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No. 2 Virginia Rallies To Hold Off Florida State, 59-51

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Devon Hall scored 17 points and No. 2 Virginia rallied in the second half to beat Florida State 59-51 at Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee on Wednesday night.

Ty Jerome added 15 and five rebounds and Kyle Guy scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half for the Cavaliers (23-1, 12-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who found back from a 10 points halftime deficit to stay unbeaten in conference play.

“They were hitting tough shots and slipping a lot of ball screens in the first half,” said Guy.

“We knew their pressure might wear down. When you see that defense for 40 minutes we are going to eventually get our way.”

Only MJ Walker, who scores 10 points reached double-digit scoring for Florida State, which lost two of the last three games.

Phil Cofer was the next best scorer for the Seminoles (17-6, 6-6) with nine points.

Florida State led by as many as 11 points in the first half and led for 32:26, but was unable to turn that into a win against the Cavaliers, who owns the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense this season.

“The pack line, it’s definitely hard,” Cofer said. “They’re backing up so much that you don’t know whether it’s a good shot or a bad shot. That’s what kind of messed us up a little bit.”

As a team, the Seminoles shot almost 48 percent in the first half and made five 3-pointers.

However, the home side shot just 1-for-10 from long-range in the second half and 7-of-22 from the field overall, which opened the door for Virginia to come back and secure the win after shooting 45 percent in the second 20 minutes of the contest.

Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said after the defeat: “If there’s one thing about the ACC, you can’t have a pity party. You got to learn from your shortcomings.

“I thought we put ourselves in a pretty good position against a very good basketball team and came up short.”

NEXT TIME

Virginia will next play host to Virginia Tech on Saturday, hoping to complete the season sweep, following a 78-52 victory in the first meeting 78-52 on Jan. 3.

Meanwhile, Florida State will make the trip to South Bend, Indiana to take on Notre Dame on Saturday.

No. 24 Florida State Held On To Beat No. 12 North Carolina

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Braian Angola scored 20 points and No. 24 Florida State held on for an 81-80 victory over No. 12 North Carolina on Wednesday night.

Angola shot 6 of 10 from the floor and grabbed five rebounds, while C.J. Walker added 18 points and made four 3-pointers in the win for the Seminoles (12-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who survived to win their 28th straight at home.

“I feel mission accomplished. That was the most important thing,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.

“The last 36 hours have been tough for me. I’ve had tougher things to overcome, maybe not as painful. This makes the pain worth it.”

Terance Mann ended with 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Noles, who created additional stress with a big mistake with 35 seconds remaining, but held on for the victory.

“We can get on each other and still not let it affect us,” said Walker.

“They made a run but our team called each other out, told what we had to do. And we executed.”

Florida State led Duke last Saturday in the final moments, but missed their final eight shots and lost.

Hamilton was delighted with his team’s overall attitude in the battling win.

“I thought we kind of grew up a little,” the coach said. “Had we not got the stops and gotten big rebounds and executed on the defensive and offensive end at the same time, it would’ve been very difficult to pull this out.”

He added: “I thought our guys really came together. Their body language changed in the timeout.

“They were calling each other out. Holding each other accountable. … That’s what you like to see from a team as young as ours.”

Joel Berry II led North Carolina with 28 points after scoring just seven in the first half.

Kenny Williams added 18 points and seven rebounds and Luke Maye finished with 14 points and six boards for the Tar Heels (12-3, 1-1), who trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half.

The game was tied 5 times, while there were eight lead changes.

Download Complete Box Score

No. 24 Florida State Routs Southern Mississippi, 98-45

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — PJ Savoy led three Florida State players in double-digit scoring off the bench and the No. 24 Seminoles beat Southern Mississippi 98-45 in Tallahassee on Thursday.

Savoy had 17 points and seven rebounds, while M.J. Walker added 15 points and Mfiondu Kabengele ended with 12 points for Florida State (11-1), which had 13 players in the scoring sheet.

Savoy and Walker each made five 3-pointers, as the hosts hit 19 shots from beyond the arc – one shy of the school-record of 20, set in Dec. 2007 against Maine.

Sophomore guard Trent Forrest dished out 12 assists, two more than the entire Southern Mississippi team.

No Southern Miss players reached double-figures in scoring and the visitors shot a season-low 29.5 percent from the field (18 of 61) and missed 20 of its 24 attempts from 3-point range.

Eddie Davis III, Cortez Edward and Anfernee Hampton each scored eight points for the Golden Eagles (7-5), who saw its four-game winning streak snapped.

The Conference USA outfits were among the top five teams averaging the fewest turnovers in Division I, at 8.8 per game, but committed a season-worst 20 against FSU, and it also cost them 21 points.

It was the second successive season Southern Mississippi was losing heavily to Florida State, having lost 98-49 on Dec. 6, last season.

The Noles led 47-21 at halftime and extended that lead to as many as 57 in the second half, as they went on to improve their home win streak to 27 straight games, which is the third-longest active streak in Division I after Cincinnati (32) and SMU (31).

Next up for Florida State is its Atlantic Coast Conference opener on Dec. 30 at No. 4 Duke.

Southern Mississippi will next face Mississippi State on Friday in Jackson.

Complete Box Scores and Play by Play Commentary

Oklahoma State Upsets Previous Unbeaten No. 19 Florida State, 71-70

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SUNRISE, FL, Sporting Alert – No. 19 Florida State is no longer one of the undefeated teams in the country.

The Seminoles (9-1) entered this weekend as one of six unbeaten teams in the nation, but fell 71-70 to Oklahoma State in the opening game of the Orange Bowl Classic doubleheader at the BB&T Center, here in Sunrise, Fla., on Saturday.

Senior Jeffrey Carroll, returning to the starting lineup for Oklahoma State, scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the way for the travelers, who held on for the win, despite shooting less than 40 percent.

Mitchell Solomon added 12 points, including the winning bucket with six seconds remaining to go with 11 rebounds for the Cowboys (8-2), who also got 12 points from Tavarius Shine, who made a big 3-pointer to break a 64-64 deadlock with 2:56 left.

Phil Cofer finished with a career-high 22 points and made 5 shots from 3-pointers to lead the way for Florida State, but missed a key free throw with less than one minute to play.

Terance Mann ended with 20 points on 9 of 15 shooting to go with 14 rebounds for the Noles, who had won nine straight coming into this game.

Mfiondu Kabengele scored 12 points off the bench for the Seminoles, who shot 41 percent overall as a team and 40 percent from 3-point range.

FINAL SCORE: Florida State Beats Loyola-Maryland 96-71

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Sporting Alert – Braian Angola scored 18 points and Florida State beat Loyola-Maryland 96-71 to improve to 8-0 for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

CJ Walker added 15 points, six assists and three steals, while M.J. Walker ended with 14 points, including four 3-pointers for the Seminoles, who remained undefeated this season.

Also reaching double figures on the night was Phil Cofer, who has 12 points and Terance Mann, who finished with 11 points and seven rebounds for Florida State, which led by as many as 26 with 6:33 remaining.

Chuck Champion and Isaiah Hart each scored 15 points for Loyola-Maryland, with Ian Langendoerfer also ending in double figures with 10 points and five rebounds for the Greyhounds (1-7), who have lost four in a row.

As a team, FSU, which has won 25 straight at home, shot a season-high 58 percent and made 11 for 24 from 3-pointers.

Loyola-Maryland went 29 of 72 from the floor for 40 percent, while outscoring the Seminoles 44-34 in the paint and forced Florida State into 14 turnovers.

UP NEXT

Loyola-Maryland will play host to Binghamton on Saturday.

The Florida State Seminoles will take on Tulane on Sunday in Tampa, Florida.

Florida State Upsets No. 5 Florida; Improves To 7-0

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GAINESVILLE, Fla., Sporting Alert – Terance Mann scored a career-high 25 points and Florida State upset No. 5 Florida 83-66 on Monday night to continue its undefeated start to the season.

The Gators (5-2) went into the game as the favorites, but struggled early and trailed 10-1 in the opening minutes and entered the halftime break with a 42-35 deficit.

After the interval, the Seminoles (7-0) used an 8-0 run to open up a 12 point lead and then went on to pull away for their fourth successive victory in this series for the first time in the 68-game history of the head-to-head battle.

Mann, who was 11-of-17 on shooting, also grabbed eight rebounds in the win at C. O’Connell Center.

CJ Walker added 17 points, with five rebounds, four assists and three steals for Florida State and Phil Cofer recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Braian Angola scored 10 points for Florida State, which continue to look like one of the best teams in the nation after the opening month.

Jalen Hudson scored 16 points to lead Florida, while KeVaughn Allen ended with 15 in the defeat, as the SEC outfits lost for a second straight time to an ACC opponent, following the defeat to No. 1 Duke in the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Oregon last week.

Egor Koulechov ended with 11 points for the Gators, who shot just 6 of 25 from 3-point range and were outrebounded 42-32 by the Seminoles.

Florida State won the game despite shooting less than 40 percent with just nine assists after making 20 of 24 free throws to keep the scoreboard ticking over and forced 16 turnovers.

Florida v Florida State
Florida v Florida State: College Basketball

WHAT THE COACHES SAID:

“It’s a quality win. Obviously, at the end of the season, these victories mean a lot,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said.

“Four in a row? I don’t know what that really means other than we’ve been fortunate because we lost like five in a row.

“I’m not really sure if we can start taking bows if we won four in a row. We didn’t hang our heads when we lost five in a row.”

Florida Coach Mike White said his team played “soft”

He added: “We spent the last 24 hours talking about throwing the first punch, throwing the first punch, being the aggressor, being proactive against a team that’s gotten the better of us the last few years.

“They threw the first three or four punches and continued throwing most of them and connecting on most of them until the final buzzer. A very disappointing effort.”

Game Stats

UP NEXT

Florida will play host to Loyola-Chicago on Wednesday.

Florida State welcomes Loyola-Maryland on Wednesday.

No. 5 Florida v Florida State Preview, Streaming, Time: Dec. 4

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GAINESVILLE, Fla., Sporting Alert – No. 5 Florida returns to the basketball court on Monday when it hosts state rival Florida State at the O’Connell Center in Gainesville.

The Gators (5-1) are back in action for the first time since losing to No. 1 Duke at the Phil Knight Invitational tournament championship game eight days ago and they are anxious to get back to playing competitively again.

Meanwhile, the undefeated Seminoles (6-0) are coming off a 78-73 win over Rutgers last Tuesday night, with CJ Walker finishing with a career-high 24 points in the win.

Florida State has been having its own way in recent weeks, but is expected to be fully tested by a Florida team that has quickly emerged as the favorite to win the SEC.

Led by junior guard Terance Mann’s 15.3 points a game and forward Phil Cofer’s 14.2 ppg, the Seminoles have five players averaging in double figures this season, while three of them are shooting well over 60 percent from the field.

Game Information

When: Monday, 9 p.m. ET
Where: Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
Records: Florida 5-1, Florida State 6-0
TV: ESPN2 (Tom Hart and Sean Farnham)
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Mark Wise)

For the Gators, they have four players scoring in double digits, led by guard Jalen Hudson’s 21.7 points a game.

Egor Koulechov, who is averaging 17.7 points with seven rebounds, is another highlighted contributor this season for Florida, with KeVaughn Allen and Chris Chiozza scoring over 13 points so far this term.

Entering this game, ESPN’s Basketball Power Index is backing the Gators with a 75 percent chance, but it’s Florida State that has the momentum in this series.

Including last December’s 83-78 victory in Tallahassee, the Seminoles have won three straight in this head-to-head clash and will attempt to extend that streak.

The last time Florida won a game in this series was in Gainesville during the 2013-14 season when it secured a narrow 67-66 victory.

Hudson is hoping to end that losing streak on Monday and backs the Gators to do so at home.

he was quoted as saying in the Florida Times-Union, “We’re at home and we’ve got to protect our house. I’m excited about it.”

Florida comes into the game leading the nation in scoring with 99.5 points per game and is ranked fifth in 3-point shooting percentage at .460.

Meanwhile, Florida State is scoring 88.8 points per game and is shooting 51.7 percent this season.

“It’s probably going to be a track meet,” Cofer said. “They’re dogs, just like us.

“We’re going to go after each other and it’s going to be crazy.”

Freshman James Blackman To Start For Florida State vs UL Monroe

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MIAMI, FL, Sporting Alert — True freshman James Blackman will replace injured Deondre Francois at quarterback when Florida State takes on Louisiana-Monroe this coming weekend.

Francois suffered a season ending knee injury when he was brought down in the fourth quarter during the Seminoles’ 24-7 loss to No. 1 Alabama at Atlanta’s new $1.5 billion Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday night.

The sophomore will be out for the rest of season after he suffered a patellar tendon injury in his left knee and head coach Jimbo Fisher said Monday that his quarterback is scheduled for surgery Tuesday.

Francois, who threw for 210 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in the defeat to the Crimson Tide, is set to be out for four to seven months.

He was taken to a medical tent on FSU’s sideline and appeared later with a heavy brace on his left leg and was using crutches.

Fisher said Francois, who was in the Heisman conversation is feeling “down for himself and his teammates” is very sadden about not be able to feature on the field for the rest of the season.

“He’s very disappointed,” Fisher told reporters on Monday. “Not only does he want to play, he wants to be with his teammates.”

With Francois down and out this term, the Seminoles will be in a hurry to prepare the next man and Fisher revealed that the 6-5 and 185 lbs QB from Belle Glade, Florida, who replaced Francois on Saturday, will start the next game.

Blackman, a three-star recruit, gets the nod over four-star Bailey Hockman, who was ranked No. 180 in the ESPN 300 and another backup quarterback, J.J. Cosentino, who attempted nine passes last season.

Despite the injury, Francois will continue to be around the squad offering his support, especially to Blackman, something Fisher said will be very important.

“It’ll help (James Blackman) having Francois in learning the process of how you prepare” as a QB,” the coach added.

After hosting UL Monroe in Tallahassee this coming weekend, the Seminoles will entertain No. 18 Miami the following week and are expected to be well tested in this one.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” Fisher said.

ESPN3 College World Series Stream: LSU v Florida State Elimination Game

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OMAHA, Neb., Sporting Alert — LSU and Florida State will feature in an all important elimination game at TD Ameritrade Park on Wednesday when the battle for a Final Four spot at the 2017 NCAA Baseball College World Series continues with streaming on ESPN3.

WatchESPN will also provide live stream, while the national television coverage is available on ESPN, starting at 7:00 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN | Radio Stream: 98.1 FM | Live Streams: WatchESPN and ESPN3 Multiview

LSU (49-18), which saw its double-digit winning streak snapped with a humbling 13-1 thrashing by No. 1 national seed Oregon State on Monday night, is seeking to bounce back from the defeat and extend its NCAA Tournament run.

The fourth-seeded Tigers, who had won 17 straight games before Monday’s loss, were completely outplayed, as they struggled to find any consistency on offense and on the mound.

LSU Tigers 2017 College Baseball Regionals
LSU Tigers 2017 Baseball Regionals

In fact, the SEC champions who had only four hits for their one run in the defeat, used eight different pitchers on the night, with Hunter Newman giving up five runs in the sixth inning.

He pitched just one inning before being removed.

Meanwhile, Florida State, which is in the College World Series for the 22nd time, will be involved in its second elimination game in three days at the College World Series.

The Seminoles (45-22) beat Cal State-Fullerton 6-4 on Monday night to stay alive and will be hoping to continue that form against LSU that understands that they can’t afford to lose another game.

“I think we’re looking forward to playing better,” FSU coach Mike Martin said. “Every game you run into different situations, and I think our guys are looking forward to competing, whether we had won the game or the fact that we lost the game.”

While the loser will be eliminated from the College World Series, the winner will advance to play Oregon State at 3 p.m. ET Friday, knowing that they must beat the Beavers two times in order to advance to the CWS Championship Finals.

“We’re going to have to play great baseball for three straight days in order to get through this bracket,” admitted LSU coach Paul Mainieri.

“But, I believe we can do it. Our guys are not going to press; they’re confident, they’re calm, and they know there’s a tremendous challenge in front of us. It’s an unbelievable opportunity for our players to show the world what they’re made of.

“Florida State is one of the elite programs in college baseball, and our kids are going to go out there Wednesday night and leave it all on the field.”

Meanwhile, Mainieri revealed that senior left-hander Jared Poche’ will be the starter on the mound in Wednesday’s game for the Tigers.

Florida State will start with either Cole Sands or Andrew Karp on the mound, Martin said.

No. 19 Florida State Cruised Past Boston College; NCAAB Scores: Feb. 20

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Dwayne Bacon scored 16 points and led four Florida State players scoring in double digits and the No. 19 Seminoles picked up a 104-72 victory over Boston College on Monday night. Top 25 Scores.

Bacon, who shot 6-of-15 from the floor and hit four 3-pointers, also grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists in the win for Florida State, which bounced back from two straight losses.

PJ Savoy added 15 points, Jonathan Isaac ended with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Jarquez Smith scored 10 points and made 5 of his 6 shots for the Seminoles (22-6, 10-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who scored 55 points in the first half and shot 61.1 percent as a team during that period.

Freshman guard Ky Bowman tallied 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting with 11 rebounds and three assists and Jerome Robinson added 21 with four 3-pointers and six rebounds for Boston College, which shot 39 percent in the defeat.

“Tonight was a great game for Ky,” Boston College head coach Jim Christian said.

“He scored and got 11 rebounds. But statistically, he looked great.”

Forward A.J. Turner finished with 13 points for the Eagles (9-19, 2-13), who have lost 11 straight and 13 of its last 14.

Florida State, which suffered a shocking defeat at Pittsburgh on Saturday, was playing its second game in three days.

“A one-day turnaround is sometimes not always the easiest. But I think we did a really, really exceptional job of forgetting about what happened and moving on to the next one,” Seminoles point guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who collected 10 assists, had eight points and five rebounds said.

The Seminoles are 17-0 at home this season, the most home wins in a campaign in program history and tied for the best unbeaten home record among major conference schools.

However, head coach Leonard Hamilton is hoping his team can start playing with a little more confidence when it heads out for back-to-back road games against Clemson and No. 10 Duke in the coming fixtures.

“Obviously we needed to get home and gain a little confidence to being who we are, but I’m glad our next game is on the road,” Hamilton said.

“I want to see if we can play with that same level of execution and confidence.”

OTHER AP TOP 25 SCORES

NO. 12 WEST VIRGINIA 77, TEXAS 62
MIAMI 54, NO. 18 VIRGINIA 48
NO. 19 FLORIDA STATE 104, BOSTON COLLEGE 72

Florida State 45, Ole Miss 34: Francois Leads The Way

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ORLANDO, Sporting Alert – AP Top 25 scores and results from the College Football contest between Florida State and Ole Miss on Monday night, September 5.

IMPRESSIVE COMEBACK

Down by 22 in the first half, No. 4 Florida State used a stunning 33-0 recovery run to erase the deficit and setup a thrilling 45-34 victory over No. 11 Ole Miss at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, on Labor Day.

The Seminoles came into the contest as heavy favourites, but went behind early in the first quarter, before finding themselves trailing 28-6 with 3:04 left in the first half.

Chad Kelly threw three touchdown passes to Damore’ea Stringfellow, D.K. Metcalf and Evan Engram in the first half to place his team in a solid position before the interval.

However, Deondre Francois also had ideas of his own and the redshirt freshman quarterback did what was necessary to get his team back into the contest.

Francois willingness to trust his line, while standing and deliver, was one of the primary reasons Florida State managed to comeback in the all-AP Top 25 contest.

“He’s a kid who loves his team,” FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher said of Francois.

“His teammates believe in him, and he’s a fighter, and he’s a competitor, which I’m very proud of.”

PUTTING BODY IN THE WAY

Determined not to go into the break trailing by a wide margin, Francois delivered the key moment of the game when he completed a nine play 75-yard series with a 16-yard pass to Travis Rudolph for a touchdown with 0:28 left in the first half.

From then on, it was all about the fourth-ranked Seminoles, who held the Rebels scoreless in the third quarter before using field goals to finish them off in the fourth.

Francois completed 33 of 52 passes for 419 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, while running for another 59 yards to collect a QBR of 77.3.

“Things weren’t going right, but I couldn’t panic because my team needed me behind the wheel,” said Francois.

“So I just kept chopping. We were down 28-6, but I couldn’t let them see me down, I had to portray the image that we were not about to lose this game.”

Running back Dalvin Cook to seven catches for 101 yards and ran for another 91 yards on 23 carries, while Jesus Wilson caught nine passes for 125 yards and Travis Rudolph ended with six catches for 74 yards and a score.

Meanwhile, Kelly threw for 313 yards and four touchdowns for Ole Miss, but the senior also had three interceptions, a fumble and was sacked five times in the defeat for the Rebels.

Monday, September 5
NO. 4 FLORIDA STATE 45, NO. 11 OLE MISS 34

Sunday, September 4
NO. 10 NOTRE DAME 47, TEXAS 50

Streaming Live Now: #4 Florida State v #11 Ole Miss

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ORLANDO, Sporting Alert – Week 1 of the 2016 College Football season closes on Monday with one game, as No. 4 Florida State and No. 11 Ole Miss meet at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, FL.

TV Network: ESPN | Ole Miss Radio Network: (Sirius 145, XM 190)
WATCH | LISTEN | Live Stats | Watch Live On ESPN3

Live streaming coverage of the game will be on WatchESPN, with ESPN providing the live TV broadcast, starting at 8 p.m. ET.

The Seminoles, who are 6-0 in season openers under coach Jimbo Fisher and 53-16 all-time in season openers, are the big favourites heading into this contest, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index, which has them sitting well with a 70.5 percent chance of starting the season with a victory.

Last time Florida State suffered a defeat in a college football season opener was in 2011 at the stadium in Tallahassee, when the then-No. 18 ranked ball club went down 38-34 to the Miami Hurricanes.

Come Monday night, Ole Miss will be hoping to deal with the same kind of setback to coach Fisher’s side, which holds a slight location advantage over the Rebels, giving that it was the location of their 2016 spring game.

“You know where you’re going,” said Fisher about the location of the game. “If you know where you’re going, we’re I’m staying and guys have been in there.

“I don’t know how big an advantage, but it at least gives you comfort on what you’re walking into.”

Fisher is also expecting to “go play a heck of an Ole Miss team.”

Adding: “They’re going to be very good. There’s going to be some ups and downs in the game. Both teams are going to make plays and you’ve got to keep playing.

“We’ve got a lot on our plate to be able to be able to stop them and move the ball on them because they have great defense, have a good kicking game.

“Offense is good. I think we do too. It should be a great football game.”

Ole Miss will be led by the outstanding senior quarterback Chad Kelly, who is expected to give the Florida State defense more difficulties than it can handle.

Kelly helped the Rebels captured the program’s first Sugar Bowl win in a very long time last term, and they are buzzing to finally start the season again.

“It is a tremendous opportunity. We love knowing that all eyes of the nation will be on us,” Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze said.

“It is a chance to take another step in expanding the brand of Ole Miss and represent our great conference and university.”

  • Florida State has won seven straight at neutral site openers and is 8-1 all-time overall.
  • Meanwhile, Ole Miss goes for its fifth straight victory in season openers under Freeze, while looking to improve on its overall record of 90-26-5 in season openers.
  • The Rebels have won 17 of the last 20 to start their campaign.