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FSU football holds on, escapes with victory at Boston College | Takeaways
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- FSU football holds on, escapes with victory at Boston College | Takeaways
It was "survive and advance" for No. 3 Florida State football (3-0) Saturday at Boston College (1-2) as it outlasted a fourth-quarter push from the Eagles, 31-29.
It looked like the Seminoles were going to pull away in the third quarter, but a fumble recovery by BC's Khari Johnson, taken to the house, cut the FSU lead to nine midway through the fourth quarter. A 32-yard touchdown reception from Thomas Castellanos to Lewis Bond cut the lead to two points.
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A sack by linebacker Kalen DeLoach on Castellanos with 2:23 left in the game gave FSU the ball back. BC's 18th committed penalty of the day, a facemask call committed by John Pupel allowed the Seminoles to run out the clock.
Here are our takeaways from the Seminoles' nail-biting victory over Boston College.
Boston College nearly spoiled the Seminoles season
A loss to the Eagles would've completely derailed FSU's drive for a College Football Playoff bid and may hurt them further down the road. CBS's College Football Rankings has BC ranked 103rd in the country and it nearly took down a top-three team.
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For the third straight week, the offense struggled to get going in the first half, but this time, it never really picked up. While Johnny Wilson finished with over 100 receiving yards and Trey Benson rushed for nearly 70 yards, the Seminoles' offense struggled to stay organized late and sputtered under BC's pressure.
"We obviously did not play to the level we wanted to for 60 minutes," FSU head coach Mike Norvell said. "On both sides of the ball, we had lapses of focus and execution. Gotta give credit to Boston College, I thought they came out and they played really hard."
Castellanos dominated on the ground, completing 20 of 33 passes for 305 yards and a touchdown. He'd also rush for 95 yards and a touchdown. FSU knew that his speed was a threat and it burnt them.
It was big defensive plays that came up late in the game, notably the DeLoach sack that allowed FSU to get the ball back.
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"We know we're the better team," linebacker DJ Lundy said. "We've got to play better, we've got to execute better. At the same time, we won and that's all that matters. We've just got to go back to practice and fix our mistakes."
While the Seminoles are focused on Clemson coming out of this game, this loss will hurt them in the AP Poll and a chance to play at a National Championship.
Eagles penalties prevented upset; Seminoles stayed disciplined
BC could've won this game if it weren't for the 18 penalties for 132 lost yards. The Eagles kept pace with the Seminoles from kickoff, but penalties constantly set them back. By halftime, FSU was up by a touchdown and BC had committed 11 penalties losing 81 yards.
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A lot of the penalties were claimed by ESPN broadcasters to stem from a miscommunication between Castellanos and the offensive line. Whether that be the reason or not, FSU let BC feed them yards throughout the entire game.
A penalty ended up killing BC's upset bid as a facemask penalty on third down in the final minute and a half that allowed FSU to run out the clock for the win.
The Seminoles had five and 45 lost yards. It's a major improvement from Week 1 vs. LSU as FSU committed seven penalties for 64 yards , the bulk of them coming in the first half.
"It finally went our way. That's all I was saying," running back Rodney Hill said. "Everybody was talking after the game, but it wasn't any big party. We already knew it was time to get back on Tuesday."
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Are Jordan Travis , Jaheim Bell ok?
Sep 16, 2023; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell helps quarterback Jordan Travis (13) back to his feet after suffering an injury during the first half against the Boston College Eagles at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
Near the end of the first half, Travis went down after being tackled and falling on his left side. He'd exit the game, showing discomfort on the left side of his body. Tate Rodemaker was seen warming up following the Travis injury.
Travis returned in the third quarter and finished out the game, completing 16 of 24 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 38 rushing yards. An injury to Travis would be detrimental to FSU's upward projection as he has been a force in leading the Seminoles to the top of the college football world.
"He went back in and appreciated the work he did," Norvell said. "He did some good things in the fourth quarter. We had a couple of things that cost us, and mistakes that were made. We gotta make sure we get that cleaned up. At halftime, I was very confident Jordan [Travis] was going to be rolling there in the second half."
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"We were nervous, but we've got two great quarterbacks behind him [Travis]," Hill said. "We were hoping he was alright, he came back and he was good. He's tough."
Midway through the fourth quarter, tight end Jaheim Bell left the field with an injury, hobbling off to the sideline. He recorded 76 receiving yards and a touchdown in the game and has been one of the Seminoles' biggest transfer additions.
The silver lining of the potential injury, FSU has a deep tight end room. Junior Markeston Douglas would likely step into that starting role alongside Kyle Morlock. Preston Daniels has also received high praise from the FSU coaching staff as of late.
Johnny Wilson found his mojo
One of the quieter, better moments of the game was Wilson's massive improvement f rom the Southern Miss game. Last week against the Golden Eagles, he had a handful of incomplete/dropped passes, failing to record any receiving stats.
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Against the Eagles, he bounced back for his second 100+ receiving-yard game of the season. He led the passing effort with 105 yards on four receptions and only missed on three attempts. It was almost expected that the junior was going to have a big game this weekend.
On the other side of the coin, Keon Coleman did not record any receiving stats. He had two rushing yards on one carry but was zeroed on by the BC defense. Travis did try to find him a few times, but he constantly had a defender, sometimes two, on him.
The receiving corps finished with 212 yards on 16 receptions and a touchdown. BC had 305 yards on 20 receptions and one touchdown.
Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @jackgwilliams.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football avoids massive upset from Boston College | Takeaways
