Florida State 45, Boston College 7: Thoughts and observations
Jacob Stein
Florida State came into the game against Boston College and did exactly what they were supposed to do; they handled business. On a day in which they honored the brave men and women that have served in our military the 'Noles took it to a lowly Eagles team, struggling to survive this season with a now 4-6 record overall.
FSU's offense looked solid in the first half; not bad, not great, but solid. There were a few key plays where if the call had been changed at the line of scrimmage, we could have been looking at a much larger lead at halftime. For example, there was a third and one a little past midfield and instead of just running it up the gut with one of the best running backs in the country in Dalvin Cook, they elected to take a long shot downfield that fell incomplete leading to a punt on the drive.
The second half was better. The offense really seemed to settle in and look like they knew what they wanted to do. It's just too bad that was right around the same time quarterback Deondre Francois got knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury after a late hit that resulted in a roughing-the-passer penalty. There does not appear to be any reason for concern over the injury, as keeping Francois out the rest of the game was just a precaution. But then the seasoned veteran Sean Maguire stepped in and no one else missed a beat, with Maguire delivering a touchdown strike on just his third pass attempt.
The offense really took control of the game in the second half and bullied their way to a 45-7 victory.
Tate shines, Cook closing in on all-time record
Auden Tate had his breakout game making great use of his 6-5 catch radius while recording two touchdowns and 101 receiving yards in the process.
Dalvin Cook made history…almost. He entered the game needing 127 yards to pass Seminole' legend Warrick Dunn for the most career rush yards in school history. He fell 11 yards short of that prestigious record against Boston College due to the wise call by head coach Jimbo Fisher to pull his star running back from a game well in hand. I agree with the call as there is no need to risk an injury of a star player in garbage time. We learned that lesson with Derwin James.
Defense shuts down the Eagles
The defense got off to a bit of a slow start in the very beginning giving up a big run early but quickly tightened up and did not allow a touchdown until the very end of the fourth quarter once the game had already been decided. That marked the first score FSU's defense had allowed to Boston College in the last eight quarters of play dating back to last year's shutout win over the Eagles.
While BC is no Clemson or Louisville by any stretch of the imagination, it was nice to see the defense all on the same page with each other and executing their assignments.
Nothing flashy and nothing unnecessary; just good, sound defensive play by every player to keep the Boston College offense out of the points column for almost the entirety of the game.
This was a good game to send off many of these seniors on Senior Day. For players that have given so much to this program such as Demarcus Walker and Sean Maguire to name few, there could not have been a better way to say goodbye as the season nears closer to the end.