FSU football: Noles play sloppy to survive Boston College

FSU football got off to a shaky start defensively and the offense was anemic in the second half as FSU survived an upset bid by Boston College Eagles 31-29. Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos was a handful with his legs, scrambling and keeping the Boston College offense on the field on third and long several times.

FSU football defensive ends lost contain several times, and FSU defenders missed several tackles on their first two scoring drives. It seemed Boston College wanted to keep the FSU offense off the field with long sustained drives, and they were successful, as FSU only had four possessions in the first half, scoring two touchdowns and a field goal for a 17-10 halftime lead.

FSU scored on its first offensive possession in the third quarter to push the lead to 24-10. FSU went 74 yards on six plays, as Jordan Travis hit Preston Daniel on a four-yard touchdown pass with 12:28 remaining.

DJ Lundy secured an acrobatic interception on Boston College’s first offensive possession in the second half and scored on a fullback dive to push the lead to 31-10 with 11:20 remaining. Boston College converted another third and forever to keep a drive going before scoring on a one-yd TD run to trim the lead to 31-16(missed PAT) with 1:02 remaining.

Boston College attempted a squib kick, and recovered it because Trey Benson failed to secure a bouncing football. Boston College moved the ball to the FSU five-yard line, but the FSU defense forced a turnover on downs as Boston College went for it on fourth and two from the five-yard line.

The FSU offense got a massive third down conversion on 3rd and 8 from their seven-yard line to move the chains and allow the defense time to catch their breath. Jordan Travis threw a pass to Lawrance Toafili, who fumbled the ball, and Boston College picked it up and ran it in for a touchdown with 11:18 remaining(two-point conversion failed) to cut the lead to 31-22.

The FSU offense stalled in Boston College territory after a big gain from Jordan Travis to Johnny Wilson. FSU converted a fourth and short, but it got negated by a penalty, forcing FSU to punt. FSU punter Alex Mastromanno pinned Boston College on their five-yard line with a 39-yard punt out of bounds with 7:30 remaining.

Boston College converted another third and long with a QB scramble, and the defense got zero pass rush on the next play as Boston College hit a long pass play for 40 yards to the FSU 40-yard line with 6:51 remaining. Boston College converted a fourth down to score a touchdown to trim the lead to 31-29 with 5:19 remaining.

FSU went three-and-out on their next possession to give Boston College the ball with 4:37 remaining. The FSU defense forced a punt after sacking the Boston College quarterback twice. FSU received the ball with 2:16 remaining, and Boston College committed its 18th penalty to give FSU a first down and essentially end the game.