Deondre Francois threw for a career-best four touchdowns, including a 58-yard scoring pass to Nyqwan Murray with 1:13 left, to rally visiting Florida State to a 28-24 victory at Louisville Saturday.
The Seminoles (3-2, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed 21-7 at halftime, but the game-winning drive was set up when A.J Westbrook intercepted Jawon Pass at the Florida State 19 with 1:56 to go.
"We needed this win to continue the progress that we're trying to do with our football program," first-year Seminoles coach Willie Taggart said. "This was huge for our team."
Francois completed 16-of-27 passes for 294 yards. Murray caught six for 114 yards and two scores.
Pass, who was removed as Louisville's starting quarterback before last week's 27-3 loss at Virginia, regained the job and threw for a season-high 306 yards and two scores on 24-of-45 passing. He went 6-of-7 for 57 yards on an 11-play, 70-yard drive late in the first half that culminated with a 3-yard pass to Dez Fitzpatrick to make it 21-7 Cardinals (2-3, 0-2) with :10 left in the half.
However, he also threw two interceptions. The first was the one Westbrooks picked. It stopped a four-minute drive that saw the Cardinals move the ball 50 yards and occurred in the red zone. Taggart told his team that they were probably going to have to strip the ball away to force a turnover, as neither he nor Westbrook said they expected a pass.
Louisville coach Bobby Petrino took responsibility for the play calling.
"I look back at it, obviously, I should have ran the ball," a somber Petrino said in the postgame press conference. "I did know what they were in, and I was expecting him to throw the hitch into the field. It's my job to make sure we're on the same page. I didn't get that done."
Francois brought the Seminoles back in the second half with touchdown passes of 55 yards to Tamorrion Terry and 25 yards to Tre McKitty. The latter score made it 24-21 with 9:55 left in the game.
THE TAKEAWAY
Florida State: The Seminoles needed Murray and Francois' heroics to avoid just their second 0-3 start in ACC history, but a tough road still looms ahead. Florida State has ranked opponents Miami (Fla.), Notre Dame and Clemson on their docket.
Louisville: The Cardinals offense did look improved and more efficient, but mental errors still continue to plague the unit. Pass had a couple of overthrows to open receivers downfield that could have blown open the game for Louisville. Instead, those missed opportunities allowed the Seminoles to stay in the game, and Pass' late play proved devastating.
ETHERIDGE RETURNS
Louisville's defense has been hampered by the injury bug all season, but the Cardinals did get one of their playmakers back Saturday. Dorian Etheridge, who missed the last two games after injuring his ankle in the first half against Indiana State three weeks ago, started for the Cardinals and made a team-high five tackles. The sophomore linebacker was an ESPN All American last season.
UP NEXT
Florida State goes on the road again and plays No. 16 Miami next Saturday. It'll be the third straight conference road game for the Seminoles.
Louisville returns to action Friday night and hosts Coastal Division foe Georgia Tech, which snapped a three-game losing streak on Saturday.
