Deondre Francois threw for a season-high 352 yards and two touchdown passes as Florida State used an efficient first-half offense en route to a 37-19 win over Northern Illinois on Saturday.
- Willie Taggart recorded his first win over an FBS opponent as FSU head coach
- Orlando native Deondre Francois had his seventh career 300-yd passing day
- WR Keith Gavin set career highs in receptions and yards
Francois had his seventh career 300-yard day, completing 23 of 31 passes. The junior had a 78-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman Tamorrion Terry and an 8-yard TD pass to Jacques Patrick.
The Seminoles held a players-only meeting early in the week and coach Willie Taggart saw a re-energized performance in practice that was also reflected against the Huskies.
“A lot of that had to do with just our players, their commitment to getting better,” Taggart said. “It started this week. They decided they were going to get better. They decided they were going to practice better and hold each other accountable. And it paid off for them. We need them to continue to do that.”
Despite using a fourth different starting lineup on the offensive line, the Seminoles generated a season-high 473 yards against the Huskies. Florida State was at its best in the first half, generating four scoring drives as the Seminoles took a 20-7 lead.
The Seminoles (2-2) gave Taggart his first win over an FBS opponent in 2018. Florida State’s other win came against Samford on Sept. 8.
Ricky Aguayo had made just one of four field-goal attempts coming into the game but connected on three kicks — from 50 yards and twice from 42 yards. It was the fifth time in his career that Aguayo has made three or more field goals.
Marcus Childers tossed a pair of touchdown passes, including a 66-yard catch-and-run to D.J. Brown. Childers completed 20 of 41 passes for 215 yards and also had an 11-yard touchdown run for NIU (1-3), which was forced to punt eight times and couldn’t convert a pair of fourth-down conversions.
“I think we were in a fight, we were swinging and just didn’t land some of our punches,” NIU coach Rod Carey said. “We didn’t do enough offensively.”
Florida State held NIU to 6 rushing yards on 20 carries, the lowest total allowed by the Seminoles since 2008.
Keith Gavin set career highs for catches (six) and receiving yards (93) in the first half for the Seminoles, who won their 15th consecutive nonconference home game.
THE TAKEAWAY
Northern Illinois: The Huskies were ranked 128th out of 130 FBS teams in scoring offense coming into Saturday and needed 19 minutes to earn their initial first down. NIU scored its first-half touchdown with the benefit of a short field, starting at Florida State’s 23 after the Huskies recovered a fumble. That set up Childers’ TD pass to Jauan Wesley.
Florida State: The Seminoles had 23 first downs and were efficient, relative to the previous three games, despite losing three fumbles. Florida State ran a season-high 88 plays.
UP NEXT
Northern Illinois: The Huskies will return to MAC play at Eastern Michigan next Saturday.
Florida State: The Seminoles will travel to play ACC opponent Louisville next Saturday.