In his second career start, Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois passed for 262 yards and three touchdowns as the Seminoles routed Charleston Southern in their first game at a revamped Doak Campbell Stadium, 52-8.
FSU scored on its first three possessions and never looked back. Two of Francois’ three touchdown throws went to junior Travis Rudolph while the other was the first in the career of sophomore receiver Auden Tate. Francois was intercepted once in the win — the first pick of his career. Junior running back Dalvin Cook rushed for 83 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 11 carries in the win.
Charleston Southern (1-2), who was shorthanded with 14 players suspended, got its only touchdown on a busted coverage by FSU late in the first half. Robert Mitchell found Kameron Brown for a 57-yard score to make it 35-6 at the break. The Buccaneers would add a safety in the fourth quarter on a mishandled snap by Seminoles’ backup quarterback J.J. Consentino.
Jacques Patrick also scored his first touchdown of the year for the Seminoles (2-0) in the win. Jesus Wilson’s 89-yard punt return for a touchdown late in the first quarter was the first for Florida State since Tyler Hunter took one back against Duke in October 2012.
FSU finished with 438 yards on the day to Charleston Southern’s 294. After forcing four turnovers in the season-opening win over Ole Miss, Florida State finished the day with three takeaways on Saturday — all on fumbles.
Florida State is 2-0 for the sixth straight year and now 7-0 in home openers under head coach Jimbo Fisher, but Saturday’s win may have come with a price. In the third quarter, sophomore safety Derwin James left the game with an apparent left leg injury and did not return.
Florida State was able to run the nation’s longest home winning streak to 22 games on Saturday and will play its first true road game next week against Louisville. The Buccaneers will have a week off before visiting Monmouth on Sept. 24.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
Mitch White/FSU athletics
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