FSU football: 3 keys to Noles defeating Boston College
By Kelvin Hunt
Win 1-on-1 in Secondary
Boston College’s running game doesn’t scare me that much as they average 4.11 yards per carry. They played Clemson, NC State, and Louisville without their starting QB and averaged 1.35, 2.83, and 3.47 yards per rush.
Once Jurkovec returned, they averaged 4.33 and 5.13 against Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. For comparison sake, FSU allows 3.75 yards per rush, Georgia Tech allows 4.13, and Virginia Tech allows 4.67 yards per rush.
It’s the same game plan FSU had against Miami without having to worry about the running back hitting an explosive run or pass play. They can’t allow Jurkovec to launch balls vertically downfield to his top targets Zay Jones and Trae Berry.
FSU needs to prevent the balls over the top and coming hard downhill on the underneath stuff. Jurkovec completes 64 percent of his passes, so I like the probability of Boston College not executing 8+ play drives for touchdowns without a running game.
They also haven’t been strong in the red zone against weaker defenses, only scoring touchdowns 50 percent of the time against Georgia Tech. If FSU stops the run and wins the majority of the 1-on-1 battles in the passing game? They should hold this Boston College offense below 28 points.