JONESBORO -- Deondre Francois immediately grabbed his left kneecap. There was no writhing, no shouts of pain, just a grimace on the quarterback's face as Florida State's trainers rolled him onto his back on the turf of Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The No. 3 Seminoles weren't going to win, trailing No. 1 Alabama 24-7 with six minutes to play in their 2017 season-opener.
But when Florida State got the ball back with 96 seconds remaining, Coach Jimbo Fisher and offensive coordinator Randy Sanders needed someone to finish things out. Francois had been carted to the locker room, later diagnosed with a season-ending torn patellar tendon.