Fisher confirms QB Francois suffered torn patellar tendon

Florida State coach coach Jimbo Fisher confirmed Monday that quarterback Deondre Francois suffered a torn patellar tendon in Saturday night’s loss to top-ranked Alabama and announced that freshman James Blackman will take Francois’ place.

Fisher said Francois will undergo surgery Tuesday on his left knee to repair the damage.

The redshirt sophomore was tackled from behind in the final minutes of No. 3 Florida State’s 24-7 loss to Alabama in Atlanta. Francois was helped off the field and take to the locker room for evaluation, and the news was not good for the Seminoles.

Francois was 19-of-33 passing for 210 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions against Alabama.

Fisher estimated a four to seven-month recovery time with the possibility of Francois “doing drills and such in spring ball, when he wouldn’t get hit anyway.”

“But you have to wait and see how the rehab and everything else goes.”

The 6-foot-5, 195-pound Blackman is a true freshman who didn’t arrive on campus until June. He took three snaps in Saturday’s game after Francois went down but didn’t throw a pass.

Florida State will now start a true freshman at quarterback for the first time since the 1985 season. Blackman’s first start will be Saturday night at home against Louisiana-Monroe.

“You coach what the guy can do,” Fisher said. “You don’t change the way you coach; you coach the same way.

“One of the things I was encouraged about in camp was what he did in our scrimmages. He was going against our 1s in every scrimmage. He went against that and produced and made a lot of good plays against a very good defense. He made a lot of throws, a lot of decisions, a lot of run reads.

“We’ll go out there and coach and do the things we do. The big thing is, you think there has to be drastic change. There doesn’t. We just have to continue to do what we do well.”