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Florida State demolishes undermanned Charleston Southern

By Tim Kaiser

Sep 10, 2016, in Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois (12) warms up prior to the game against Charleston Southern at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 10, 2016, in Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois (12) warms up prior to the game against Charleston Southern at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports /
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Florida State dominated every aspect of the game to cruise to the easy victory over Charleston Southern.

After two weeks, you would be hard-pressed to find a team that has looked better than the Florida State Seminoles. Last week, they came back from 22 down to blow out Ole Miss on a neutral field. In their home opener this week, there was no need for a comeback. The Seminoles jumped out to a 28-0 lead over Charleston Southern and never looked back. When the horn finally mercifully sounded, Florida State beat the FCS foe 52-8.

Redshirt freshman Deondre Francois and the Seminoles offense picked up right where they left off. They scored on their first four drives and five of their first six. Francois threw for three touchdowns on 25-of-32 passing for 262 yards. The first two touchdown strikes of 36 and 21 yards went to Travis Rudolph. Rudolph has emerged as Francois’ favorite receiver on the field, and everyone else’s off it.  The rookie’s lone blemish was an interception right before halftime as he was trying to lead a two-minute drill.

Dalvin Cook did Dalvin Cook things. The Heisman hopeful ran for 83 yards on just 11 carries (7.5 yards per rush) and two touchdowns.

The defense held Charleston Southern to less than 300 yards of total offense and forced three fumbles. Freshman defensive end Brian Burns led the way with two, sacks, three tackles for loss and a forced fumble.

Not to be left out of the fun, the Florida State special teams had a day to remember as well. Jesus Wilson returned a punt 89 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, the Seminoles first since 2012. Ricky Aguayo capped the scoring with a career-long 46-yard field goal and went 7-for-7 on extra points.

must read: Top 25 Breakout Players of 2016

This win comes with a giant asterisk on top of the asterisk of it already being an FCS opponent. Although ranked seventh in FCS, Charleston Southern was missing 14 players due to suspension.

What’s Next

The Seminoles travel to Louisville next week to take on the high-powered Cardinals offense led by dark-horse Heisman candidate Lamar Jackson. Lee Corso let it slip early, and it was confirmed Saturday night, Louisville will host GameDay next week.  Kickoff is at noon on ABC.

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