Florida State Opens Regular Season Versus Ole Miss

On Monday, Week 1 of the college football regular season comes to a close with a showdown between ranked teams, when the No. 12 ranked Mississippi Rebels visit the No. 4 ranked Florida State Seminoles.

The current line on most books has Florida State favored by 4.5 points and the over/under point total sitting on 60. Odds makers see this as a high scoring affair as both teams have strong offenses.

Two candidates for the Heisman Trophy highlight this game that will be played in Orlando. Florida State is led on offense by the explosive Dalvin Cook at running back, while Ole Miss has senior Chad Kelly returning as its starting quarterback, which should mean plenty of points being scored.

Last season Cook ran for 1,691 yards to set a new school record while adding 19 touchdowns. This season Deondre Francois a freshman will start at quarterback for Florida State. Both he and Cook will be supported by a strong and experienced offensive line.

Kelly is coming off a season in which he threw for 4,042 yards and an impressive 31 touchdowns for the Rebels. Kelly also had 500 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns on the ground.

The Ole Miss QB has the offensive weapons he needs at skill positions to put up big points, but is facing a tough defense. That worries the Rebels coaches since their offensive line has three starters who are just sophomores.

On the ground, the Rebels have Akeem Judd and senior and Eric Swinney a freshman leading the rushing corps. The receiving corps is strong for Ole Miss with Damore’ea Stringfellow and Quincy Adeboyejo at wide receiver and Evan Engram at tight end.

Francois is only the fourth freshman quarterback to start a season opener for the Seminoles. Sean Maguire the starter last season went down with a foot injury and will miss up to six weeks.

Francois has a highly talented offensive line, one of the top rushers in the nation and an experienced group of receivers including Travis Rudolph who caught 59 passes last season.

Ole Miss won the only prior head-to-head game with FSU 31-0 back in 1961. However, this is the first game Ole Miss has played in Orlando, while FSU is 8-0-2 in its 10 games played there.

Both head coaches Hugh Freeze for Ole Miss at 4-0 and Jimbo Fisher at 6-0 are undefeated in season openers.

Prediction: Both teams will have strong offenses, so the defenses will be the key. Florida State’s defense is stronger than that of Ole Miss. However, the Rebels should cover, while the Seminoles should win outright.