The Tailgate: Florida State

Boston College entered its 2008 football season without the lofty expectations placed on its most immediate predecessor. The Eagles were defending Atlantic Division champions in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but ascending to No. 2 in national polls didn't mean much after they completed a 10-win season with a win over Michigan State in the Champs Sports Bowl.

BC was a top-10 team, but the 2008 Eagles were missing many of the heroes who built the magic behind the 2007 season. Holdovers existed, but much of the team's ability to build its reputation rested on newcomers like Montel Harris and returning players, like quarterback Chris Crane, who didn't have all that much experience.

A power vacuum existed near the top of the league, and after BC tumbled out of the national rankings, the Atlantic Division broke out into chaos with Clemson, Florida State, Wake Forest, NC State, and Maryland all vying for the trip to the conference championship. Chaos reigned, and after they all managed to defeat one another, Wake Forest was the team finally emerging as the frontrunner when it inexplicably lost to NC State on November 15.

The result opened the door for Florida State, which hosted Boston College a few hours after the Wolfpack won at home. It gave the Seminoles a two-game lead, and with one league game remaining at Maryland, a win over BC would all but shut the door on the head-to-head loss absorbed when Wake Forest won in Tallahassee in September.

BC, meanwhile, expected to fall completely out of the picture with three league losses, but the aforementioned chaos hadn't yet benefited the Eagles. There was a previous win over Virginia Tech, but crossover losses to North Carolina and Georgia Tech made it difficult but not impossible to reclaim the division championship.

Making the trip to FSU was the make-or-break weekend. FSU had beaten BC at Alumni Stadium the previous year to end the Eagles' national championship dreams in the first game after the miracle win at Virginia Tech, but the Eagles had won on the road in 2006 for their first-ever conference victory against FSU. Additionally, the Seminoles dealt with a number of suspensions for a brawl three days before the game, and FSU entered the game without four players who totaled 51 receptions for 722 yards and eight touchdowns in the offense built around Christian Ponder.

The lack of firepower was obvious against BC's stingy defense, and after Ponder threw for less than 200 yards and three interceptions, a 14-0 first quarter lead for the Eagles managed to stand up over four quarters. Crane was effective, and though he turned the ball over with a late interception, a Steve Aponavicius field goal with 20 seconds left gave the Eagles a 27-17 lead and the inside track for the ACC Atlantic Division crown.

"Silencing the crowd on the road is the greatest feeling in the world," junior linebacker Mark Herzlich was quoted in The Boston Globe in the aftermath.

By beating FSU, BC cemented its own frontrunner status amidst the chaos of the Atlantic Division. It won what amounted to an elimination game, and after beating Wake Forest and Maryland in its last two games, the Eagles returned to the ACC Championship Game as a nationally-ranked competitor before playing Vanderbilt in the Music City Bowl.

It remains one of the more notable wins during BC's early ACC history, and it's the last time a team from Chestnut Hill walked out of Tallahassee with a win. The budding rivalry saw the Eagles beat the Seminoles three times over a four-year span, but the rise of Jimbo Fisher's national championship teams in the 2010s coincided with a regression that cost BC its own lead status.

Now in the last year of divisional play, both are vying to restore the greatness each believes exists within their respective programs. The undefeated Seminoles host an underdog BC team with something to prove. Offensive wizard Mike Norvell meets defensive genius Jeff Hafley. The old Atlantic Division rivalry is renewed, one last time in Florida, and for the first time in four years.

Here's what to watch for on Saturday night as BC visits the Florida state capital:

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Game Storylines (Red Hot Chili Peppers Edition)

Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner.
Sometimes I feel like my only friend
Is the city I live in, the city of angels.
-Under The Bridge

Much of the attention paid to FSU rightfully centers on Mike Norvell's reputation as an offensive coach, but the Seminoles' defensive resurgence is a big reason why they earned victories in their first three wins. The personnel all executed a scheme that worked against each opponent, and all credit is due to co-defensive coordinators Adam Fuller and Randy Shannon.

ACC fans conceivably remember at least Shannon's name from his tenure as Miami's head coach, but the former member of the Hurricanes' renegade national championship program from the 1980s is about as locally-farmed as it gets for the Sunshine State. He's from Liberty City and played for Jimmy Johnson at Miami, but he coached in the state with every major collegiate program and the NFL's Dolphins. In 2007, he replaced Larry Coker as head coach of his alma mater, and his nine wins in 2009 stood as the high-water mark until Mark Richt led the Coastal Division champions to the Orange Bowl in 2017.

Fuller, meanwhile, is a completely different face to the Florida scene, but he arrived in Tallahassee after spending 2019 with Norvell at Memphis. Both were subsequently hired by the Seminoles, but his journey took the more circuitous route to the ACC. His roots, oddly enough, are based in the Northeast from when he played linebacker at Sacred Heart, and he started his coaching career at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the same Division III school where BC head coach Jeff Hafley started. After stops that included one season as the head coach at Assumption College, he made his way south to Chattanooga and Marshall before becoming Norvell's defensive coordinator at Memphis.

"They really focus on one zone coverage that they're really good at," said Jeff Hafley. "They know how to match routes and play really fast. They rely on that pressure up front, but they also need really good guys in the back end to match routes and get aggressive. They know what they're doing on defense."

Having Shannon and Fuller gives the defense an incredible edge, but stopping that cohesion is going to boil down to how the offensive line performs in both pass protection and run blocking. The Seminoles are built around the point of attack, and though their leading tacklers are linebackers and defensive backs, an aggressive front line is capable of producing sacks. Two players in particular stand out in that regard, with Jared Verse leading the team in sacks and Derrick McLendon offering complementary pressure on opposing backfields.

Can't stop the spirits when they need you
This life is more than just a read-through
-Can't Stop

FSU's defense is nasty, but it also runs the risk of playing shorthanded against BC after Verse suffered an injury against Louisville. McLendon is a very capable replacement, but another week of offensive line growth should bring it into the spotlight for blocking second level players like Dennis Briggs Jr. and Kalen DeLoach.

For BC, Ozzy Trapilo suited up this week in practice, but his status remains unknown for the weekend game at FSU. Without him, the interior line performance from the Maine game needs to continue its upwards trajectory, while Nick Thomas will offer better blocking on the outside after he replaced Kevin Cline, who suffered a season-ending injury against Virginia Tech.

"Nick's a guy that we really liked a lot," said Jeff Hafley. "He was a really good basketball player who was also a good football player. He's big, athletic, has really good feet, and he's long. He earned a scholarship based on everything he did when we he came in, and we see a bright future for him."

Thomas is an intriguing option, and how he prevents FSU from setting the edge is probably the matchup that's more front-and-center to the offensive gameplan. He wasn't offered an immediate scholarship to the Eagles, but his raw skill set is finally realizing its potential after developing into a tackle for the BC offensive line. Though he didn't see action last year, his redshirt status allowed him to condition and build his database, and he rocketed up the depth chart this year before Cline's injury thrust him into action. With the offense kicking into hyperdrive against Maine, his next performance is going to go a long way to helping Phil Jurkovec and the BC offense set its edge against the aggressive FSU defensive line.

"It's very gratifying because you only get a certain amount of scholarships per year," Hafley said. "You try to recruit other guys that you feel might develop into scholarship players, and that's really important. We rewarded Nick with one, and when you see those guys [who are walk-ons], they do everything that scholarship players do, except they pay for school. They show up and work at 7 a.m., and they go to meetings. They bust their butts, and they give everything they have. Sometimes in life, if the guy deserves it, there's nothing better than rewarding him with a scholarship."

Fly away on my zephyr,
I feel it more than ever.
And in this perfect weather.
We'll find a place together
-The Zephyr Song

BC's last trip to Doak Campbell Stadium was a painful denouement to the season-ending slump that took the Eagles out of Atlantic Division contention during the 2018 season. It was one week after the Clemson loss at home, and the one-point loss to the Seminoles on the road finished derailing the dwindling New Year's Six bowl hopes after BC tumbled out of the national polls.

The Eagles still haven't rebounded from that stretch, but a win over FSU would exorcise demons from the lost potential of that 2018 season. A win at BC in 2019 preceded the teams' lack of a matchup during the COVID season of 2020, and last year's return trip to Chestnut Hill ended hopes of a premier bowl berth after the Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech wins clinched postseason eligibility.

"We're going to play one of the best-coached teams in this league," Mike Norvell said. "I have the utmost respect for Coach Hafley and what he does. These guys have some talented playmakers, and defensively, they do a great job with their scheme, what they do, and how they attack. Offensively, you're going to see a quarterback, wide receivers, running backs, it's a group that's talented."

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Question Box

Can BC break FSU's defense?

The BC offense took a major step forward last week during the win over Maine, and quarterback Phil Jurkovec looked like every pass turned the release valve on the pent-up frustration from the first two games. The receptions by Zay Flowers and Jaden Williams poured with that aggression, and the offensive line committed to its scheme with a surge and aggression it lacked against Rutgers or Virginia Tech.

Understanding that impact grounds the foundation for this week's clear step-up in competition against Florida State. BC barreled through its FCS opponent particularly in the middle quarters, so enhancing those plays could release the explosive nature of an offense rendered dormant by the well-documented early season issues.

What wrinkles does Mike Norvell have in store?

We know Mike Norvell's offense is going to pressure the BC defense, but it's imperative for the Eagles to get home and get off the field on third down opportunities. FSU is known for its ability to control the clock, and long, sustained drives are a defense's worst enemy. Understanding that Norvell's job is limit defensive explosives while matriculating the ball down the field simultaneously leads directly towards that idea in the scheme, but the Seminoles aren't a one-trick pony built towards moving the sticks.

Furthermore, it might not matter who plays quarterback, since Jordan Travis and Tate Rodemaker are each capable of handling the offense. Travis is more of an explosive option, but Rodemaker is the type of possession quarterback who can drive a defense insane with his accuracy. Think Chad Pennington in his prime.

How effective is BC's run game against FSU's front?

In my mind, the best way to counteract a team's ball control offense is by ramming its scheme right back down its own throat. To do that, BC needs its running game to simply play better than it has over the past three games. That doesn't necessarily mean yardage over quality, but it does mean that the defensive front, if it's banged up, needs to know that the offensive line is going to offer punishing holes for Pat Garwo, Alec Sinkfield, and the rest of a stable that's not getting nearly enough love lately.

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Meteorology 101

I experienced the vaunted Florida humidity for the first time in my life when I was visiting my grandparents over a spring break in college. The temperatures hit 90 degrees in the morning during that trip to Boca Raton, and the bright sunshine made it feel like I was wandering through the jungles of the Amazon Rainforest. It was unbearable, and it reminded me why I loved winter in New England.

Thursday of this week brought 90-plus degrees to the Tallahassee area, and while I don't know if the humidity was that bad, it was far different from the cold, autumn atmosphere offered in Chestnut Hill. Throughout the week, images of press conferences outdoors under the bright sunshine dotted social media, and forecasts sent overnight lows into the 70s that doubled as the daytime highs in Boston.

I'm not sure if Saturday will feature the infamous and gross Florida air, but it looks like temperatures are expected to spike into the high-80s by the time the game kicks off at 8 p.m. It'll simmer down over the rest of the night, but as the air cools, the rising humidity offers a more grueling and soupy fourth quarter.

Grueling, soupy, swampy, gross. I use those terms liberally for humidity. I apologize for nothing, and I hope Florida State's next trip to Boston includes a foot of snow.

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BC-FSU X Factor

Cuz I'm TNT, I'm dynamite.

Explosive plays are a popular term when it comes to college football, but understanding their meaning goes beyond simply calling them "big plays" over the course of four quarters. They don't translate to third down stops or fourth down turnovers, and coaches instead point to them as big, chunk plays that offer fast scoring opportunities for an offense against a defense caught off-guard.

"Explosives to me, run or pass, are chunk plays," said Jeff Hafley. "That's how you give up points fast, and that's how you score fast. That's how you flip the field. So whether it's a run of plus-10 or plus-15, or passes that are plus-20, you want to hit a certain amount on offense and on defense. Those will break your back, and if you look at drives, most drives [with explosives] end in touchdowns."

BC hit more explosive plays against Maine than it did in the first two games, but the scoring drives against Rutgers included big, chunk yardages on both sides of the ball. In the first quarter, a 29-yard pass to George Takacs set up the 11-yard pass to Zay Flowers, and the Scarlet Knights responded with a score of their own after Jurkovec threw an interception. In the second quarter, BC's touchdown pass from Phil Jurkovec to Flowers was a 26-yard explosive, and it came after the duo hooked up for a 31-yard pass. On the last scoring drive by the Scarlet Knights, Al-Shadee Salaam ran for 23 yards before rushing 22 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

"As you watch the NFL, watch how many times an offense has to go five yards, three yards, two yards, seven yards, six yards, five yards, eight yards," Hafley said. "Watch how infrequently that happens where an offense ends up going 70 or 80 yards. That's why when you think about defense, the number one thing in our minds is limiting explosives. It's hard to drive the length of the field and score points at any level."

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Around College Football

Can confirm: the party has not stopped, not even a little bit, at Appalachian State.

College football's giant killer has owned its media darling reputation ever since the FCS Mountaineers knocked No. 5 Michigan clear out of the top-25 after one week in 2007, but there's something different about this year's App State team. The way it won last week's game against Troy with that last second Hail Mary in front of the ESPN College GameDay crew (and Luke Combs) was pure electricity, and the field-rushing celebration by the student body was one of those moments where college football had raw emotion over stats or highlights.

On Saturday, the 3-0 Mountaineers play James Madison at home. In a past life, this would've been a frontrunner for the FCS Championship, but it's instead a full-fledged FBS matchup between teams capable of turning heads at the game's highest level. It's a Sun Belt Conference battle, and it very likely could determine which team advances to the SBC Championship before this season's over.

It will not, though, headline the rest of a weekend featuring a number of major matchups as conference play gets underway in earnest. In the SEC, No. 20 Florida heads to No. 11 Tennessee while No. 10 Arkansas travels to AT&T Stadium to play No. 23 Texas A&M at the home of the Dallas Cowboys. In the Big 12, No. 17 Baylor heads to Iowa State, and No. 22 Texas heads to Lubbock for a final conference matchup against Texas Tech, while No. 3 Ohio State hosts Wisconsin in the Big Ten. The Pac-12 has a number of marquee late games, including USC's game at Oregon State, Utah's game at Arizona State, and Washington's game at home against Stanford.

The ACC, meanwhile, kicks off its Saturday with some huge games, including No. 5 Clemson's game at No. 21 Wake Forest on national television. Later, Duke heads to Kansas in a non-conference game between undefeated - yep, you read that right! - teams, and Notre Dame is at 3-0 North Carolina after righting its ship last week against California with a 24-17 win.

On the local radar, UMass is at Temple at 2 p.m., and UConn is at No. 12 NC State for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff, while Rhode Island jumps into FBS play by visiting No. 24 Pittsburgh.

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Dan's Non-Sports Observation of the Week

Has anyone noticed how quickly the rain this week went from "badly needed" to "stupid annoying?" We're still technically in a drought, but the constant rain and overnight downpours saturated my lawn until I broke down and used the lawnmower on Wednesday afternoon. Even then, the ground remained wet enough to jam the mower multiple times over the course of one yard, and the grass clumps stuck to the driveway when I attempted to sweep them off the pavement.

On top of that, I lost a couple of quality workout days when the rain washed through Metrowest and prevented me from taking my daughter out in her jogging stroller. I probably could have gone for a run alone, but the rain wasn't conducive to taking the baby with me - and I really like having her outside in the fresh air.

I don't know why I'm complaining about it when I spent most of summer watching my yard dry into a crispy brown, and I've had more than a plethora of running days ever since September lifted the heat away from August's 90-degree days. It's been gorgeous, and I was able to get outside on Wednesday and Thursday without any incident. I just really got annoyed with the rain almost immediately after it arrived.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find something else completely meaningless to complain about.

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Pregame Quote and Prediction

A champion is simply someone who did not give up when they wanted to. - Tom Landry

Trips to Florida State always make me uneasy, but games against the Seminoles have at times felt like Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill. Wins haven't come often, and every time the Eagles positively need to get a victory, the Seminoles shove a flaming spear through the 50-yard line of BC's dreams.

There was once an era when this matchup felt like a true budding rivalry, and maybe the extra edge to BC's preparation is exactly what the Eagles need for their first trip to Tallahassee in a recruiting cycle. This has been a strange game at times, but when Saturday night hits, the memories of watching FSU win year after year can finally melt away into whatever happens for this year, when maybe - just maybe - an upstart underdog could look the mighty, undefeated Seminoles in the face and tell them, "Not today."

Boston College and Florida State kick off on Saturday at 8 p.m. from Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. The game can be seen on national television via the ACC Network with streaming available through ESPN's online platform. Radio broadcast is also available through the Boston College Sports Network from Learfield, which is on local radio in Boston via WEEI 93.7 FM or 850 AM with satellite options on SiriusXM channel 386 and SiriusXM App channel 976.

Players Mentioned

Kevin Cline

Zay Flowers

Phil Jurkovec

Alec Sinkfield

George Takacs

Nick Thomas

Ozzy Trapilo

Jaden Williams

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