FSU football survived a huge upset bid on the road against Boston College on Saturday afternoon. The Noles went into the game as 25-point betting favorites, only to escape with a 31-29 victory.
It looked like FSU would blow the doors off Boston College in the second half.
FSU took a 17-10 lead into halftime and scored two touchdowns in about two minutes to push the lead to 31-10 early in the third quarter, only to see Boston College score 19 unanswered points. It was a comedy of errors for FSU.
A botched kickoff return by Trey Benson on a Boston College squib kick put the FSU defense back on the field after allowing a 12-play 80-yard TD drive.
The FSU offense fumbling and Boston College returning it for a touchdown seemed to give Boston College real hope.
The playcalling from the offense or lack of execution left a lot to desire with a game against Clemson on deck next week. Let’s get into my three major takeaways from the game.
Team Seemed To Lack Focus From The Start
The FSU football team looked like they were not well-prepared from the beginning of the game. Boston College took advantage of two busted coverages on their first drive, both for 30+ yard pass plays to score on their first possession.
The second Boston College possession resulted in a field goal, but the drive took seven minutes off the clock and kept the FSU offense on the sidelines. They had multiple third-down and longs and two fourth-down conversions on the drive.
This situations happened far too often.
The FSU offense couldn’t seem to get into a rhythm on its first drive. The playcalling seemed to force the pass once again when they were having success running the ball. It’s the second week in a row they seemed to force the pass when they didn’t have to.
It bore out in the stats as Jordan Travis was only 15 of 24 throwing the ball, and I can’t recall many drops from receivers like last week. Johnny Wilson had a great rebound game, hauling in four receptions for 105 yards.
An elite team shouldn’t have these issues, and it’s on Mike Norvell to make sure his team’s ready to play each week.
More Rodney Hill
Trey Benson had 12 carries, 38 yards, and a touchdown, but he’s not running like the guy we saw much of the second half of last season.
I don’t know if he’s hurt or what, but I need to see more Rodney Hill in the offseason. Benson is still tip-toeing and refusing to run with any power a guy his size should.
The number of times Benson ran into the back of blockers and fell to the ground without falling forward like he was 150 pounds was frustrating, to say the least. Rodney Hill looked like a different back when he got his opportunities, and the stats reflect it.
Hill finished the game with five carries for 42 yards and a long run of 18. Benson’s longest run in the game was only seven yards.
Hill looked to punish defenders for trying to tackle him and didn’t hesitate when he got the ball from Jordan Travis.
This isn’t one bad outing like Johnny Wilson’s issues last week, this is a trend with Benson not looking great against two Power 5 teams.
Third Downs
FSU was terrible on third downs offensively and defensively. The offense was 2 of 10 on third downs against a Boston College team that allowed five yards per rushing attempt going into the game.
That’s not going to get it done, and something they have to fix ASAP.
The FSU defense had been stout on third downs through two games, only allowing conversions 30 percent. They did a great job getting Boston College right where they wanted to be on third and long but couldn’t get off the field.
Boston College converted eight of 19 third downs and were 4 of 5 on fourth down. Boston College had six third down conversions that were third and long and a couple more where the FSU defense allowed enough yardage on third down to set up a fourth down and manageable situation.
Some of the credit has to go to the Boston College QB, who’s athletic and can make you pay for not doing your job. FSU also had a ton of missed tackles that cost them.
There were moments in the game where the FSU offense and defense looked elite, but they had far too many moments where they looked awful because of lack of execution.
Parting Thoughts
I’m not sure what to make of the game. I think some credit has to go to Boston College’s quarterback and offensive line. They upgraded both of those positions over last year. I’m not as worried about the defense as I am about the offense.
The defense got Boston College where they wanted and couldn’t execute well enough to get off the field. The missed tackles don’t help, but the receivers catching passing without any defender within 10-15 yards is concerning.
Was that the BC quarterback moving and buying time to find guys open? Is the Boston College offensive line better than we thought?
I know Kevin Knowles made some major mistakes at safety in the absence of Akeem Dent. Omar Graham Jr. filled the wrong gap on a huge third-down conversion when Boston College was near their goal line.
I suppose one could question why Graham was in the game, but I did notice Kalen DeLoach had come out earlier. However, I saw DeLoach in the game near the end, so lots of questions. I’m not going to overreact to the game. I still like this team a lot and believe they’ll play better next week at Clemson.