What went right, what went wrong on offense for FSU in win over Boston College

The No. 3 Florida State Seminoles went up to Boston College to face the Eagles in what most expected to be a blowout, turning into a scary game for the Seminoles.

The Eagles offense was excellent and put the pressure on Jordan Travis and Mike Norvell, while the offense was efficient (especially in the third quarter) they failed to find a true level of consistency, getting shut out in the fourth quarter and amongst other things, failing to get Keon Coleman involved enough.

Here’s a look at what went right and what went wrong for the Seminoles in the win.

What went right

The Seminoles’ offense was able to move the ball well early and take advantage of Boston College’s defensive penalties. Jordan Travis also made some excellent reads in the running game and started taking advantage of his speed against BC.

The run game started out strong averaging 5.2 yards per carry in the ‘Noles first two offensive drives. Jaheim Bell has been excellent in short-yardage situations and that continued with him converting a red zone touchdown.

On the third offensive drive, Mike Norvell started using pony personnel, which has the quarterback in shotgun with two running backs on either side. Once they started giving the Eagles this look, they were unstoppable in the run game.

After the Seminoles struggled to run at the beginning of their last game against Southern Miss they used this formation to get more physical up front and they go to it again on Saturday.

To start the second half there was a worry about Jordan Travis after he get injured at the end of the first half. But Jordan came out and looked healthy enough to go leading a 6-play 74-yard TD drive.

The second half was sloppy from the offense as they had multiple opportunities to put the game away and did not get it done until the very last second.

Johnny Wilson bounced back with a 100+ yard game after struggling with drops the first two games of the season, he made some great plays and looks to be out of the slump.

Jaheim Bell was also very efficient with his touches and has really improved the ‘Noles red zone offense, his blocking has been great for the running game too.

What went wrong

The biggest issue for the Seminoles' offense early on was FSU’s defense keeping them off the field. After two offensive drives that both converted into scores the time of possession for the ‘Noles offense was 7:53.

The worst that could have happened this season nearly happened when Jordan Travis went down with an injury toward the end of the first half. He was struggling with his left arm/shoulder after a 9-yard run on third down.

He went into the blue medical tent and FSU got the ball with 3 seconds left in the half with Tate Rodemaker stepping in to take the final snap of the half. Travis kept his helmet on and was on the sideline before the team headed into the locker room for halftime.

Fortunately, Travis returned in the second half.

The Seminoles had an opportunity to put away the game in the third quarter and had a pre-snap penalty on 4th and 4 which forced them into a punt and gave BC the ball back down 21.

Later on, Toafili fumbled and a subsequent scoop-and-score allowed the Eagles to get back into the game — Toafili has been a great utility back for the Seminoles but really dropped the ball in this game. I think Rodney Hill will see the field more and more.

One concerning stat from this game is that the offense was 2 of 9 on third downs. Some of those were choices to set up 4th down opportunities but that efficiency is not good enough and if the Seminoles want to win at Clemson they need to improve on those situations.