Florida St. falls to 0-2 after stunning loss to Boston College

Florida State doesn’t have to worry about being snubbed from the College Football Playoff this time around. 

On Monday, the 10th-ranked Seminoles (0-2) dropped a must-win game in disappointing fashion, falling 28-13 to unranked Boston College (1-0) in Tallahassee. The Eagles, led by new head coach Bill O’Brien, outplayed Florida State in all aspects of the game, and it appears they’ve already built an identity through their dominant rushing attack.

With that in mind, here are three key takeaways from Boston College’s impressive upset victory. 

The Seminoles run defense no-shows again

For the second consecutive week, Florida State’s inability to stop the run proved costly. After allowing 190 rushing yards on 5.3 yards per carry during last week’s 24-21 loss to Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland, the Seminoles let Boston College run wild on Monday. It took just three quarters for the Eagles, who finished with 263 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, to exceed Georgia Tech’s Week 0 rushing total.

Running back Kye Robichaux led the way for Boston College, rushing for a team-high 85 yards while scoring two total touchdowns. Senior RB Treshaun Ward, a Kansas State transfer who spent his first four collegiate seasons at Florida State, also enjoyed a stellar performance against his former team, totaling 138 all-purpose yards and one receiving touchdown. 

Additionally, the Seminoles were unable to limit Boston College dual-threat QB Thomas Castellanos’ impact with his legs, with the 5-foot-9 junior rushing for 73 yards and a touchdown.

Even though the Seminoles’ playoff hopes are essentially dead, they have an opportunity to turn their disastrous run defense around against Memphis next week. During its 40-0 win over North Alabama this past Saturday, Memphis, which saw co-starting running back Sutton Smith exit with a knee injury, rushed for a mere 59 yards on 26 attempts. 

Florida State desperately needs a quarterback change 

There’s a reason why QB DJ Uiagalelei is at his third school in three seasons.

The former five-star recruit, who transferred from Oregon State this past offseason after beginning his career at Clemson, was abysmal in the Seminoles’ Week 0 loss, throwing for just 193 yards. 

Somehow, Uiagalelei was even worse against Boston College, as the redshirt senior completed 21-of-42 passes for 272 yards, one touchdown and an interception.

Uiagalelei missed the mark on a number of wide-open throws, one of which should’ve resulted in a touchdown late in the second quarter to cut the Eagles’ lead to five points.

Florida State hasn’t been able to find a rhythm with Uiagalelei at the helm through two games. Frustrations are boiling over among Seminoles fans, considering many of Monday’s spectators chanted for Seminoles HC Mike Norvell to insert redshirt freshman Brock Glenn at quarterback. 

Glenn struggled mightily in limited action last season, completing 37.3% of his passes for 229 yards and two interceptions, but perhaps he can be the spark Florida State needs. 

Boston College has already accomplished an important offseason goal 

Speaking to reporters at the 2024 ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte this past July, O’Brien emphasized that he wanted the Eagles to be a “disciplined, tough, hardworking football team.” While it’s only been one game, Boston College looks the part of being the team O’Brien envisioned. 

The Eagles were not only more physical than the Seminoles, but they also played a relatively clean game, committing just one penalty, which came on special teams. 

This wasn’t the case for Boston College under former HC Jeff Hafley in 2023. In addition to playing down to their competition at times last season, the Eagles were one of the most undisciplined teams in college football. 

In 13 games, Boston College was penalized 85 times (the 30th-most in the nation) and notably racked up a school-record 18 penalties in last season’s 31-29 Week 3 loss to Florida State.