Florida State vs. Boston College score, takeaways: Eagles bully Seminoles in trenches as FSU falls to 0-2 (2024)

O'Brien's Eagles have identity

Boston College coach Bill O'Brien was often maligned at previous stops at Alabama in the NFL, but the man knows football. In his first game at Boston College, he gave a glimpse of his vision for the Eagles program.

Despite missing a projected starter on the offensive line, Boston College used a versatile run game to break Florida State's will. Dual-threat quarterback Thomas Castellanos only attempted 16 passes, but ran it 14 times alongside Treshaun Ward and Kye Robichaux. Boston College held onto the ball for dear life in the first half and held Florida State to just three offensive plays in the first quarter.

Florida State's defensive line did not live up to the hype, but Boston College's offensive line showed it was up for the moment. Attacking the margins with the running game, going downfield just enough with Castellanos to test the defense and playing tough defense of their own is enough to win a lot of games in the ACC.

Florida State is broken

Losing to Georgia Tech in Ireland was an unfortunate way to start the season, but one that Florida State could recover from. Coming back to Doak Campbell Stadium and putting together this pathetic effort against Boston College is not. For all intents and purposes, Florida State's title hopes are over and the No. 10 Seminoles will join a list of the most overrated preseason programs in college football history.

While DJ Uiagalelei will get the lion's share of blame, Florida State is bad everywhere. Multiple NFL scouts claimed that the Seminoles could have the nation's best defensive line, and Boston College cleared 200 yards rushing. The running backs combined for 26 yards on the ground. The receivers and tight ends struggled with drops.

Florida State seemingly had a manageable pathway to making the College Football Playoff with only one preseason top 10 opponent. Now, the Seminoles are essentially eliminated from the ACC title game and CFP by Georgia Tech and Boston College. It's one of the most confounding starts in history.

BC could factor in ACC race

Florida State was the media's preseason pick to win the ACC. With the Seminoles now 0-2 in conference play, the race becomes far more interesting. Miami appears to be the best team in the conference after dismantling Florida in Week 1, but fellow top contender Clemson was flattened by Georgia. Virginia Tech was a hot preseason pick that floundered against Vanderbilt. NC State struggled with an FCS opponent.

Why not Boston College?

The Eagles suddenly have a manageable pathway to competing in the ACC. Boston College does not playMiami, Clemson or Virginia Tech. The only other ranked team on the schedule is No. 11 Missouri in Week 3, which will not count against their conference slate. The race for No. 2 in the ACC could come down to the wire. Having the tiebreaker against Florida State can't hurt.

Defenses locking in

After Boston College's last touchdown, both defenses have locked in. Both Florida State and Boston College have gone three-and-out, while the Seminoles have another turnover on downs after going for a lengthy fourth down near midfield. Every second that ticks by, the less time Florida State has to redeem themselves.

Boston College keeps bullying

End 3Q: Boston College 28, Florida State 13

Boston College is absolutely working Florida State's once highly-rated defensive line. Outside of a batted Thomas Castellanos pass, the Eagles ran seven straight times and imposed their will against the hapless Seminoles. Running backs Kye Robichaux and Treshaun Ward and Castellanos each had multiple carries on the drive to march 60 yards down the field and take advantage of a penalty. The Eagles have 192 yards rushing through three quarters. Amazingly, Florida State accidentally had 12 players on the field for the final play, and Boston College got into the end zone anyway.

Florida State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has started to find himself in a rhythm after the Seminoles' last drive and is up to 208 yards passing. However, FSU has mustered just 23 yards rushing by running backs and has almost no faith in its offensive line.

Uiagalelei strings together big plays

3Q: Boston College 21, Florida State 13

Florida State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei shook off his brutal day and put together a major drive to cut Boston College's lead to one score. Uiagalelei took a shot to Jalen Brown for a key first down and Mike Norvell dialed up a trick play to get Kentron Poitier the ball on a deep shot. One play later, Poitier caught the ball again, broke a tackle and ran past the entire Boston College defense for a game-changing 29-yard touchdown. Florida State has new life entering the late third quarter.

Fourth down whiff leads to points

3Q: Boston College 21, Florida State 6

Florida State's nightmare night only got worse to start the second half as a major mistake from quarterback DJ Uiagalelei swung the game. The Seminoles came out aggressive and opted to go for it on fourth down and set a tone. Unfortunately, Uiagalelei was hit and floated a pass directly to BC defender Max Tucker, who returned it within the 10-yard line. Thomas Castellanos hit Kye Robichaux for a touchdown to push the lead to 15 points two places later.

FSU finally hits one play

2Q: Boston College 14, Florida State 3

Florida State needed an errand punt from Boston College, but favorable field position helped set up a Seminoles field goal to get on the board. DJ Uiagalelei connected on his first pass past the line-of-scrimmage on a slant for 25 yards for FSU's first third down conversion. Plays later, the Seminoles wasted their best chance by giving up a sack. Florida State is up to 38 yards late in the second quarter.

Ward gets his redemption

2Q: Boston College 14, Florida State 0

Boston College running back Treshaun Ward, a Florida State transfer, had a devastating wheel route drop on the first drive of the game that would have gone for a big gain. BC lost zero faith in his abilities and Ward rewarded them. Thomas Castellanos found Ward wide open for a 42-yard gain against Florida State's defense that got them to the edge of the red zone. Three plays later, Castellanos found Ward again for a wheel route into the end zone to completely take control of this game.

Boston College dragging FSU

2Q: Boston College 7, Florida State 0

The Eagles are running the ball at will against Florida State's highly-rated line as quarterback Thomas Castellanos reached in to give Boston College a 4-yard touchdown. The Eagles have 73 yards on the ground and have converted five of their first six third downs to completely take over this game. With Boston College's dominance, Florida State has run just six total plays in the first 17 minutes of game action.

Boston College driving

END 1Q: Boston College 0, No. 10 Florida State 0

We have reached the end of the first quarter from Tallahassee, and it's been an interesting first 15 minutes of play. For starters, the game and play clock aren't working, and time is being kept on the field. After Boston College and Florida State traded punts, BC put together an impressive drive that will see them start from the FSU 4-yard line. Boston College is moving the ball through the air and on the ground and has 102 total yards of offense (compared to Florida State's four total yards of offense) at the end of the quarter.

Boston College will face a third-and-2 to open the second quarter.

Both teams trade punts after key third-down drops

Boston College put together what looked to be a promising drive to open the game, but the Eagles were forced to punt after a wide-open Treshaun Ward dropped what would have been a sure first-down pass from Thomas Castellanos. The Seminoles' first drive suffered a similar fate when Lawrance Toafili couldn't hold on to a DJ Uiagalelei third-down pass. Obviously some nerves early for both squads.

Castellanos starts hot

Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos was just about perfect on his first drive, completing his first three passes and rushing for 11 yards to convert a third down to give the Eagles a chance. Bill O'Brien dialed up a picture-perfect play call on third down, a wheel route to running back Treshaun Ward, but the former FSU player dropped a potential game-changing play. Still, Castellanos looks unshaken against FSU's front, which will make the Seminoles' job much more difficult.

Boston College starts

Florida State won the toss and deferred as expected, which means Boston College will get its first shot to strike against the Seminoles' defense. Getting off to a fast start would be a huge help for the Eagles to gain some confidence under a first-year staff.

Game Prediction

Florida State showed major holes on both sides of the ball, especially while defending a dual-threat quarterback. Thomas Castellanos is an even more dynamic playmaker than Haynes King, which means Boston College will be able to keep the ball moving. The Seminoles will also find their rhythm against a first-year defensive staff and eventually survive for their first win, but it will be close late in the fourth quarter.

Picks: Boston College +21.5 / Florida State straight up

Best bet: Over 50.5

Florida State learned a lot about its new pieces in the loss to Georgia Tech, and I expect that from a game-planning and play-calling perspective we will see a bit more certainty. More offensive consistency and success should lead to more points for the Seminoles, but I'm not ready to think that Castellanos is going to be bottled up considering what he did to arguably a better defense last season. It seems like a Florida State win, especially at home, but with a big number on the spread I'll stick with my confidence in both teams having offensive success.

Florida State vs. Boston College prediction, pick, spread, odds, where to watch, TV channel, live stream

BC without top lineman

Boston College offensive lineman Logan Taylor will be out for the Eagles' season opener against Florida State. Taylor started all 13 games for Boston College last season and earned honorable mention All-ACC honors at left tackle. In Bill O'Brien's scheme, Taylor was projected to move to left guard. He was listed as a co-starter with senior Dwayne Allick. The Eagles will also be without nickeback Cam Martinez, an Ohio State transfer, who was competing for a starting job in the secondary.

Castallenos is a home run hitter

Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos wasn't always efficient last season after transferring from UCF. With his playmaking ability, the Eagles will gladly take the good with the bad. Castellanos posted 2,248 yards passing, 1,113 yards rushing and 28 total touchdowns for the Eagles last season to finish third in the ACC in total yardage.

Castellanos needs to button things up as a passer, but Florida State struggled defending the dual-threat ability in Week 0. Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King had 54 yards on the ground and needed only 16 key passes to reach 146 yards and the win.

FSU offense facing questions

The Seminoles had major issues moving the ball against a Georgia Tech defense that was one of the nation's worst last season. Florida State posted just 98 yards rushing on 3.2 yards per carry as the unit finished with fewer than 300 yards passing. For comparison, the Sun Belt's Georgia State accumulated 360 yards of offense and averaged 5.2 yards per carry against Georgia Tech in Week 1.

Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei received the lion's share of the criticism after throwing for only 193 yards. However, running back Roydell Williams mustered just 38 yards on 12 carries as the offensive line was all out of sorts. Florida State has to find consistent playmakers heading into another ACC matchup.