Florida State football soars over Boston College

Florida State was looking for a different result after losing its last Friday home game nearly 60 years ago. The ‘Noles did just that, improving to (7-3, 4-3) over Boston College (4-6, 1-5) by a final of 45-7.

It was as if FSU had completely disregarded its tremendous first quarter struggles against Power Five teams.

Florida State’s first offensive drive ended in a touchdown —- repeat, a touchdown. Deondre Francois finished a magnificent drive, going 6-7 for 67 yards with a strike to Auden Tate. It was the first time FSU saw the endzone in the first quarter against a Power Five team, only taking the ‘Noles eight times.

The ‘Noles kept things rolling on its next trip down the field, and after being bailed out on a roughing the punter penalty, went the length of the field again with Francois connecting to sophomore Nyqwan Murray.

In the second quarter, Florida State went back to the first half play it is known for. The team was only able to accumulate one score, a 19-yard touchdown run by Dalvin Cook, and averaged 3.3 yards per play.

On the other side of the ball, Boston College could not gain any positive momentum — literally. The Eagles had -7 total yards, and at the end of the first half, had 74 total yards on 3.1 yards per play.

Heading into the half, the ‘Noles held a 21-0 lead.

Florida State tacked on another 14 points with Sean Maguire getting into the mix on senior day. He was substituted in when the ‘Noles got to the BC six yard line, and threw a touchdown pass to Auden Tate. Travis Rudolph scored FSU’s first touchdown of the half, from Francois, on a 20-yard touchdown pass which came after two punts to begin the half.

The fourth quarter was a culmination of Florida State being up by 30. Deondre Francois left the game with a shoulder contusion, and would not return. The ‘Noles got its first score of the quarter when Logan Tyler attempted, and made his first field goal of the season from 54-yards out.

Senior Freddie Stevenson recorded his first touchdown of the game from Maguire, putting FSU up 45-0.

The offense of Boston College was abysmal at best, thanks in part to a great performance by the FSU defense. The Eagles had nine consecutive three-and-outs and one point, and had a total of 146 yards, good for 3.0 yards per play. Take away the Eagles’ longest play from scrimmage, a 39-yard rush in the first quarter, and that average drops to 2.2 yards per play. Those both include a 75-yard touchdown drive with three minutes remaining.

Before leaving with his injury, Deondre Francois went 16-24 for 183 yards and three touchdowns. Sean Maguire threw two touchdowns himself on 5-7 passing. RB Dalvin Cook came up just short on history, sitting out the fourth quarter after gaining 108 yards on the ground. Auden Tate led receivers with 101 yards and two touchdowns.

On the defense that played discipline the entire time, Matthew Thomas and Ro’Derrick Hoskins completed six tackles each with the team combining for nine tackles for loss, Thomas with two. The ‘Noles forced BC to punt an astonishing 10 times, and even blocked one for the first time since 2010.

Florida State will travel to Syracuse next week to finish up its ACC play.