Miami hurricanes secondary will be tested by FSU QB Deondre Francois

The Miami Hurricanes enter Saturday’s in-state rivalry with Florida State on a four-game winning streak. FSU has won their last two and Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois has been one of the ACC’s best this season.

Francois leads the ACC with 110 completions and 1,377 yards. Saturday’s game will be a battle between one of the ACC’s best quarterbacks in Francois and the best pass defense in the Miami Hurricanes. Miami is by far the stingiest pass defense in the ACC allowing 138.8 yards per game. Clemson is second at 168.6

Through five games this season only one Miami Hurricanes opponent has broken 200 yards passing. Toledo had 222 passing yards on 23 attempts and two touchdowns.  Opponents are completing only 51.6 percent of their passes.

In their only ACC game, this season Miami held North Carolina to 114 passing yards on 35 attempts. The Hurricanes intercepted three Tar Heel passes and returned two of them for touchdowns.

Francois has helped Florida State rally twice late in games this season to earn victories. If not for his heroics the Seminoles could easily be 1-4.

Francois threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns and added another rushing as the Seminoles had to rally late to defeat FCS Samford in the second game of the season. Last weekend a Francois to Nyquan Murray touchdown pass with 1:13 left earned the win over Louisville.

Francois missed last season’s Miami-Florida State game after tearing his Achilles in the Seminoles season-opening loss to Alabama. He led Florida State to a victory over the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium in 2016. Francois completed 20 of 31 pass attempts for 234 yards two touchdowns and interception.

Florida State rallied from a 13-0 deficit in the second quarter and the Seminoles trailed 13-3 at halftime. Two touchdown passes from Francois in the third quarter and a Ricky Aguayo field goal in the fourth was the difference. The Seminoles blocked an extra point with 1:38 remaining to preserve the victory.

Despite the rallies, for the most part, Francois has not played well under pressure. He gets worse as halves go on. Francois has been much better in the first and third quarters than in the second and fourth. The second quarter has been Francois’ worst but he has had his problems in the fourth as well.

Francois’ three interceptions and his 58.3 completion percentage in the fourth quarter are his lowest. He has also struggled on third and fourth down.

On third down Francois has completed 50 percent of his passes for 341 yards, two touchdowns an interception. He’s much worse on fourth down having completed one of four passes for 11 yards.

Francois has been dangerous late in games and on third and fourth down. He has completed passes for first downs 12 times in the fourth quarter, has seven completions of over 15 yards and five over 25 in the fourth. Francois has 12 completions for first downs on third down, eight over 15 yards but just two over 25.

The Miami Hurricanes pass defense has been exceptional this season. The Hurricanes 138.8 yards allowed per game ranks first nationally. Miami is 11th with seven interceptions and their four passing touchdowns allowed ranks 15th. Francois will give Miami their toughest test this season.

The Hurricanes have to do a better job rusher the passer against Florida State than they have earlier this season. Miami is only 29th in sacks 2.8 per game after leading the country in sacks at 3.8 per game in 2017.

The Miami Hurricanes face a porous Florida State offensive line on Saturday. The Seminoles rank 86th in the country allowing 2.4 sacks per game. Miami has to be able to get to Francois and not give him a lot of time to throw.

Miami is also expected to get Jaquan Johnson back for Saturday’s game. Johnson has missed the last two games plus the second half at Toledo after injuring his hamstring against the Rockets. That will help the Miami secondary tremendously. Amari Carter played well in Johnson’s absence