Boston College 29, Florida State (No. 3) 31: BC nearly pulls off the upset but plagued by penalties
CHESTNUT HILL, MA - Boston College was set up for a game-winning drive, but a face mask on third down allowed Florida State to keep the ball and drain the clock out to seal the Seminole victory. On an 18-penalty day for BC, the program record, FSU was able to hang on for the win.
Boston College came out of the gate strong though with a 32-yard touchdown from Thomas Castellanos to Lewis Bond, before holding FSU to a field goal on their opening drive. They nearly took a two-possession lead taking it deep into Seminole territory on the following drive, but they were held to a field goal in the final minute of the first.
Behind a pair of 'disconcerning signal' penalties on BC, the Seminoles tied the game up at 10 on a 19-yard pass from Travis. The Seminoles later took their first lead of the game, as Trey Benson took a two-yard carry into the end zone that gave Florida State a 17-10 lead late in the half. The quick score at the end of the half coupled with another score less than three minutes into the second half gave Florida State a sudden two-touchdown lead, 24-10.
And one play into the next drive, Castellanos was picked off before it only took the Seminoles two plays to get into the end zone once again. Just like that, the Seminoles were up 31-10 less than four minutes into the second half.
However, the Eagles weren't finished. They pieced together a 12-play drive that was capped off by a Kyle Robichaux touchdown, and they successfully recovered a squibbed kick on the ensuing kickoff giving them the ball at the FSU 29-yard line. However, the drive stalled at the FSU five-yard line, turning the ball over at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
But just as the life was taken out of Alumni Stadium, it was brought back -- Elijah Jones forced a fumble on Lawrance Toafili allowing Khari Johnson to scoop and score for a Boston College touchdown. Instead of making it a one-possession game, however, the Eagles went for two and failed -- keeping it a two-score game at 31-22 with just under 12 minutes to go.
BC would not go away though. Pinned inside their own 10-yard line, Castellanos converted a 13-yard run on third down and followed that up with a 42-yard strike to Lewis Bond putting them across the 50 into FSU territory with a little over six and a half minutes remaining in the affair. As if there wasn't enough magic in the previous two plays, Castellanos was rushed out of the pocket and threw it across his body for another large gain to Ryan O'Keefe bringing them to the FSU 15-yard line. With the drive seemingly stalled at fourth-and-2 from the seven-yard line, the decision to go for it was rewarded as Castellanos once again delivered, scampering off the edge and into the end zone -- cutting the FSU lead to 31-29 with a little over five minutes to go.
They would get the FSU stop they needed, only to be stopped themselves. With the ball back the Seminoles could ice the clock with a first down, but they wouldn't get that -- BC stopped them on third down to set themselves up for a game-winning drive, though John Pupel was called for a face mask, BC's 18th penalty of the day, giving Florida State the opportunity to just ice the clock out. In a day where BC nearly pulled off the unthinkable, penalties continued to cost them time and time again before it finally reached a breaking point and costed them a chance at a game-winning drive.
The Eagles have their first road matchup of the year next week against Louisville.
Brett Rider, Publisher, to Eagles Daily and BC Class of 2020. He may be reached at eaglesdailybc@gmail.com & @brettrid3r