ORLANDO, Fla. -- Think the epic Sunday night duel between Notre Dame and Texas couldn't be topped?

Think again.

Fourth-ranked Florida State pulled off the biggest comeback win in school history Monday night in front when it rallied from 22 points down to defeat 11th-ranked Ole Miss 45-34 in the Camping World Kickoff.

The deficit was the largest the Seminoles ever overcame for a victory, topping a 2014 comeback of 21 points against Louisville.

The Seminoles (1-0) can thank, in part, two freshmen making their collegiate debuts.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Deondre Francois, an Orlando native, finished with 419 passing yards and two touchdowns, and he added 85 rushing yards.

True freshman kicker Ricky Aguayo, the younger brother of former Florida State star kicker Roberto Aguayo, kicked a school-record six field goals. Aguayo kept the Seminoles in the game early with kicks from 25 and 21 yards out, then hit 40, 40, 44 and 30 yards out in the second half.

Francois struggled as the Seminoles fell behind 28-6 late in the second quarter, but he guided the team back.

"He loves his teammates, his teammates believe in him, and he's a fighter -- just that simple," Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher. "(In the first half), he got a little shook. But he bounced back and managed the game and made plays. That's what a game manager does; they're playmakers. And when the opportunity came to make plays, that's what he did."

Francois finished 33 of 52 through the air.

"After the first couple of drives, things weren't going right, but I just tried to stay calm and just keep chopping," he said. "That's our motto this year: 'Just keep chopping.'"

For the Rebels (0-1), the old cliche was unfortunately true Monday: This game was simply a tale of two halves. And Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze didn't mince words when asked to describe what happened.

"It was a nightmarish second half," said Freeze, who lost the opener for the first time in his five seasons with the Rebels. "In the first half, you know, I think our tempo was really good, and we were winning some first downs to let us stay in it. The second half, we didn't win any of those. You have to credit Florida State. That's one of the best teams in the nation."

The Seminoles certainly looked like it when the clock struck zero.

But early on? Not so much.

Ole Miss star quarterback Chad Kelly, who led the Southeastern Conference in passing, scoring and total offense a year ago, looked every bit as good as advertised in the first half with three touchdown passes as he torched the Seminoles' secondary over and over.

However, after Francois led the Seminoles to a touchdown just before halftime -- a 16-yard pass to receiver Travis Rudolph that cut the margin to 28-13 -- and then Aguayo added a field goal to open the scoring in the second half, Kelly was picked off by Florida State defensive back Marcus Lewis on the Rebels' first offensive possession of the third quarter.

Florida State scored on a goal-line dive from fullback Freddie Stevenson three plays later to pull within 28-23 -- and just like that, the comeback was on.

"It's hard to change momentum in a big game like this and against a great team," said Fisher, who is now 8-1 against SEC teams. "And once we got it, we kept it."

Kelly finished 21 of 39 for 313 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions. He pulled the Rebels within 39-34 early in the third quarter with his fourth TD pass of the game on a pretty 20-yard fade route to receiver Van Jefferson, but Ole Miss would never get closer.

Ole Miss wideouts Demore'ea Stringfellow, D.K. Metcalf and Evan Engram also caught TDs from Kelly, all in the first half. Engram was the Rebels' leading receiver with nine catches for 121 yards. Rebels running back Akeem Judd scored his team's only rushing touchdown, which came in the second quarter and gave Ole Miss the 22-point edge.

However, credit the Florida State defense for slowing the Rebels the rest of the way.

Preseason All-America defensive back Derwin James led the Seminoles with eight tackles, while defensive back Trey Marshall and linebacker Matthew Thomas had seven each. Defensive lineman Demarcus Walker totaled 4 1/2 sacks.

"Our defense was awesome in the second half," Fisher said.

So was Florida State's Heisman Trophy hopeful running back, Dalvin Cook -- pretty much all game.

Cook chewed up 91 yards on 23 carries and added 101 yards on seven receptions.

Tight end Ryan Izzo caught a touchdown passes in the win, while Florida State wideout Kermit Whitfield's 3-yard run was the go-ahead TD in the third quarter.

Jesus Wilson, one of Florida State's senior leaders, paced the receiving attack with nine catches for 125 yards.

Ole Miss' defense was led by defensive back Zedrick Woods with 11 solo tackles, but it wasn't nearly enough.

"Jimbo and I were talking before the game, that there was gonna be a good football team not feeling well after tonight -- and it was us," Freeze said. "We did not deserve to win this game."

Less than 24 hours following Florida State's opener will be the debut of the Showtime Network's "A Season With ...," a weekly, half-hour documentary series that will chronicle the Seminoles this year.

Fisher was asked what he told his team during his halftime speech to turn his team around.

His answer? Watch the show.

"You got bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep," Fisher said, playfully re-enacting his halftime talk. "It was bad. I think Showtime got it all."

NOTES: Florida State's largest comeback in school history was actually 28 points against Florida in 1994, but it didn't result in a win; instead a 31-31 tie with the rival Gators. ... This was only the second meeting between Florida State and Ole Miss, which won the first game 33-0 in 1961 at Oxford, Miss. ... Rebels DB Ken Webster sustained what appeared to be a gruesome leg injury during the Rebels' first defensive possession. He was carted off the field early in the first quarter. ... Rebels LB Tayler Polk was carted off the field early in the second quarter with an unknown injury.. ... The Rebels played a game in Orlando, Fla., for the first time. ... Florida State DB Nate Andrews, who was listed as questionable coming into the game, did not play.