Saturday at noon on the ACC Network the Seminoles will be in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts to take on the Boston College Eagles. Boston College is 4-4 on the season with wins against Rutgers, Maine, Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech and losses to Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, SMU and Duke. FSU is 15-6 versus the Eagles in the series all time. BC won the last meeting in 2024. Florida State’s last win against BC was in ’23, 31-29.
Observations from the last game
Bad special teams play and turnovers by the quarterback Ashton Daniels put the Seminoles in an early hole that they could not recover.
Freshman receiver Jasen Lopez had a breakout game with 4 catches, 52 yards and a touchdown.
Coaching Changes
Head coach Mike Norvell, defensive coordinator Tony White and safeties coach Evan Cooper have been let go. Rick Stockstill, formerly the director of scouting, is now the interim head coach while Ernie Sims takes over at defensive coordinator. Offensive coordinator Tim Harris will call the plays. Potential candidates for the job appear to be Wake Forest coach Jake Dickert, Duke’s Manny Diaz and SMU’s Rhett Lashlee. There’s a lot of buzz about Jimbo Fisher coming back but I think that’s a longshot.
Florida State offense versus Boston College defense
FSU needs to get things going in the running game with the QB, Daniels, and running back Tre Wisner. Boston College has defended the pass well this season, giving up only 189 yards through the air (24th in the FBS). When the ‘Noles need to throw it, they’ll be looking for Jasen Lopez and the tight ends to help make up for the loss of Duce Robinson. Impact players on the Eagle defense are defensive linemen E’Lla Boykin and Demetrius Ballard (4.5 sacks each) and do-it-all linebacker Anthony Palano, who has 69 tackles and 2 interceptions.
Florida State defense versus Boston College offense
The BC offense is led by quarterback Mason McKenzie. McKenzie is the Eagles’ leading passer with 1,450 yards, 8 touchdowns and 7 interceptions and the leading rusher with 638 yards and 5 touchdowns. McKenzie does a good job spreading the ball around as 5 receivers have at least 10 catches but his go to pass catcher is Javaris Green. Even with the QB leading the team in rushing, running backs, Evan Dickens and Bo MacCormack, have helped BC average 166 yards per game on the ground. FSU will be thin at defensive tackle, so the young guys and Daniel Lyons need to step up. BC has given up plenty of sacks, 23 so far. With this being the case, I expect defensive end Rylan Kennedy (6 sacks) to add to his sack total.
Special teams
Advantage: Florida State. The ‘Noles need to cut down on the penalties.
Prediction
Even with all the injuries on both sides of the ball FSU has the better team. I expect Daniels to play better and hold on to the ball.
Florida State 27 Boston College 24
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