ORLANDO, Fla. — Deondre Francois was a little concerned after his first couple of drives Monday night.

Things weren’t going exactly as Florida State’s redshirt freshman quarterback had hoped. Some critical passes floated high, some fell short, and the fourth-ranked Seminoles trailed No. 11 Mississippi by 22 points before the end of the first quarter.

Then it all came together in the second quarter. Francois stood in the pocket and delivered a 16-yard touchdown pass to Travis Rudolph, the first of 33 consecutive points for the Seminoles in a 45-34 season-opening win over Ole Miss — the largest comeback victory in school history.

“Things weren’t going right, but I couldn’t panic because my team needed me behind the wheel,” said Francois, just the fourth freshman to start the season as the Seminoles’ quarterback.

“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.”

Francois made plays with both his arm and legs while playing in front of his home crowd in Orlando. He completed 33 of 52 passes for 419 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 59 yards.

He led the Seminoles on four touchdown drives and positioned freshman kicker Ricky Aguayo to convert a school-record six field goals while FSU scored on nine consecutive possessions between the second and fourth quarters.