BC Knows Motivated FSU Team Awaits

On Saturday, Boston College closes out its home portion of the 2019 schedule when it hosts Florida State at Alumni Stadium. It's an event filled with pageantry, headlined by the Red Bandanna Game festivities, against an opponent long regarded as a cornerstone football program within the Atlantic Coast Conference's foundation.

Few programs carry the dedicated following or national appeal of the Seminoles. Even fewer match FSU's three national championships, 18 conference titles or countless NFL alumni. So it's an uncomfortable reality to look at this week as a critical game for FSU to avoid bowl ineligibility for the second consecutive season.

But if Florida State is a team facing a variety of issues, it's not a factor at Boston College, where the Eagles continue preparing this week with the knowledge that everyone is dangerous on any given week.

"I'm in the mindset of just coaching the team," BC head coach Steve Addazio said. "I don't pay attention to any of that stuff (surrounding FSU). It doesn't mean anything to me. We're going to roll through practice this week and roll in Saturday, and two teams are going to face off."

FSU enters Saturday as the most enigmatic team on BC's schedule because of its season-long inconsistency. It rebounded from two losses in the first three weeks to win two straight games and grab hold of second place in the ACC Atlantic Division. It generated some optimism, but it quickly quelled after a blowout loss to Clemson and a heartbreaking loss to Wake Forest. Last week, a 27-10 loss to Miami marked the third defeat in four games, and it came to a head on Sunday when the Seminoles fired head coach Willie Taggart.

The up-and-down results presented the Seminoles with a crossroads entering this week. Their 4-5 record all but guaranteed 2019 would be the first year without a single ranking since Bobby Bowden's first season in 1976. Their 3-4 conference record means the team is on the verge of its third consecutive sub-.500 record in the ACC. And with games left against FCS-level Alabama State and No. 10 Florida, it likely will determine if the team becomes bowl ineligible for a second straight season.

All of this presents a case that this is a vulnerable Florida State team, but the truth is that the program still has some of the best natural athletes and football players in the college game. The raw talent levels are off the charts in Tallahassee, and in the wake of mounting adversity, galvinizing and polarizing the Seminoles could conceivably make them most dangerous.

"I think they have a great deal of respect for our program," Addazio said. "And I think they try to be at their very, very best, realizing they're going to line up against a real physical, tough football team, and they have to be prepared. Everybody is a professional in this business. You've got a job to do, (and you) go do your job."

The understood threat comes from the FSU defense's sheer size and athleticism. Its defensive front remains one of the biggest BC will face all season, and every player has the individual talent to cause havoc in the Eagles' power running game. On the line, Janarious Robinson is 6-foot-5 and 261 pounds, but moves with quickness and agility on the edge. Of his 39 tackles, nine have gone for losses, and his three sacks indicate a willingness and ability to attack the backfield.

He plays next Marvin Wilson, a 311-pound mastodon with over eight tackles for loss and five sacks, loading up a challenge for one of college football's elite offensive lines. It's the type of strength-on-strength matchup analysts and fans dream about: a strong, big, fast, physical offensive line against a strong, big, fast, physical defensive line.

The team's second level support system isn't much different. Both the linebackers and secondary have players well over six feet tall who are capable of both covering and moving with quickness and power. Emmett Rice is a standout at linebacker, but the true strength resides in a defensive secondary with multiple coverage defensive backs.

Hamsah Nasirildeen is the team's leader in tackles and morphed into a physical presence this year, breaking up three passes, forcing three fumbles and recording one interception. With Stanford Samuels III and Asante Samuel, Jr., there's more than enough to keep the BC offense in check if it's not careful.

"This is the biggest, most physical front we've played, and I thought we played a couple of good ones," Addazio said. "This is the biggest and most physical, beyond a doubt. (They have) big, big defensive linemen, big backers, and the back end has a couple of safeties. They've got a corner and a safety that are lights out."

It's going to make for an interesting Saturday in Chestnut Hill because that's a deep bench of riches balanced against an overall struggle for consistent production. FSU is average to below average in scoring defense and red zone defense, but it's above average to elite on third down defense, sacks and fumbles recovered. The Seminoles are in the top half of the nation against the run, but near the bottom against the pass, resulting in a low-mark in total defense. It makes it impossible to nail down which team will show up, but it creates a determination to prepare for this game as much as any other opponent.

"They've had top recruiting classes," Addazio added. "They've got talent. You've got to watch out. It only takes one guy to drop back and throw that ball deep, and a guy pulls it down to make a play real easy. They've got talent, and that defense is darn good."

Boston College and Florida State will kick off at noon from Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill this week. The game can be seen on ACC Network, which is now available on most cable providers. The game can also be viewed on ESPN's WatchESPN streaming platform, though viewers must have a subscription to a cable provider with access to the network. The game can be heard on the BC Learfield IMG Sports Network, locally in Boston on WEEI 93.7 FM, with satellite options on Sirius channel 134, XM channel 193 and Online channel 955. Streaming audio will be available via the TuneIn app on mobile devices.

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