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FSU football's uninspiring performance leads to loss against Boston College | 3 takeaways
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- FSU football's uninspiring performance leads to loss against Boston College | 3 takeaways
Amid a chorus of boos and groans, Florida State football walked away from its home opener against Boston College with a loss , dropping to 0-2 for the first time since 2021.
The Eagles won 28-13 as quarterback Thomas Castellanos and the Boston College offense dominated against another lackluster performance from the Seminoles defense.
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The loss snapped a nine-game home winning streak for the Seminoles .
"I'm just sick how the season started. Obviously tonight I failed in preparing the team to be able to go outand respond tonight," FSU head coach Mike Norvell said. "The things that were necessary for us, the things we talked about, things we emphasized, obviously in all phases we were not able to execute."
"I obviously didn't put them in a position to showcase what I believe that this football team is, and it's extremely disappointing."
FSU quarterback DJ Uiagalelei struggled to get going and had fans calling for his benching with "We want Brock" chants filling the air at Doak Campbell Stadium on more than one occasion Monday night.
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Brock Glenn is the Seminoles' backup redshirt freshman quarterback who appeared in five games with starts in ACC Championship game and Orange Bowl last year.
Uiagalelei went 21-for-42, throwing one touchdown and an interception. Castellanos went 10-for-16, throwing two touchdowns and he added 85 rushing yards on 19 carries, scoring one touchdown.
Boston College scored twice in the second quarter, with Castellanos running for one and throwing for another. The first scoring drive came after a 14-play, 71-yard drive that took 9:18 off the clock.
The Eagles outgained FSU 172 yards to 8 yards at one point in the first half.
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A late push for a comeback came when Uiagalelei found wide receiver Kentron Poitier for a score to cut the deficit to 21-13. But, the defense's inability to get a stop allowed Boston College to score on a short rush from running back Kye Robichaux, making it 28-13, which was the final score.
Here are three takeaways from FSU football's 28-13 loss to Boston College.
Rudderless FSU offense, DJ Uiagalelei can't crack Boston College's defense
Following an uninspiring offensive performance against Georgia Tech in week zero, FSU's offense hoped for a response against Boston College.
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What it got instead was a rudderless display as the Seminoles failed to create explosive plays for much of the game.
Uiagalelei struggled as he missed throws, overthrew and underthrew while failing to find receivers consistently. The times when he did find his target, it was dropped too often.
The run game was a non-factor, with just 16 carries for 21 yards, compared to Boston College's 52 rushes for 263 yards.
"Obviously tonight we went into it a little bit more run/pass," Norvell said. "We missed some opportunities there in thepassing game. We've got to win one-on-ones. Obviously a bunch of different factors kind of tie into that. When it comes to the run game, it takes everybody. And we've got to be able to create space. We've got to be able to be on track."
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"We've got to make sure that we're taking advantage of all positions"
Toward the end of the first half, the Seminoles went on a 13-play, 70-yard drive, getting the ball to the 4-yard line and on the doorstep of the end zone. Following three straight incompletions, one deflected and two overthrown, FSU instead settled for a field goal to end the first half without a touchdown.
The drive and inability to find the endzone summed up the offense's performance against Boston College.
In the second half, it wasn't much better. The first drive ended in an interception thrown by Uiagalelei on a fourth-down attempt by FSU on its own 45.
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Poitiers touchdown drive started poorly, with a trick play on third down getting the Seminoles a sliver of momentum. The wide receiver then caught a ball, breaking three tackles from Eagles defenders and getting into the endzone.
Outside of its only touchdown drive of the game, FSU punted three times and turned the ball over on downs once in the second half.
Lack-luster defense struggles to contain the run
Sep 2, 2024; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Boston College Eagles tight end Kamari Morales (88) runs the ball against Florida State Seminoles defensive back Shyheim Brown (1) during the first quarter at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports
Coming into the Boston College game, defensive coordinator Adam Fuller knew his team needed to defend the run better.
While that fact was known, the Seminoles failed to make Fuller's desire to defend the run better a reality. The Eagles rushed for 263 yards , scoring two times on the ground with former FSU player Treshaun Ward a thorn in the side of the defense.
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Ward recorded 77 yards rushing on 12 carries while also adding 61 receiving yards on three receptions for one touchdown.
"Everybody has a role to fill. And we've got to be able to aggressive in our fits. We have to make sure we have our eyes up. We have to run through tackles," Norvell said. "If you get athletic players -- obviously they have a couple of athletic backs, athletic quarterback -- if you give them space, they're going to make it happen."
When Boston College did go to the air, they still had success, recording 106 yards receiving and blowing open coverages on multiple occasions throughout the game.
There was a stretch in the first half where Ward ran the same route on three separate third down plays, he was wide open each time. A dropped pass on the first route and a no-throw from Castellanos on the second were the warning signs a big play could happen.
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That big play moment did happen. A 42-yard third-down catch and run from Ward set the Eagles up for a touchdown four plays later.
The Eagles averaged 5.4 yards per play, with 10.6 yards per reception and 5.1 yards per carry.
FSU's inability to stop a run allowed the Eagles to do whatever it wanted, similar to how Georgia Tech controlled the game against the Seminoles in week zero.
It is the second straight game where poor tackling, missed assignments and slow reaction plagued the Seminoles' defense as it couldn't keep up with its opponent's ground game.
Ineffective game plan, inability to change cost the Seminoles
Sep 2, 2024; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Boston College Eagles quarterback Thomas Castellanos (1) scrambles during the first half against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports
A run-heavy offense struggled to find gaps and create scoring opportunities for the Seminoles in week zero against Georgia Tech , and in week one, a pass-first approach resulted in an angry Doak Campbell Stadium .
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Uiagalelei struggled to find his receivers to start the game, with the Seminoles throwing the ball 21 times in the first half while only running the ball six times. At times, the fans were booing and chanting "We want Brock" before the ball was even snapped, and those calls got even louder when the play resulted in an incompletion.
While the pass-first approach seemingly wasn't working as Boston College was prepared for it with heavy coverage packages, Norvell continued to let Uiagalelei throw the football. FSU finished the game with just 16 rushing attempts, with a handful of those coming on Uiagalelei scrambles as the offensive line offered him little protection.
"Obviously we were struggling offensively. There's a lot of reasons for that," Norvell said. "Obviously everything that we're doing we've got to push and get better. That's what we're going to focus on doing. We're going to focus on pushing to get better, and we're going to put our guys in the best position to go achieve success."
It was a stark contrast to the Georgia Tech game where Norvell continued to push running the football. The lack of changes to the game plan allowed Boston College to predict the Seminoles' play on more than one occasion.
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Defensively, the Seminoles struggled with tackling and while it was better in setting the edge, the unit struggled with runs up the middle. There were too many moments when defenders were caught flat-footed and unable to stop a rumbling Boston College running back.
The game plan remained the same for all four quarters on both sides of the football, and the inability to change led to the loss.
Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football Boston College loss takeaways DJ Uiagalelei Mike Norvell
