Jackson Free Press

The American Family Association Action Voter Guide has made its Internet rounds this election season, prompting Christian voters to prioritize conservative ideologies at the polls.

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.

Once again the New Orleans Saints have finished with a 7-9 record and are out of the playoffs.

The team has missed the postseason four of the last five seasons and hasn’t been able to recapture the magic of the Super Bowl season in 2009. It hasn’t been able to finish with a winning record since 2013.

As soon as the season ended, New Orleans Head Coach Sean Payton spoke with General Manager Mickey Loomis after the team’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Loomis and Payton will continue to meet this week following the end of the season.

Rumors began to swirl that the Saints would be open to trading Payton to another team if the right offer came its way. This is the second offseason that rumors of the Saints looking to shop Payton have started.

After the end of last season, New Orleans and Payton came to an agreement on a five-year contract extension worth $9 million per year. The Saints also worked a deal with quarterback Drew Brees that has him signed for next season.

Even after a disappointing year, there is hope in New Orleans. The defense suffered injury after injury and still rallied to become better as the season progressed.

Rookie defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins and rookie wide receiver Michael Thomas ended up playing well in their first seasons. The offense is still one of the best in the NFL, and Brees, who turns 38 this month, is still one of the quarterbacks in the league.

New Orleans has plenty of offensive weapons but needs to get cap room and use draft picks to continue to work on the defense. Over the Cap says that the Saints have more than $30 million to spend in cap space this offense.

The team has to make a big decision: Will it continue to chase a title with Payton and Brees, or will it begin to rebuild?

If the team can carve out more cap space and use that money judiciously, the defense can be improved quickly. A pass rusher should be the No. 1 offseason need the team should address.

The NFL is a passing league, and getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks is part of winning games. Teams that can’t get pressure normally struggle during the season.

New Orleans finished 27th in sacks this season with 30, but to be fair, the Oakland Raiders finished last in the league in sacks with 25 and still made the playoffs. Most of the teams in the postseason finished from near the top to the middle of the league in sacks.

Brees could play until he is 40 or beyond, and if he will work with the team on salary, it could help the Saints make one or two more championship runs. But will the future Hall of Fame quarterback cut the team a hometown discount? Who knows at this point.

The …