Boston College Athletics
November 21, 2021 | Football, #ForBoston Files
The furious second half comeback fell short as BC dropped to 6-5.
In a parallel universe, a group of people are watching a football case study of Saturday's Boston College-Florida State game. The cabal is divided into two equal subgroups with each section focused on analyzing one half apiece. They aren't allowed to know the outcome or the context of their quarters, so all graphics and commentary are removed from their digital content.
If we all had to guess, the group's interpretation of the game would easily determine which half of football each watched. Anyone who watched Florida State break out through the first two quarters would believe the game was a runaway for the Seminoles, and anyone who saw BC in the third and fourth quarter wouldn't believe the game was 19-3 at halftime.Â
That's because the game itself was a football Venn diagram where each half illustrated each team's respective dominance. The middle cross-section is then the truth devoid of individualized perspective, and while that unfortunately equals a 26-23 loss for Boston College, it more shows a game that started one way, finished another, and yielded a college football classic between two teams who had very different, individualized styles of play.
"Credit to Florida State and [FSU head coach Mike Norvell] in the first half," BC head coach Jeff Hafley said. "He had a good plan. I thought we were a little flat in the first half. They hit us with a few things and really had us on the ropes, but credit to our players and staff. We fought back and scored 20 unanswered [points], which gave us a chance to win at the end of the game. We weren't able to execute, and I'm disappointed in the outcome but proud of the way we fought."
The final numbers offer glimpses at just how thin the margin of difference was by the end of the game. Florida State, for example, had 365 yards of total offense, but BC countered with 318 yards of its own. The Seminoles were better passing the football, but the Eagles finished with more rushing yards. Jordan Travis threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns, but Phil Jurkovec answered with over 200 all-purpose yards and two combined scores of his own.
Even the defenses weren't separated by very much. Florida State sacked Jurkovec four times but offset the success with 13 penalties for 120 yards. BC sacked Travis three times and were better on third and fourth down, but the Seminoles had the game's only takeaway, which itself came on the Eagles' last offensive play of the game after they drove across midfield on a six-minute drive in the fourth quarter.
In the end, there had to be a winner and a loser, and BC, always seemingly snakebit against Florida State, lost to the Seminoles after the two teams didn't play each other in 2020. A bowl picture already on creaky ground fell into chaos with other results in the ACC and left work remaining with one game still to play on the entire 2021 schedule.
For the first time this season, breaking down this game simply requires a rewatch from start to finish as opposed to overarching storylines. Here's what we saw on Saturday:
*****
First Down: Let's start at the very beginning. It's a very good place to staaaart.
First quarters generally include a feeling-out process at some point in the first two or three drives, which is why coaches and players understand the need to start fast. Teams have to warm up to one another as they develop the game version of their execution, and if the first drive results in a three-and-out or a touchdown, it can be hard to fully understand how a team will play over the course of a full 60 minutes.
That was certainly the case in the first quarter on Saturday after BC ended two quick drives without much to talk about. Phil Jurkovec had lit up Georgia Tech last week with his arm, but after he hit Jaden Williams with an early cross-field completion, he telegraphed a pass over the freshman that nearly resulted in an interception. He was under pressure from an FSU defense more than willing to remain aggressive against the explosive BC offense, and the Seminoles attacked the Eagles to minimize the amount of time allowed to hurt their scheme.Â
The FSU offense, meanwhile, tried to hit quick-hit looks as it highlighted its raw, superior athleticism, and on the second drive, some early game sloppiness resulted in the Eagles taking a couple of penalties. After an initial drive went into scoring position but was wiped out by a field goal-negating sack, the Seminoles scored and took a 7-0 lead after the first quarter.
"They threw some new stuff at us," Jeff Hafley said, "and they executed at a high level. They made plays, and we got behind. We couldn't protect early, and we couldn't stop them early. It kind of snowballed early in the game."
*****
Second Down: The gates open.
That aggressiveness forced BC off the field early in the first, but the second quarter swapped the momentum after it cost FSU 30 yards' worth of penalties on a drive that bled over from the end of the first. That both were on third down only intensified their impact, and the automatic first downs further salted the wound opened by a targeting penalty that sent Janarius Robinson to the locker room.
Those bites hurt the Seminoles, but they weren't venomous after the defense held BC to three points. It sacked Jurkovec and allowed its pressure to continuously pressure the backfield, which in turn allowed FSU's Jordan Travis the momentum to work freely. He led another touchdown drive at the start of the second quarter - arguably his third scoring drive of the afternoon - with seven plays that only took 3:29 off the clock. After throwing for more than 50 yards in the first, he now had confidence after posting FSU to a two-score lead that increased to 16 points after a safety and field goal by the Seminoles.
"We started off slow and flat," Jurkovec said. "I'm not sure exactly why we didn't have energy. We couldn't get possessions going [or] string together first downs. We were close, but we just didn't do it. So we weren't able to really move the ball in the first half."
The Eagles were starting to adjust, but the missed fourth down conversion from the FSU red zone cost them points on a drive that took six minutes off the clock. The overarching cost impacted the storyline and score of the game, but there were cracks starting to fissure the Seminoles' foundation. On that drive, Jurkovec and Alec Sinkfield changed the way the Eagles attacked the defense, and the Seminoles, who were still aggressive, were starting to hit more than tackle, something that became a greater storyline in the second half.
*****
HAF-time Hits
-Congratulations to all of the Boston College Varsity Club Hall of Fame honorees in the Class of 2021. One of my favorite weekends of the year is to reminisce about the memories of some of BC's greatest athletes as they stand on the Alumni Stadium turf, and it truly reminds me of the champions who laid the foundation for the current heroes who will inevitably join them.
-This year's class also included two of my personal favorite football players in Tim Hasselbeck and Will Blackmon. Hasselbeck was the latest in a long line of greats in his family, though I always felt like his era is at times neglected or forgotten. He was the quarterback who returned BC to a bowl game in 1999, and his 97-yard pass to Dedrick Dewalt is the longest in program history. He was the natural successor after his brother Matt and set a table for Brian St. Pierre that ultimately became the 2001 season. In 1999 in particular, BC's wins over Syracuse and West Virginia with a win at the end of the year over Notre Dame helped the team to a postseason game.
-Blackmon, on the other hand, stood out for a whole host of reasons. He was one of the Eagles who ushered the team into the ACC, and he was a natural NFL Draft pick after he played three different ways for BC during that era. A career that started as a defensive back included kick return duties, but his 2004 touchdown to the house was the precursor to BC's decision to flip him to wide receiver for the 2005 season. He promptly caught 51 passes for 763 yards and four scores from a young, skinny kid named Matt Ryan, though he made the pro ranks as a defensive back and a returner for the Green Bay Packers, who picked him in the fourth round. Blackmon eventually won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants and finished his career with one last, 79-yard return on an interception for Washington.
-As for the rest of the class, seeing Brooks Orpik and Kevin Stevens brought up some painful memories for me as both a Boston Bruins fan and as someone who grew up going to games at Boston University (shameful admission, I know), particularly in the last days of when the Green Line Rivalry was at Walter Brown Arena.
-Also a hearty congratulations to Carolyn Swords, who wrapped up her WNBA career with the Las Vegas Aces when they played their 2020 season in the women's bubble in Florida. She still remains one of the biggest and brightest stars of the Boston College women's basketball program, and her professional career set a standard that will likely only be matched by the Eagles matriculating out of the current ranks.
*****
Third Down: It's a game again.
Most of the second half discussion will center on how BC started and maintained its comeback, but it's worth noting that the game's decisive score actually came after halftime when Florida State executed a seven-play, 75-yard drive that only took two minutes off the clock. It built a 26-3 lead that surely should have ended the blowout after Jordan Travis chunked plays, ending only when he hit Malik McClain for a 15-yard touchdown.
FSU owned the driver's seat after that score, but the Seminoles didn't change their plan to chew out the clock to seal away the win. They instead ran more plays designed to move the football quickly, and Travis threw seven consecutive passes on his team's third drive after gaining 19 yards on the ground. The last two of those throws came on consecutive fourth down plays that were either negated or offset by flags, and FSU, marooned in the weird area between field goal range and punt territory, turned the ball over on downs. Of note, Jashaun Corbin, who ran for 26 yards on two carries to start the quarter, only saw the ball once on that drive.
BC's offense, meanwhile, sparked its own momentum and was figuring out how to attack the FSU defense. The Eagles scored, which likely necessitated the Seminoles' avoidance to kill the clock, and Jurkovec's 17-yard run on third down continued a drive and opened up Garwo for 22 yards on four consecutive carries before he plowed into the end zone for a score.
That success froze the FSU defense enough, and formation tendencies combined with the continued aggressiveness to set BC in motion at the end of the quarter when a pass interference call on third down from the Eagles' own nin gave Jurkovec a fresh set of downs. Another personal foul two plays later moved the offense out of its own danger zone, and with FSU scrambling and frustrated, BC opted to finally open things up to Zay Flowers for a 44-yard catch.
"I don't think I was locked out [in the first half]," Flowers said. "I feel like we had a lot of pressure in the first half, and it was hard to throw the ball. Then the second half, the offensive line played better, so we had time to throw the rock around."
That throw changed the whole dynamic of the game after three quarters. FSU had opened the half by building a 23-point lead, but BC very quietly had owned the quarter against the Seminoles. As the game shifted into the fourth, momentum swung clearly to the home side, and the road team was now officially chasing. The only question remaining centered on if there wasn't enough time to eradicate the lead, though that would be answered in short order at the start of the fourth frame.
*****
Fourth Down: The comeback falls short.
Because BC officially pushed the football with success, Florida State's frustration and confusion hit an apex shortly after officials overturned a fumble recovery for the Seminoles. It granted new life specifically to Jurkovec, who chipped away at the red zone and ran in a three-yard score to pull his team within 10 points.
That FSU subsequently went three-and-out felt like a major victory for the Eagles, and after Alex Mastromanno boomed a rugby-style kick to Jaelen Gill, white jerseys made contact with the BC kick returner during a fair catch. What would have been a first down at the minus-35 yard line instead started the Eagles' drive at midfield, and on the fourth play, Jurkovec fired a sideline route to Zay Flowers for a 36-yard, acrobatic touchdown that electrified the receiver and the stadium.
"I think [Zay] was open," Jeff Hafley said, "[but] we didn't really have much time early in the game to throw the ball. So we did some stuff a little bit quicker, more catch-and-run. There were a lot of catch-and-run opportunities. Then Phil made a great throw to him which put us right there in the game."
The sequence pulled BC within a field goal of Florida State, and the Seminoles predictably now ran the football on first down. Corbin was stuffed, and after a first down pass, the Eagles again forced a punt after only two minutes of game time elapsed. After the change in possession, BC had eight minutes and a tired FSU defense on the field, to which the Eagles began chipping and gashing yardage away from their opponents.
It looked like the Eagles would eventually charge towards a game-tying field goal, but they got hung in that same strange area between both field goal range and four-down territory. With two minutes remaining, Hafley rolled the dice on 4th-and-10, but Jurkovec's throw was rushed by a jailbreak blitzer. The quarterback had to unload a high throw, and as defenders converged on Flowers, Akeem Dent picked up the game's first turnover to finally neutralize the threat and hand the win to the flight heading back to the Florida Panhandle.
"We got the ball back and went for it on fourth and almost-three," Hafley said. "I had a really good look at it from the sideline. Where I was, I saw the ball and I saw the yard marker, and that's why I decided to eventually go for it. We crossed the 50 and just fell short. We had a guy open there too, but we just missed."
"We had three people open," Flowers said. "Everybody was open, but they brought pressure and got to Phil quicker than we thought."
*****
Point After: Digestion
Saturday offered a good college football game, and Florida State won by making the one play it needed in the second half. BC made the Seminoles work for the win, and the Eagles showed courage and heart by refusing to let their opponent waltz out of Alumni Stadium after opening a 23-point lead. Completing the comeback would have ranked as both the largest halftime lead, largest three-quarter lead and the largest lead in the fourth quarter blown by an opponent, and it would have broken the 17-point deficit overcome by the 1984 and 2005 Eagles' wins over Alabama and Wake Forest, respectively.
Instead, BC falls to 6-5, its record from last year, with one game remaining next weekend against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons, who were ranked No. 10 at the start of the weekend with an undefeated conference record, are now a team fighting for their division lives after losing to Clemson. While a win would match Wake against Pittsburgh in the conference championship, a loss would either send either Clemson or NC State to Charlotte based on the two-team or three-team tiebreakers.
On the other hand, the Eagles find themselves in position to still clinch bowl positioning with a win. The FSU loss puts the Seminoles on the brink of shouldering their way into a postseason game if they beat Florida next week while Syracuse still lurks with a 5-6 overall record. A win by either or both of those teams will make it hard for BC to leapfrog into the standard tier of games with identical 6-6 records because of its head-to-head loss against both teams.
That puts emphasis on a number of fronts for this game on Saturday, which was announced as a noon national television start. The 12 p.m. game can be seen on ESPN2 with radio coverage on the Boston College Sports Network from Learfield, locally in Boston on WEEI 93.7 FM.
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If we all had to guess, the group's interpretation of the game would easily determine which half of football each watched. Anyone who watched Florida State break out through the first two quarters would believe the game was a runaway for the Seminoles, and anyone who saw BC in the third and fourth quarter wouldn't believe the game was 19-3 at halftime.Â
That's because the game itself was a football Venn diagram where each half illustrated each team's respective dominance. The middle cross-section is then the truth devoid of individualized perspective, and while that unfortunately equals a 26-23 loss for Boston College, it more shows a game that started one way, finished another, and yielded a college football classic between two teams who had very different, individualized styles of play.
"Credit to Florida State and [FSU head coach Mike Norvell] in the first half," BC head coach Jeff Hafley said. "He had a good plan. I thought we were a little flat in the first half. They hit us with a few things and really had us on the ropes, but credit to our players and staff. We fought back and scored 20 unanswered [points], which gave us a chance to win at the end of the game. We weren't able to execute, and I'm disappointed in the outcome but proud of the way we fought."
The final numbers offer glimpses at just how thin the margin of difference was by the end of the game. Florida State, for example, had 365 yards of total offense, but BC countered with 318 yards of its own. The Seminoles were better passing the football, but the Eagles finished with more rushing yards. Jordan Travis threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns, but Phil Jurkovec answered with over 200 all-purpose yards and two combined scores of his own.
Even the defenses weren't separated by very much. Florida State sacked Jurkovec four times but offset the success with 13 penalties for 120 yards. BC sacked Travis three times and were better on third and fourth down, but the Seminoles had the game's only takeaway, which itself came on the Eagles' last offensive play of the game after they drove across midfield on a six-minute drive in the fourth quarter.
In the end, there had to be a winner and a loser, and BC, always seemingly snakebit against Florida State, lost to the Seminoles after the two teams didn't play each other in 2020. A bowl picture already on creaky ground fell into chaos with other results in the ACC and left work remaining with one game still to play on the entire 2021 schedule.
For the first time this season, breaking down this game simply requires a rewatch from start to finish as opposed to overarching storylines. Here's what we saw on Saturday:
*****
First Down: Let's start at the very beginning. It's a very good place to staaaart.
First quarters generally include a feeling-out process at some point in the first two or three drives, which is why coaches and players understand the need to start fast. Teams have to warm up to one another as they develop the game version of their execution, and if the first drive results in a three-and-out or a touchdown, it can be hard to fully understand how a team will play over the course of a full 60 minutes.
That was certainly the case in the first quarter on Saturday after BC ended two quick drives without much to talk about. Phil Jurkovec had lit up Georgia Tech last week with his arm, but after he hit Jaden Williams with an early cross-field completion, he telegraphed a pass over the freshman that nearly resulted in an interception. He was under pressure from an FSU defense more than willing to remain aggressive against the explosive BC offense, and the Seminoles attacked the Eagles to minimize the amount of time allowed to hurt their scheme.Â
The FSU offense, meanwhile, tried to hit quick-hit looks as it highlighted its raw, superior athleticism, and on the second drive, some early game sloppiness resulted in the Eagles taking a couple of penalties. After an initial drive went into scoring position but was wiped out by a field goal-negating sack, the Seminoles scored and took a 7-0 lead after the first quarter.
"They threw some new stuff at us," Jeff Hafley said, "and they executed at a high level. They made plays, and we got behind. We couldn't protect early, and we couldn't stop them early. It kind of snowballed early in the game."
*****
Second Down: The gates open.
That aggressiveness forced BC off the field early in the first, but the second quarter swapped the momentum after it cost FSU 30 yards' worth of penalties on a drive that bled over from the end of the first. That both were on third down only intensified their impact, and the automatic first downs further salted the wound opened by a targeting penalty that sent Janarius Robinson to the locker room.
Those bites hurt the Seminoles, but they weren't venomous after the defense held BC to three points. It sacked Jurkovec and allowed its pressure to continuously pressure the backfield, which in turn allowed FSU's Jordan Travis the momentum to work freely. He led another touchdown drive at the start of the second quarter - arguably his third scoring drive of the afternoon - with seven plays that only took 3:29 off the clock. After throwing for more than 50 yards in the first, he now had confidence after posting FSU to a two-score lead that increased to 16 points after a safety and field goal by the Seminoles.
"We started off slow and flat," Jurkovec said. "I'm not sure exactly why we didn't have energy. We couldn't get possessions going [or] string together first downs. We were close, but we just didn't do it. So we weren't able to really move the ball in the first half."
The Eagles were starting to adjust, but the missed fourth down conversion from the FSU red zone cost them points on a drive that took six minutes off the clock. The overarching cost impacted the storyline and score of the game, but there were cracks starting to fissure the Seminoles' foundation. On that drive, Jurkovec and Alec Sinkfield changed the way the Eagles attacked the defense, and the Seminoles, who were still aggressive, were starting to hit more than tackle, something that became a greater storyline in the second half.
*****
HAF-time Hits
-Congratulations to all of the Boston College Varsity Club Hall of Fame honorees in the Class of 2021. One of my favorite weekends of the year is to reminisce about the memories of some of BC's greatest athletes as they stand on the Alumni Stadium turf, and it truly reminds me of the champions who laid the foundation for the current heroes who will inevitably join them.
-This year's class also included two of my personal favorite football players in Tim Hasselbeck and Will Blackmon. Hasselbeck was the latest in a long line of greats in his family, though I always felt like his era is at times neglected or forgotten. He was the quarterback who returned BC to a bowl game in 1999, and his 97-yard pass to Dedrick Dewalt is the longest in program history. He was the natural successor after his brother Matt and set a table for Brian St. Pierre that ultimately became the 2001 season. In 1999 in particular, BC's wins over Syracuse and West Virginia with a win at the end of the year over Notre Dame helped the team to a postseason game.
-Blackmon, on the other hand, stood out for a whole host of reasons. He was one of the Eagles who ushered the team into the ACC, and he was a natural NFL Draft pick after he played three different ways for BC during that era. A career that started as a defensive back included kick return duties, but his 2004 touchdown to the house was the precursor to BC's decision to flip him to wide receiver for the 2005 season. He promptly caught 51 passes for 763 yards and four scores from a young, skinny kid named Matt Ryan, though he made the pro ranks as a defensive back and a returner for the Green Bay Packers, who picked him in the fourth round. Blackmon eventually won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants and finished his career with one last, 79-yard return on an interception for Washington.
-As for the rest of the class, seeing Brooks Orpik and Kevin Stevens brought up some painful memories for me as both a Boston Bruins fan and as someone who grew up going to games at Boston University (shameful admission, I know), particularly in the last days of when the Green Line Rivalry was at Walter Brown Arena.
-Also a hearty congratulations to Carolyn Swords, who wrapped up her WNBA career with the Las Vegas Aces when they played their 2020 season in the women's bubble in Florida. She still remains one of the biggest and brightest stars of the Boston College women's basketball program, and her professional career set a standard that will likely only be matched by the Eagles matriculating out of the current ranks.
*****
Third Down: It's a game again.
Most of the second half discussion will center on how BC started and maintained its comeback, but it's worth noting that the game's decisive score actually came after halftime when Florida State executed a seven-play, 75-yard drive that only took two minutes off the clock. It built a 26-3 lead that surely should have ended the blowout after Jordan Travis chunked plays, ending only when he hit Malik McClain for a 15-yard touchdown.
FSU owned the driver's seat after that score, but the Seminoles didn't change their plan to chew out the clock to seal away the win. They instead ran more plays designed to move the football quickly, and Travis threw seven consecutive passes on his team's third drive after gaining 19 yards on the ground. The last two of those throws came on consecutive fourth down plays that were either negated or offset by flags, and FSU, marooned in the weird area between field goal range and punt territory, turned the ball over on downs. Of note, Jashaun Corbin, who ran for 26 yards on two carries to start the quarter, only saw the ball once on that drive.
BC's offense, meanwhile, sparked its own momentum and was figuring out how to attack the FSU defense. The Eagles scored, which likely necessitated the Seminoles' avoidance to kill the clock, and Jurkovec's 17-yard run on third down continued a drive and opened up Garwo for 22 yards on four consecutive carries before he plowed into the end zone for a score.
That success froze the FSU defense enough, and formation tendencies combined with the continued aggressiveness to set BC in motion at the end of the quarter when a pass interference call on third down from the Eagles' own nin gave Jurkovec a fresh set of downs. Another personal foul two plays later moved the offense out of its own danger zone, and with FSU scrambling and frustrated, BC opted to finally open things up to Zay Flowers for a 44-yard catch.
"I don't think I was locked out [in the first half]," Flowers said. "I feel like we had a lot of pressure in the first half, and it was hard to throw the ball. Then the second half, the offensive line played better, so we had time to throw the rock around."
That throw changed the whole dynamic of the game after three quarters. FSU had opened the half by building a 23-point lead, but BC very quietly had owned the quarter against the Seminoles. As the game shifted into the fourth, momentum swung clearly to the home side, and the road team was now officially chasing. The only question remaining centered on if there wasn't enough time to eradicate the lead, though that would be answered in short order at the start of the fourth frame.
*****
Fourth Down: The comeback falls short.
Because BC officially pushed the football with success, Florida State's frustration and confusion hit an apex shortly after officials overturned a fumble recovery for the Seminoles. It granted new life specifically to Jurkovec, who chipped away at the red zone and ran in a three-yard score to pull his team within 10 points.
That FSU subsequently went three-and-out felt like a major victory for the Eagles, and after Alex Mastromanno boomed a rugby-style kick to Jaelen Gill, white jerseys made contact with the BC kick returner during a fair catch. What would have been a first down at the minus-35 yard line instead started the Eagles' drive at midfield, and on the fourth play, Jurkovec fired a sideline route to Zay Flowers for a 36-yard, acrobatic touchdown that electrified the receiver and the stadium.
"I think [Zay] was open," Jeff Hafley said, "[but] we didn't really have much time early in the game to throw the ball. So we did some stuff a little bit quicker, more catch-and-run. There were a lot of catch-and-run opportunities. Then Phil made a great throw to him which put us right there in the game."
The sequence pulled BC within a field goal of Florida State, and the Seminoles predictably now ran the football on first down. Corbin was stuffed, and after a first down pass, the Eagles again forced a punt after only two minutes of game time elapsed. After the change in possession, BC had eight minutes and a tired FSU defense on the field, to which the Eagles began chipping and gashing yardage away from their opponents.
It looked like the Eagles would eventually charge towards a game-tying field goal, but they got hung in that same strange area between both field goal range and four-down territory. With two minutes remaining, Hafley rolled the dice on 4th-and-10, but Jurkovec's throw was rushed by a jailbreak blitzer. The quarterback had to unload a high throw, and as defenders converged on Flowers, Akeem Dent picked up the game's first turnover to finally neutralize the threat and hand the win to the flight heading back to the Florida Panhandle.
"We got the ball back and went for it on fourth and almost-three," Hafley said. "I had a really good look at it from the sideline. Where I was, I saw the ball and I saw the yard marker, and that's why I decided to eventually go for it. We crossed the 50 and just fell short. We had a guy open there too, but we just missed."
"We had three people open," Flowers said. "Everybody was open, but they brought pressure and got to Phil quicker than we thought."
*****
Point After: Digestion
Saturday offered a good college football game, and Florida State won by making the one play it needed in the second half. BC made the Seminoles work for the win, and the Eagles showed courage and heart by refusing to let their opponent waltz out of Alumni Stadium after opening a 23-point lead. Completing the comeback would have ranked as both the largest halftime lead, largest three-quarter lead and the largest lead in the fourth quarter blown by an opponent, and it would have broken the 17-point deficit overcome by the 1984 and 2005 Eagles' wins over Alabama and Wake Forest, respectively.
Instead, BC falls to 6-5, its record from last year, with one game remaining next weekend against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons, who were ranked No. 10 at the start of the weekend with an undefeated conference record, are now a team fighting for their division lives after losing to Clemson. While a win would match Wake against Pittsburgh in the conference championship, a loss would either send either Clemson or NC State to Charlotte based on the two-team or three-team tiebreakers.
On the other hand, the Eagles find themselves in position to still clinch bowl positioning with a win. The FSU loss puts the Seminoles on the brink of shouldering their way into a postseason game if they beat Florida next week while Syracuse still lurks with a 5-6 overall record. A win by either or both of those teams will make it hard for BC to leapfrog into the standard tier of games with identical 6-6 records because of its head-to-head loss against both teams.
That puts emphasis on a number of fronts for this game on Saturday, which was announced as a noon national television start. The 12 p.m. game can be seen on ESPN2 with radio coverage on the Boston College Sports Network from Learfield, locally in Boston on WEEI 93.7 FM.
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Wednesday, October 28
Wednesday, October 28
Wednesday, October 28
