game, learning from each snap and making up for time he lost sitting out full-contact spring football workouts.

His next test will come Saturday against Northern Illinois.