FSU Football: How did #Tribe19 play against Boston College?

After FSU Football’s win against Boston College on Saturday, Chop Chat’s Sam Tschida takes a look at how the true freshmen played against the Eagles.

The ‘Noles got a much-needed win on Saturday against Boston College in Chesnut Hill. It was only the second-ACC road win since the start of 2018, and gave FSU Football a total of four ACC wins for the first time since 2016. It moved Odell Haggins head coaching record to 3-0 for his career, and put the Seminoles in a great spot to go bowling at 5-5.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was a win, and some of the biggest contributors for the ‘Noles against BC were the members of Tribe19. Let’s see how they did.

Offense

After allowing nine sacks last week against Miami, the FSU offensive line performed much better versus BC on Saturday. They allowed a grand total of zero sacks and paved the way for a big offensive game for FSU, who scored their most points against a P5 opponent all season.

Florida State Seminoles Football

The Seminoles averaged 9.2 yards per play and had a season-high 524 yards of total offense. Granted, Boston College does have the second-worst defense in the ACC, but it was still a great performance.

On the offensive line, two true freshmen got the start, but a familiar face was missing. Dontae Lucas did not travel for unspecified reasons, meaning that true freshman Maurice Smith got the start at left guard. Darius Washington started his third straight game at left tackle for the ‘Noles.

Smith, a former three-star prospect from Miami Central, was expected to redshirt this year and provide solid depth, but injuries and poor play have led him to assume the starting role in Lucas’s absence. He played decently well, doing a good job in pass pro while standing his ground run-blocking wise. When PFF grades come out, expect decent marks for Smith.

Washington had himself a good game after getting beat for a few sacks against Miami. While he did allow a quarterback pressure, he did a good job staying in front of pass rushers and getting a push against the BC defensive line. He also sprung a Cam Akers touchdown run (see below), where he does a great job on a counter play of pulling and hitting the hole, then blocking the linebacker springing a TD.

Defense

BC came into the game with one of the best rushing attacks in all of college football. The Seminole defense did not completely shut them down, but they did get enough stops to limit the Eagles lethal ground game.

In the secondary, Akeem Dent started again at safety and totaled six tackles and one pass breakup. Dent did get beat once or twice in coverage but did a good job of coming up to help in run support throughout the game.

Brendan Gant received significant snaps and recorded a tackle, as did Raymond Woodie III. Renardo Green once again saw action as the field corner but did not record any stats.

In the front seven, an injury to Marvin Wilson gave true-freshman Tru Thompson a lot of snaps during the game. While sophomore Cedric Wood received the start in place of Wilson and had himself a career day, Thompson also had his best statistic day as Seminole. Thompson recorded a career-high three tackles, including one for loss, and was able to plug a lot of gaps in the middle.

Elsewhere on the defensive line, Derrick McClendon also got playing time for the fourth straight game but did not record a tackle. At linebacker, both Kalen Deloach and Jaleel McRae received playing time. Deloach saw limited snaps and did not record any stats.

McRae did not start but replaced Leonard Warner throughout the game, and did a decent job.

At times he did get sucked into the middle and taken out of the play, but overall was solid playing the ‘rover’ linebacker spot. McRae recorded two tackles, including a great one here.

McRae does a good job of reading the play and putting himself in position to make the tackle. Tackling AJ Dillon is no easy task, and McRae stuffs him for no gain.

Bottom Line

The ‘Noles got a much-needed win, and now have a near-certain chance of becoming bowl eligible with Alabama State coming to Tallahassee next weekend. It was a big-time victory for FSU, and important for a fanbase that hasn’t had much to cheer about this past season.

Fans should be encouraged by the number of true freshmen who are getting snaps, and they all seem to be improving each week.