Samford @ Florida State preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 4, 2010 ) Samford 6, Florida State 59

Florida State looks to turn the page quickly after a very disappointing season opener, facing a short week of preparation for its matchup Saturday night against visiting FCS power Samford. The Seminoles turned the ball over five times and dropped a 24-3 decision to Virginia Tech on Monday night despite outgaining the Hokies 327-319 in head coach Willie Taggart’s debut at the helm.

“We didn’t handle adversity well,” Taggart told reporters. “We had some guys that were encouraging teammates on the sideline and we had some guys frustrated. It was on us.” Junior quarterback Deondre Francois, who missed most of last season with a knee injury and won a three-way battle to start the opener, threw three interceptions while being sacked five times and Florida State scored just once in four tries in the red zone to drop out of the national rankings. “It seemed there was something different each time,” Francois told reporters of the team’s work in red zone. “Little mistakes here and there, missed assignments, bad execution by me. It seemed like we just took turns making mistakes.” The Seminoles won’t have an easy road to their first victory against Samford, which rolled to a 66-9 victory over Division II Shorter on Aug. 30 to open the season and returns 10 of 11 starters on offense from an FCS playoff team.

TV: 7:20 p.m. ET, ACC Network. LINE: None

ABOUT SAMFORD (1-0): The Bulldogs are ranked ninth in the current FCS coaches poll after senior quarterback Devlin Hodges threw for 330 yards and five touchdowns in the opener after totaling 3,983 last season with 31 scoring strikes. Senior Roland Adams led the way on the ground with 71 yards and senior wide receiver Kelvin McKnight, a second-team All-American along with Hodges last year, hauled in six passes for 119 yards and two TDs in the opener. Senior lineman Ahmad Gooden leads the defense after being picked as a first-team FCS All-American last season when he recorded 101 tackles - 15.5 for loss.

ABOUT FLORIDA STATE (0-1): Francois did throw for 233 yards overall Monday and veteran receivers Keith Gavin (three catches, 54 yards) along with Nyqwan Murray (five, 52) were his top targets. Sophomore running back Cam Akers, who rushed for a freshman record 1,024 yards in 2017, had 82 in the opener but ran 85 yards on one carry that set Florida State up inside the Virginia Tech 10 before it lost a fumble on third down. The Seminoles’ defense kept them in the game until a long touchdown pass with 5:11 left as defensive end Brian Burns finished with 1.5 sacks and sophomore defensive back Hamsah Nasirildeen led the way with 11 tackles.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Florida State junior K Ricky Aguayo, a preseason first-team ACC pick, was 1-for-2 in field goals Monday and has 38 makes in his career.

2. Samford, which lost in the first round for the FCS playoffs last year, was picked to win the Southern Conference in a preseason poll.

3. The Seminoles hosted Samford in 2010 and came away with a 59-6 victory.

PREDICTION: Florida State 48, Samford 14