Jackson Free Press

Labor Day just got a little more interesting.

It was already going to be an interesting evening with the University of Mississippi facing Florida State University as the last college-football game of new season’s first week.

Both teams meet for a neutral-site game in Orlando, Fla., in the 2016 Camping World Kickoff. This game is one of the most anticipated during the opening weekend of the 2016 college-football season.

There are questions surrounding both of these teams, but then again, there are questions surrounding every team this time of year. One question for the Seminoles has been answered.

FSU knows who will be starting the season opener at quarterback. The decision was made for the Seminoles when quarterback Sean Maguire broke a bone in his foot, which will require surgery and force him to miss at least four weeks.

The fifth-year senior went 4-2 last season after taking over for Everett Golson when the University of Notre Dame transfer struggled. Maguire appeared in eight games last season and threw for 1,520 yards with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions.

One of the two losses from games in which Maguire started was against Clemson University, who went on to play the University of Alabama for the national championship. The other loss was to the University of Houston in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, which he played with a broken ankle.

The Seminoles must now turn to redshirt freshman Deondre Francois at quarterback. For Francois, this game is a homecoming after he left Olympia High School in Orlando to spend his senior season in Bradenton, Fla., at IMG Academy, a renowned boarding school and sports-training facility.

While Maguire was a known commodity, the Rebels will now face an unknown, at least at the college level, at quarterback. FSU is hoping to capture lightning in a bottle twice and hoping that Francois will be the second coming of Jameis Winston, the last redshirt freshman to start at quarterback for the Seminoles.

Francois will have one of the best friends a new starting quarterback can ask for, and that is a strong running game. FSU boasts running back Dalvin Cook, a Heisman Trophy contender and a threat to take any handoff he receives to the house.

Stopping Cook is the best way for the Rebels to win this game. If FSU can’t run, then it would force Francois to beat them, and UM can unleash its pass rush.

As always, it is easier said than done, and few teams have been able to stop Cook when he is fully healthy. The running back was a one-man wrecking crew even when he was banged up last season.

The Seminoles hope to have one of the best defenses in the country, and that unit will have to be good to keep Rebels quarterback Chad Kelly under wraps. Kelly will try not to get outshined by the guy making his first college-football start.

The Rio Olympics enters its final week of competition, and as the games begin to wind down, it is good to look at the medal race, and it’s starting to become a rout.

While it was close the opening week, the U.S. is beginning to run away from the other nations. As of Monday afternoon, Aug. 15, the U.S. has 72 total medals, which is 26 ahead of second-place China.

Second place is where the real race is shaping up, with China’s 46 total medals just six ahead of the 40 medals Great Britain won. Russia, with 32 total medals, isn’t far from Britain, but with several athletes banned from the games, it will be hard for the country to move up.

The U.S. has the most gold medals (26), silver medals (22) and bronze medals (24). No other country besides the U.S. has reached 20 medals in single place yet. The U.S. has done so in all three.

Swimming is where the U.S. has built its lead with 33 total medals. Gymnastics is second with eight medals, and track and field, which started late last week, is third with six medals.

So far, the U.S. has earned at least one medal in 15 sports. The country has won four medals in fencing and three medals in shooting and tennis.

In the 2012 London games, the U.S. won 104 total medals, besting second-place China, which won 88 total medals. China narrowly held off Russia, which finished third with 82 total medals. The host nation was fourth with 65 total medals.

In London, the U.S. finished with 46 gold medals, 29 silver medals and 32 bronze medals. The U.S. finished first in gold and bronze medals, and China and Russia finished first and second in silver medals, with the U.S. in third.

As the U.S. dominates the medal stand in Rio, Japan is looking to move up from its current 27 total medals and fifth place. Italy, France and Australia are tied for sixth with 22 total medals.

Germany is ninth with 19 total medals, and South Korea rounds out the top 10 with 14 total medals. Our neighbor to the north, Canada, is in 11th place with 13 total medals.

Hungary and the Netherlands are the only other countries to have reached double-digits in medals. The Hungarians have a total of 12 medals, and the Dutch have a total of 11 medals.

The host nation only has seven total medals. Brazil won 17 medals in London, so it will have to make a push this final week to get the normal medal bump of being the host nation.

So far in Rio, 68 nations and athletes competing under the Olympic flag have won medals. Four years ago, 85 countries won medals before the closing ceremonies.

The Rio Olympics continue until Sunday, Aug. 21, before Tokyo accepts the Olympic flag for the 2020 games.

Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump is scheduled to be in Jackson next Wednesday, August 24, for a fundraising event supporting his campaign, a MS GOP press release states. Tickets for the event are being sold at an affordable $1,000 per ticket.

The event begins at 6:00 PM, but the location is only being disclosed to those who purchase tickets. The event is closed to the press, the MS GOP release states. Last time Donald J. Trump was in Mississippi, he held a rally during the primaries at Madison Central High School in March. The rally cost Madison County taxpayers $11,565.44 in security expenses.

The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has denied Gov. Phil Bryant and MDHS Executive Director John Davis' motions to stay the injunction that blocked House Bill 1523 from becoming law. Bryant and Davis asked the court to expedite their appeal, and that application was also denied.

The 5th Circuit did allow the two HB 1523 cases to be consolidated, but the court will not issue a stay on U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves' injunction or expedite the a hearing for the governor's appeal of the bill.

The conservative legal organization, Alliance Defending Freedom, is providing co-counsel for the governor's appeal in the 5th Circuit. HB 1523 was based, at least in part, on language from a model policy that ADF sent to the governor's office before same-sex marriage was legalized nationally in 2015.

Rob McDuff, one of the lawyers for plaintiffs, called the order a great victory.

"Two and a half months after we filed this challenge to HB 1523, the federal courts once again have held that the bill should not take effect. This is a great victory for the thousands of Mississippians who have opposed this bill in the name of tolerance and fairness and dignity for all," he said in a statement to the Jackson Free Press. "Although the Governor apparently will continue with his appeal, this is an important milestone in the battle against this completely misguided piece of legislation."

“We are pleased with the Fifth Circuit’s summary denial of the governor’s motion and look forward to final resolution of this matter in our favor,” said Beth Orlansky, advocacy director of the Mississippi Center for Justice said in a statement.

Read the motion here. Read more about HB 1523 here.

This post has been updated with statement from the MS Center for Justice and Rob McDuff.