Florida State had to have it.
They had to preserve a winning streak against rival Miami. They had to avoid a three-loss ACC season for the first time since 2011. They had to give Jimbo Fisher a reason to stick to his word and keep the LSU talk off the radar.
DeMarcus Walker provided that with a blocked extra point that perhaps made up for years of “Wide Rights” and “Wide Lefts” to give No. 23 Florida State a 20-19 victory against No. 10 Miami (4-1, 2-1). That’s the play of the game.
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Florida State’s Deondre Francois is the player. He helped clinch Florida State's victory with two third-quarter TD passes and a scramble for a first down in the final two minutes. Francois finished 20 of 31 passing for 234 yards with a shoulder injury and withstood several hard hits from the Hurricanes.
“When your quarterback’s not tough, your team is not tough,” Fisher said on the ABC telecast afterward. “When your quarterback is tough, you have a tough team.”
That toughness allowed the Seminoles to cross that list of “had to” off. The Seminoles have a seven-game win streak in that rivalry now. The Jimbo-to-LSU talk will die down, and Florida State (4-2, 1-2) can look to keep rolling in the second half with Francois, a redshirt freshman with a bright future.
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Francois’ first six starts have seen ups (419 yards in a victory against Ole Miss), downs (101 yards in a loss against Louisville) and ups-and-downs (372 yards in a loss to North Carolina). Still, that’s pretty good.
He showed poise in the third quarter with the Seminoles trailing 13-3. Francois flipped a 59-yard touchdown pass to Dalvin Cook on a wheel route with 8:06 left then hit Kermit Whitfield for a 20-yard TD for a 17-13 lead.
Florida State rode Cook (150 rushing yards), converted 9 of 17 on third down and survived another high-drama battle with the Hurricanes. Francois won the head-to-head battle with Miami’s Brad Kaaya, who did put the Hurricanes in position to tie with an 11-yard TD pass to Stacy Coley with 1:38 remaining. That’s when Walker blocked the extra point.
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That’s probably not going to be enough for Florida State to catch Clemson and Louisville in the ACC Atlantic race, but it kept those slim hopes alive. It’s also another step for Francois’ progression. Two wins against ranked teams isn’t bad — and Florida State has Wake Forest and a bye week before Clemson comes to Tallahassee.
They’ll have to have that one, too. Francois will give them a chance.
