Florida State Football: 3 bold predictions vs. Louisville in Week 5

2. Deondre Francois has second straight big game

At this point, the murmurs for James Blackman supplanting Deondre Francois have almost entirely subsided. Fans were getting antsy after the Seminoles’ early season struggles, but a big day for the troubled passes against a gritty Northern Illinois defense earned Francois some reprieve from the pressure. Next up he gets a Louisville defense that has been relatively pedestrian against the pass so far this season.

Francois doesn’t have to do much at all to overcome a painfully poor 2018 stat line. He’s thrown for five touchdowns and five interceptions so far and should come close to doubling his passing touchdown totals against Louisville. The only thing that could stop him would be repeated big touchdown runs by stud running back Cam Akers.

Akers has been somewhat limited in terms of production in 2018 as well. A strong start by Francois should elevate his play by giving the defense more than one threat in the backfield at any one time. If Florida State can get both of those guys going, it’s game over for Louisville.

Francois has enough talent to take this game over by himself if he wanted to. He’s come a long way since he struggled against a very different Louisville team as a freshman in 2016. He’ll get three touchdowns against them this go around, with the possibility for more if Taggart leaves him in late.