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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida State paid Samford $ 500,000 in search of a guaranteed victory. The Seminoles had a win, but all they won for their money.
Francois Deondre rushed for 320 yards and three touchdowns, including Tre's winning score of McKitty with 4:03 to go, while Florida State held on Saturday in Samford 36-26.
Led 26-21, François led the Seminoles (1-1) on an 11-game, 82-yard pitch that propelled them for the first time this season. François joined McKitty for the 5-yard touchdown, and he then found Nyqwan Murray for the two-point conversion pass while Florida State took the lead 29-26.
Florida State scored its last 15 points in just 1:40. The win was Florida State's first for Willie Taggart, who started with a 24-3 loss to Virginia Tech on Monday.
"It was not nice but it was nice to see our guys find a way to come back and win after starting slowly and not playing as well," Taggart said.
Devlin Hodges of Samford collected 475 yards and two touchdown passes for Kelvin McKnight, but launched four interceptions. Levonta Taylor returned the last 63 yards for a touchdown with 2:23 left.
Hodges completed 39 of his 60 passes for Samford (1-1). It was one of the best games of his career, just before the 516-yard record he had pitched for last season against West Carolina.
"We fought until the end," said Samford coach Chris Hatcher. "We had some rebounds that did not allow us, we had some turnovers that really hurt us."
François completed 31 of his 46 passes for 320 yards, including a pair of touchdown passes to redshirt rookie Tamorrion Terry. The junior quarterback played his sixth career 300-yard game, completed eight-pass receptions, and also completed an 8-yard touchdown run.
"Every win is a good win, no matter who you play," said François. "We will correct the mistakes."
McKnight had 14 passes for 215 yards, including 54 yards and 27 yards for the Bulldogs. Samford beat a FBS team for the last time in 2013 when the Bulldogs won at Georgia State. Florida State has never lost to an FCS program.
Cam Akers had 14 runs for 76 yards and seven receptions for 38 yards. Florida State finished with 134 rushing yards on 35 carries.
Ricky Aguayo missed a pair of penalty shootouts, including a 42-yard with 9:59 left that hit the right post.
The Florida State defense sank early but was effective in the second half. The Seminoles grabbed three interceptions, forced three punts and allowed just one goal on the field in the last 30 minutes. Florida State forced five turnovers after failing to register one in the loss against Virginia Tech.
The start of the match was delayed one hour and 25 minutes because of the weather.
The Seminoles played without their best line player, right-hander Landon Dickerson (ankle). Another lineman, Abdul Bello, also missed the match with an undisclosed injury. Arthur Williams, who converted from the defensive tackle in August, took the left guard.
Florida State: The Seminoles are 24-0 against FCS teams since 1978.
Samford: The Bulldogs pushed Florida State to the limit and led for over 55 minutes.
Florida State: The Seminoles will play in Syracuse on Saturday.
Samford: The Bulldogs will host Mercer on Saturday.
The Seminoles wore stickers on their helmets with a license plate saying "BAN ONE" for Burt Reynolds, who died on Thursday at age 82.
A former football player from the state of Florida in the mid-1950s, Reynolds was a roommate with Lee Corso. Reynolds played in a Florida State season before knee and leg injuries forced him to stop playing football and began pursuing an acting career.
Reynolds, who earned 186 credits including "Smokey and the Bandit" and won an Emmy for "Evening Shade", often donated to the FSU University football team in the early 1980s. program still bears the name of Reynolds.
McKnight grew up in Bradenton and played in the same school, Manatee High, as Taggart. Samford's senior catcher wanted to play against the Seminoles, and he scored on a 54-meter touchdown pass minutes from the game.
"He wanted to run that double shot all year long and called it" spear "and it worked well," said Hatcher.
Samford has passed 11,000 career yards on Saturday. Hodges now has 11,106 yards passing and 86 touchdowns.
He is getting closer to Southern Conference leader Scott Riddle, who collected 13,264 points in Elon from 2007 to 2010. The all-time leader of the FCS is former Alcorn State star Steve McNair , who collected 14,496 yards between 1991 and 1994.
"I think it gives us a lot of confidence," Hodges said of the Seminole performance. "I'm just proud of guys."
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