Countdown to Kickoff - Florida State - Boston College Athletics

It's Friday night lights at Alumni Stadium as the Eagles, fresh off back-to-back victories, host Florida State at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Winners of three of their last four, Boston College (4-4, 2-3 ACC) seems to have found their stride as they've pulled their record back to .500, thanks in large part to the quick learning curve of their freshman contributors.

Redshirts freshman quarterback Anthony Brown put together the best performance of his young career in last week's 41-10 blowout of Virginia, throwing for 275 yards and three touchdowns, both career highs.

"This is a tough league and he's got to do it week-to-week, but he's shown us all along the line of signals of him having these kinds of performances," BC head coach Steve Addazio said of Brown, who was named the ACC Rookie of the Week for his performance versus UVA. "The bottom line is he's settling in."

The Seminoles, who dropped a 31-28 tilt versus Louisville last week, have taken notice of what the Cliffwood, New Jersey native has been able to do in his premier campaign under center at the Heights.

"You see his confidence growing," said Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher of the Eagles QB. "Now he's throwing the ball better, the quarterback runs, the bootlegs, the nakeds. But he's throwing the ball better, getting in a comfort zone, getting them in and out of the right plays and the checks. What they do in the running game, he has to check and move those guys around. He's doing a really good job."

Florida State (2-4, 2-3 ACC), who own an 11-4 edge in the head-to-head series, has won seven straight games versus the Eagles, all under Fisher.

Three of the Seminoles four losses this season have been by six points or less, but they will be without the services of junior running back Jacques Patrick (knee), who was averaging 5.7 yards per carry.

Chestnut Hill should be hoping with the frenzy of football under the lights, coupled with it being the annual Red Bandana Game honoring late BC lacrosse player Welles Crowther who is credited with saving over a dozen lives at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

ESPN will carry the television broadcast of the afternoon's showdown, with Adam Amin (play-by-play), Mack Brown (color) and Jen Lada (sideline) on the call.

The BC IMG Sports Network has your radio broadcast locally on WEEI 850 AM and nationally on Sirius channel 84 and XM channel 84, as Jon Meterparel calls the plays, accompanied by Pete Cronan (color) and Scott Mutryn (sideline).

SportsUSA will also have national radio coverage with Josh Appel (play-by-play) and Charles Arbuckle (color) describing the action.

What they're saying

"Florida State has got a lot of great players on their roster. Obviously, they had a tough blow this year losing their quarterback, but they have, you can see that there's some talented players on their roster right now…When you watch them on defense, nobody can really run the ball against them, stout, they're athletic. This is a well-coached team, I think that without a doubt, obviously Jimbo Fisher is one of the best coaches in the country. His staff, unbelievable job of coaching, they have got a really good offensive line, the line coach there does a fabulous job. This is a talented football team and a hungry football team. And it will be a great challenge for us and we're looking forward to that challenge here at home, obviously our hope is that we'll have a big crowd here and it will be a really exciting, loud night here in Chestnut Hill." – Boston College head coach Steve Addazio

"They're versatile. A lot of blitzes, a lot of different fronts. Landry is a beast on the end, he can rush the passer, he can play the run. The other end Allen, too, if you look at their stats, I've never seen a defensive end leading them in tackles and then he's one sack behind Landry and tied with him in tackles for losses, too. I know everybody spends a lot of time on Landry, but they've got a lot of other players. The backers are active, inside (Noa Merritt) is physical and strong, (Ray Smith) is strong. Corners, it's the same guys that have been there forever, they're big, they're physical, they'll jam you." – Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher

"[Florida State's offensive line] got a great combo of athleticism and strength. You can definitely tell they're very well coached. I've been playing against them the past two years and they've always been one of the tougher groups that we have to go against. They got great size. We're excited for the challenge, but we have to put our best foot forward." – Boston College junior defensive end Zach Allen.

"They're Florida State. They're fast, they're big and they're strong. I was watching film and they definitely can hit. It will be an exciting game, I'm really looking forward to it." – Boston College redshirt freshman wide receiver Kobay White

"The running game, the freshman (A.J.) Dillon, he's running hard. The o-lineman have been physical, they're aggressive, they make holes for him. He's decisive. He sees it, he hits it. So, we definitely have a tough job stopping him, but I think we're up to the challenge." – Florida State sophomore linebacker Dontavious Jackson

Countdown to kickoff

10…Junior wide receiver Michael Walker is 10^th in the nation with a punt return average of 15.5 yards. He leads the nation in combined return yardage with 814 yards.

9…The Eagles are tied for ninth in the country in fewest penalties per game, averaging just 4.13 infractions through eight games.

8…Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher became the eighth coach in ACC history to win his 80^th game, accomplishing the feat with an October 14^th win over Duke.

7…Boston College has allowed only seven sacks on the season, the fewest in the ACC. They are 13^th in the country in that category as well.

6…Dating back to last season, the Seminoles have won six straight road games and are 2-0 on the road this season.

5…The Boston College defense is averaging just over five tackles for loss per game this season.

4…The Eagles rank fourth nationally with 623 plays on offense, behind only Syracuse (692), Duke (634) and Washington State (625).

3…Redshirt freshman quarterback Anthony Brown ranks third nationally among freshman in passing yards (1,284) and TDs (10).

2…The Eagles have put together back-to-back games with 500+ yards of total offense for first time in program history.

1…Boston College is the lone team in the country with freshmen leaders in passing (Brown), rushing (AJ Dillon – 152 carries, 704 yards) and receiving (Kobay White – 24 receptions, 313 yards).

Boston College Athletics

Countdown to Kickoff - Florida State

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Players Mentioned

Zach Allen

Anthony Brown

AJ Dillon

Noa Merritt

Ray Smith

Michael Walker

Kobay White

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