On Saturday afternoon, the Boston College football team hosted the Florida State Seminoles at Alumni Stadium for a game between two teams fighting for bowl eligibility. BC got some surprising wins against Pitt and Georgia Tech in recent weeks, but were demolished by Duke on Halloween to drop to 4-4. FSU meanwhile has had it worse. The Seminoles came into the game in the midst of a 3-game losing streak and fired their head coach Mike Norvell after losing to Clemson.
The first drive went about as well
as you could have asked for. BC received the kickoff and looked basically like a triple-option team, with either quarterback Mason McKenzie handing it off to Bo MacCormack or running it himself for much of the possession. McKenzie also was able to complete a couple of clutch third down passes that kept the drive alive long enough so that MacCormack eventually could push his way into the endzone for a 7-0 Eagles lead.
Florida State went three-and-out on their first drive, and a shifty 21-yard punt return by BC’s Charlie Comella put the Eagles in FSU territory again. After moving the ball for a first down, McKenzie took a bad sack that put BC behind the sticks that forced them into a field goal. Kicker Luca Lombardo hit it through the rain from 48 yards out to bounce in on the crossbar and put BC up 10-0 towards the end of the first quarter. Florida State had another three-and-out on their following drive. FSU was taking a surprising amount of deep shots that suggested a seeming lack of confidence in their short yardage ability.
After BC had a three-and-out of their own, Florida State punt returner Jasen Lopez went 40 yards and would’ve had a touchdown if he had not been taken down by Eagles punter Bryce LaFollette. FSU running back Quintrevion Wisner soon broke out for a big gain towards the sideline and set his team up in the redzone, where QB Ashton Daniels ran it in for a touchdown. FSU cut the BC lead to 10-7.
Mason McKenzie started off the next drive with a bang when he found a wide open Nedrick Boldin Jr. for 20 yards. The run-first offense was starting to struggle from that point, but the BC offensive line was giving McKenzie enough time to make simple passes and keep the chains moving. Still, they got called for two holding penalties on the same set of downs when BC appeared to have made huge plays. The following 2nd & 30 seemed daunting, but McKenzie still found Kaelan Chudzinski downfield for a 26-yard gain that set the Eagles up in the redzone. FSU was giving McKenzie way too much time to read the zone defense, and he was making them pay. Boldin soon broke free on a screen pass that he took 29 yards to the endzone for a 17-7 Boston College lead.
Then Ashton Daniels and Florida State WR Micah Danzy went off. Daniels found Danzy on the right side of the field three times in a row against soft man coverage to bring the Seminoles into the redzone. FSU RB Amari Thomas capped off the effort with a 20-yard rushing touchdown, and the BC lead narrowed right back down to 17-14 after that quick drive.
After BC had to punt on their next drive, Florida State drove right down the field again until they got to 4th down on the 1-yard line. After it appeared the Noles would settle for a short kick, they faked the field goal and Gabe Panikowski bounced out to the right side for an easy touchdown. FSU took their first lead of the game, 21-17 with under a minute remaining in the first half. McKenzie got picked off on a deep throw on the ensuing possession and went into the break having let up 14 unanswered points. This was the first lead FSU held on the road in 3 years.
Boston College quickly got the ball back from Florida State to start the second half, but things took a turn for the worse when McKenzie got hit in the head on a rush and had to go to the sideline. Transfer QB Grayson Wilson came in to replace him and threw an interception just a few plays later, shifting the momentum to FSU. But then a Marcus Upton interception on a deflection shifted the momentum right back to BC, who got possession at midfield.
Mason McKenzie came back into the game for this drive and Bo MacCormack immediately rushed for 24 yards to get the Eagles into field goal range. After a gutsy third down trick play that got BC to 1st & goal, the Eagles ran another trick play that was even more wild. The team did a little ring-around-the-rosie maneuver as the offensive line lined up off to the left side as McKenzie took the snap and flipped it to Javarius Green for a touchdown. BC retook a 24-21 lead.
The good mood was short-lived, however, as FSU’s Jasen Lopez caught an unbelievable 30-yard ball that put FSU right back into the redzone. The BC defense came up big on the ensuing plays, though, stopping the Seminoles on three-straight plays to prevent the TD and force them to kick a field goal at the goal line. This one was not faked, and FSU kicker Gabe Panikowski tied the game up at 24-24 with 13 minutes remaining in regulation.
BC moved the chain a couple times in their next drive, but ultimately couldn’t score. Then Florida State’s next drive bled a lot of clock and almost came to a stop at midfield. But Daniels found Lopez for an 11-yard gain on third down after a BC timeout. Eventually Amari Thomas found the endzone and gave his team a 7-point lead over Boston College.
With just minutes remaining, the Eagles needed a TD to tie the game. McKenzie used his legs to get BC 16 yards early, and then a pass interference call moved them into FSU territory. But the playcalls leaned too far into the passing game, forcing McKenzie to make long throws that resulted in incompletions and penalties. It eventually came to 4th & 15, where the ball went in and out of Dawson Pough’s hands and BC turned the ball over on downs. FSU got a first down on their next drive and killed the rest of the clock, winning 31-24.
In order to become bowl eligible, the Eagles will need to win two of their final three games against Notre Dame, Syracuse, and Miami. This winnable one falling out of their grasp may be the reason BC doesn’t go bowling.
Boston College will travel to Notre Dame on Saturday and play at 3:30PM.
