Quick hitter: FSU survives scare on road vs. Boston College

No. 3 Florida State hit the road to Chesnut Hill for its first true away game of the season, taking on the Boston College Eagles in the Seminoles’ ACC opener.

FSU entered into the matchup with a four-game winning streak against the Eagles and as a 26.5 point favorite, but from start to finish, it was a struggle for the Seminoles to close things out.

Boston College came out swinging, scoring immediately on the first drive of the game and at one point holding a 10-3 lead.

Florida State then scored 28 unanswered, leading 31-10 in the third quarter before the Eagles mounted a comeback attempt bolstered by two Florida State turnovers — the second of which was a scoop-and-score off a Lawrance Toafili forced fumble.

It was the third straight week in which FSU had a slow start, but for the first time this season an opponent parlayed early success in keeping things close with the Seminoles.

Boston College, trailing 31-22, held steady and drove 95 yards in just nine plays to make it a two-point game with 5:19 left in the game.

Florida State went three-and-out on its following possession but managed to force a Boston College punt with 2:16 left in the game.

The Eagles were about to get the ball back around the one minute mark but on third down, a school-record 18th penalty gave Florida State a first down and essentially iced the game.

A concerning place where Boston College found extreme success? Third down, where the Eagles averaged 9.8 yards to go but still managed to convert 42.1% of their attempts, racking up 101 yards through the air (20.2 yards per completion) and 126 yards on the ground (12.6 yards per rush.)

Jordan Travis inspired a brief moment of panic when the Heisman Trophy-contending quarterback went down with an apparent arm or shoulder injury late in the second quarter, forcing Tate Rodemaker to take the final kneeldown of the half, but played the rest of the game under center for the Seminoles.