’Noles need Francois to keep improving
TALLAHASSEE – Ten minutes in, Florida State was already down by 10 to Wake Forest and the Seminoles looked as rattled as they did during a season-opening loss to Virginia Tech.
Quarterback Deondre Francois completed 2-of-7 passes for 16 yards during that stretch. The result: two three-and-outs.
But Francois then found his footing, going 27-of-33 passing for more than 330 yards. The Seminoles’ running backs scored most of the touchdowns, but Francois still led a strong passing attack.
The Seminoles would go on to beat the Demon Deacons 38-17.
“He was really decisive,” FSU offensive coordinator Walt Bell said of Francois, who was not sacked by Wake Forest after taking a beating most of this season. “That was the most decisive game he played. Just in terms of, not necessarily decision-making but being decisive in terms of his pocket-management skills. Getting up in the pocket, putting a foot in the ground, creating some space for yourself when it allows. You don’t ever want to run yourself into pressure, which we see a lot of people do.
“So to see him improve, that’s a big step.”
Francois began FSU’s first scoring drive perfectly, going 5-of-5 passing for 57 yards. The drive included just six plays and used 1:40 of the clock. Each throw went to a different receiver: D.J. Matthews, Gabe Nabers, Keith Gavin, Tamorrion Terry and Nyqwan “Noonie” Murray.
The offense played at a rapid tempo with a variety of personnel keeping Wake Forest off balance.
“It’s better for us as an offense, knowing defenses can’t just double (Murray) or double Terry, because we have other guys who can make plays, too,” Francois said of distributing the ball to 11 different receivers during the eighth 300-yard passing game of his career.
Francois threw hard and frequently. FSU’s 42 pass plays far outweighed the 28 run plays.
A large percentage of pass plays increases the probability of inaccurate throws, a weakness Clemson or Notre Dame could pounce on this season.
Matthews and Murray were open near the sideline several times against Wake Forest, but Francois missed them.
The quarterback had three obvious miscues in the third quarter.
Francois overthrew Matthews in the red zone, and, up 28-10, FSU had to settle for a field goal.
On another play, in order to catch the ball, Murray had to stop running and shift his momentum toward the sideline. The route Murray took deceived defenders and opened up a lane for an easy touchdown, but the pass pushed him out of bounds.
Instead of forcing Murray to stop mid-stride to catch the short pass, Francois could’ve placed the ball where Murray speed was taking him — downfield.
During that same drive on third-and-5, the Seminoles had another chance at the end zone, but Francois’ post pass was too high for an open Matthews.
Open receivers and space in the secondary will be hard to find Saturday when the Seminoles host No. 2 Clemson, which owns one of the nation’s top defenses.
The Tigers’ defense rank No. 2 nationally on first down, fourth nationally in total defense and fifth nationally in passing yards allowed.
Francois could risk injury if he doesn’t manage pressure from Clemson’s aggressive and physical defensive line, which will be facing off with FSU’s thin offensive line.
Francois’ potential to get hit increases the longer he holds the ball, while the options downfield deteriorate as time passes and a clean pocket evaporates.
But the recurring theme every week remains: the offense will always be limited when Francois is not a run threat.
The run game will have to find success against the 14th-best rushing defense in the country if FSU wants any chance against Clemson.
“I think our best preparation is practice every day,” Bell said of the game plan for Clemson’s defensive line. “For every great one that they’ve got, in practice we’ve got a Brian Burns, we got a (Janarius Robinson) or (Walvenski Aime) or (Demarcus) Christmas or Marvin (Wilson) . ... We get to go against a pretty good group every day, too.”