The Tailgate: No. 3 Florida State

Last week's result for Boston College, a 31-28 win over Holy Cross, set in motion a new directive for the Eagles in week three as BC hosts No. 3 Florida State. A challenge from the Football Championship Subdivision's No. 5 team served as a precursor to this week's top match-up and an opportunity to figure out the team's identity through two weeks. Boston College's improved offensive line and run game has been on display through the first two games, but so has the presence of penalties, 10 each in the last two games, a major point of emphasis for the Eagles entering the week.

The aftermath of the Holy Cross game set a unique tone for this week's run-up to Saturday's game. A duality emerged where Boston College went from a game-defining play after a two-hour delay against the Crusaders to prohibitive underdog against the Seminoles.

"They could certainly be No. 1 or No. 2 right now," head coach Jeff Hafley said of this week's opponent. "It depends on who you ask. I think the biggest thing, one, is that [head coach Mike Norvell] does a great job. I have a lot of respect for him. I think he's a good football coach."

Norvell's turnaround from a 5-7 season in 2021 is largely due to how he built the program. Last year's team won 10 games found balance, and the momentum generated by the team's Cheez-It Bowl win over Oklahoma continued through an offseason where the Noles went after prime talent in the transfer portal. They successfully grounded their team into its foundational players, and the offseason additions complemented the scheme to the degree that they found themselves showered in preseason accolades.

The experts predicted an FSU rise into the vacuum created by Clemson's rebuild, but the overall success in the first two games significantly altered the perception of Saturday's matchup. The way the Seminoles bludgeoned LSU in the second quarter didn't stop last week against Southern Mississippi, and the two wins vaulted the team into national championship and playoff consideration for the first time since its undefeated, 13-0 season ended with a 59-20 blowout against Oregon in the Rose Bowl during the first ever College Football Playoff.

"They're deep," Hafley said. "Every time you turn on the film, there's a new guy who looks just as big and just as fast. They've got depth at running back. Their offensive line returned most of its players, and there's a quarterback that's just gotten better and better. He's probably one of the best players in all of college football. It's a very talented roster. It jumps out to me how much depth that they have, and it's almost like they overwhelm teams [with their skill]."

The college football season starts to bubble and fizz after its introductory weeks. Early contenders are established, but plenty of movers and shakers remain. Florida State comes to BC amidst an incredible run in the first two weeks, but the Eagles have a chance to end all of that momentum before it ever starts.

Red Bandanna Game week is here. Here's what to watch for when FSU visits Chestnut Hill on Saturday afternoon:

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Game Storylines (Red Auerbach Edition)

If you want to be a champion, you've got to feel like one, you've got to act like one, you've got to look like one.

BC enters Saturday on the heels of penalties presenting the biggest storyline of the Holy Cross game, so there's an understandable and palpable tension surrounding the team's overall performance. The 100-plus yards incurred through unsportsmanlike conducts and unnecessary roughness calls were front-and-center, and plenty of eyeballs are on BC's ability to compete and level back to the correct side of its violent balance.

"I had a lot of time to think about it because we were in that rain delay for two hours," said the coach, "so when I spoke [to the media] after the game, I pretty much had the game played in my mind about 10 times. I saw it really clear, and I showed the team every one of [the penalties]. It was not a very fun meeting to be in, and they understand that you can't do that. I wasn't just speaking in the moment. I meant it, and they won't play if that happens again. We're not going to do that."

Football's an emotional game, but BC fell out of sync last week because it focused more on the opponent than the opponent, if that makes sense. There were opportunities to blow the game open that didn't happen because the Eagles were too busy trying to fight with the Crusaders, and doing that against FSU, which scored nearly half of its touchdown drives by starting near midfield, amounts to a fatal mistake. It's a rare case of a team knowing how to shorten its offense while simultaneously draining the clock, and nine of the Noles' 14 touchdown drives lasted three minutes or longer.

"We need to learn from it," Hafley emphasized, "and that's why I spoke so passionately like I did. As I start thinking about it again, it's probably going to be [treated] the same, and I addressed it hard and handled it. With practice and going forward, we clean it up. Like I said, we're a good team, and we'll play well and get better and better."

They said you have to use your five best players, but I found that you win with the five who fit together the best.

Cleaning up mistakes honestly puts BC back on more even footing with Florida State's overall production because the Seminoles won't touch the ball as frequently if the Eagles are able to control the clock. It's a responsibility that falls to the running game and the offensive line, but the first two weeks indicated a willingness to plow the road behind five massive bodies starting to gel like the units of years past.

"This was one of the reasons why I came to BC," said graduate transfer Kyle Hergel. "I wanted to steer the ship right. BC is known for having great offensive lines, and we're going to prove that we're a pretty good offensive line in the way that we show up every day. We work to a high standard in that room."

The offensive line destroyed Holy Cross' defensive front last week with a combination of its scheme and execution, and the step-up to play against Florida State's defensive front four and some of the nastiest, most physical linemen in college football is a juicy opportunity in the trenches. The only sacks allowed were negligible at best, and facing a defense that got the quarterback six different times in the first two games presents an expected challenge.

That said, expect BC to operate in front of Thomas Castellanos by working into the same fever pitch lather from last week. The straightforward blocking on early downs gradually morphed into a more zone-based scheme when the defensive front started stunting to get more players involved, but the Eagles countered the moves by pulling guards across the line on delayed run-read option.

"You really start to get a read on what they're trying to do," Hergel indicated, "especially as individual defensive linemen. They might be looking one way and might be crossing here, or if they're left-hand down versus being light on their hands, and there are little things that you just pick on. When you're confident out there and playing, it's easy to pick up on those little reads that help you win the game and help the rest of the line when you tell them because you can see it."

A pistol-based quarterback helps those plays develop more slowly, but the offensive line's tendency to use its intelligence is a huge asset this week. Every defensive lineman, even the best, have their routines or giveaways, and last week proved how much BC has the personnel to attack its teeth.

I don't believe in statistics. There are too many factors that can't be measured. You can't measure a ballplayer's heart.

Weather conditions likely won't make passing the ball much fun on Saturday, but utilizing that offensive line ahead of BC's breakout stable of running backs presents the main way for the Eagles to defeat Florida State. First downs don't stop the clock anymore, and last week's first quarter offered a preview of a fast-paced, quick-moving game built around running offenses. Each team had one drive that resulted in a touchdown, and receiving the opening kickoff enabled the Eagles to effectively kill half of the first quarter before the defense stood on the field.

"Coming into college, the first thing I learned is that you're going to get more yards going north-south," running back Kye Robichaux said. "I pride myself in doing what I need to do to get the most yards as possible."

Robichaux ran like an old-school back last week and charged over defensive tackles with line-based bursts of speed. He never really kicked the ball outside to stutter-step off-tackle, but his six-foot frame bulldozed into the second level before he fell forward for another yard gain. It was very much something BC fans recalled from the AJ Dillon era and beyond when the offense gained the end zone by simply moving the sticks until it reached the end zone.

Both LSU and USM gained 100 yards against the FSU defense with similar mentalities, and the Tigers gained 460 yards against the Seminoles. They struggled on third downs, but assuming the Eagles can set up third-and-short situations pushes BC into a more advantageous situation given its success over the first two weeks.

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Question Box

Can the defense rattle Jordan Travis?

Florida State's offense amassed 1,000-plus yards in its first two games because there was an explosive chemistry between Jordan Travis and his entire unit. He threw for 342 yards and four touchdowns against LSU before settling into a more efficient 175 yards last week, but the shift to a run-first mentality brought Trey Benson's three-touchdown performance to the forefront.

The blowout didn't necessarily teach anyone much about the offense, but Tate Rodemaker going 3-for-3 for 73 yards and two touchdowns shows just how well the depth chart works within itself. Travis is a certified Heisman Trophy candidate, but the offensive line is good enough and deep enough to keep the position upright while it operates freely within Norvell's offense.

How do the defensive backs stop Johnny Wilson and Keon Coleman?

A pair of receivers big enough to play basketball for Leonard Hamilton probably doesn't hurt, either, and both Johnny Wilson and Keon Coleman - transfers who came to FSU from Arizona State and Michigan State, respectively - are both well over six-feet tall and likely headed for future careers in the NFL, with the six-foot, seven-inch Wilson heading for an early, early, early phone call on Thursday night of next year's draft class.

"They just kind of throw the ball up," Jeff Hafley said, "and those guys do a good job and are going to get it. They're just taller, and they're better than most people that they're playing against, which means they can be tough on balls in the air. They have really good tracking skills, and they are kind of like rebounds [going up after the ball]."

Wilson fell about 100 yards short of hitting 1,000 yards last year, but his eight catches for 202 yards against Oklahoma was the 14th 200-yard performance in school history. Pairing him with Coleman, an 800-yard receiver with seven scores for Michigan State last year, is a scary combination, and his nine catches against LSU for three touchdowns marked the second time he caught as many balls in a game.

Should I purchase an Amphicar Model 770?

I remember hearing about this thing in an office conversation one day, and it still makes virtually no sense to me as a vehicle people actually bought. For starters, the bumpers were intentionally high because of the propellers under the body, but they were still low on the panels because the wheels of the car were so low. The tires themselves had to sit low to allow the body to float, so the car wound up looking too high on the ground and too low in the water. That's not to speak of the need to convert and airlock the doors while the roof was folded away, and steering happened with the front wheels, which…it's a boat. That shouldn't happen, and a car built by German engineering seems like it should have better ideas.

All of that said, I would've liked a floatable car or something this week because the inundating rains flooded my back yard and most of the roads around my house. The areas more north and west of Boston flash flooded highways to the point that cars submerged up to their roofs, and the idea of a hurricane hitting the Northeast had people pulling their boats out of docked waters.

Give me the boat-car, and let's see how it handles the Mass Pike at rush hour.

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Meteorology 101

I sat down this week and put together a list of things capable of topping a two-hour rain delay. It was short, but it went a little something like this:

-Tornado
-Hurricane
-Blizzard

I didn't really think we'd get any of them this year, but Mother Nature apparently hates me more than I ever imagined. There were tornado warnings around Massachusetts this week because those pop-up thunderstorms on Wednesday were about as intense as most storms produced over the last couple of weeks. The news reports about cars submerged by floodwaters up in Leominster and along Route 2 were like something out of a bad dream, and I figured I'd just make a couple of jokes about real life scriptwriters stealing from The Day After Tomorrow, for those of us who remember that not-accurate-at-all apocalyptic movie from the 2000s.

Well, here comes Hurricane Lee. It churned up the east coast this week while it sped north in the Atlantic Ocean, but we're likely going to get little more than a brushback pitch by the time kickoff rolls around on Saturday afternoon. It'll feel more like a nor'easter, but it should be enough to saturate the ground (like we haven't had enough of that lately) with a good amount of rain opposite some steady wind gusts.

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BC-Florida State X Factor

The Red Bandanna Game

It goes without saying that the Red Bandanna Game is the biggest event on the Boston College football calendar. It's intentionally paired with an opponent that carries a national or high-powered brand to gain the most traction and draw the most eyeballs to Welles' story, and the atmosphere is carefully curated to strike the chord between athletic competition and an important on-campus message.

Having the game close to 9/11 is a luxury for this year's schedule, and those of us who remember the horror of watching the events unfold on live television are prepared to educate people on Welles' story. It's a glimmering beacon of hope protruding through the darkness of one of the worst days in history, and it's a big reason why his name is considered so important to the Boston College mission.

Saturday is about a football game, but it represents so much more than BC and Florida State. There is so much hate and division in the world today. Maybe talking about Welles gives us a chance to unite and reach across our differences to find humanity devoid of political machinations or contrasting lifestyles.

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Around College Football

I rarely talk about college football Saturdays by starting at the end, but No. 18-ranked Colorado hosts Colorado State at 10 p.m. on ESPN. Deion Sanders assembled the Wu Tang Clan last week for the Buffaloes' game against Nebraska. Consider me sold on the Coach Prime era.

All of that said, let's roll backwards a bit to a great slate of games in the early time slot, where four nationally-ranked teams kick off on respective television networks, the first of which is No. 3 FSU at BC. That game's on ABC, but No. 7 Penn State plays Illinois on Fox, and No. 14 LSU heads to Mississippi State for an ESPN broadcast while No. 15 Kansas State meets Mizzou for an SEC network telecast.

The afternoon continues with No. 1 Georgia hosting South Carolina in a 3:30 p.m. game on CBS, and No. 10 Alabama plays its first road game against a non-power conference team in eternity when it heads to South Florida for an ABC game. No. 19 Oklahoma, meanwhile, is at Tulsa, and UNC, Duke, and Iowa are all in action at the same time against Minnesota, Northwestern, and Western Michigan.

Elsewhere in the ACC, Virginia Tech is at Rutgers for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff, and Virginia is at Maryland for a 7 p.m. start on a Friday night featuring three FBS kickoffs, including Army-UTSA and Utah State at Air Force. Syracuse, meanwhile, heads to Purdue for a 7:30 kickoff on NBC, and No. 17 Ole Miss hosts Georgia Tech while the Backyard Brawl heads back to Morgantown for Pitt-West Virginia at 7:30 p.m.

Out in the Pac-12, future ACC members Stanford and Cal host Sacramento State and Idaho, respectively, and the AAC's SMU hosts Prairie View A&M in Dallas.

Down in FCS (and locally), the Ivy League gets involved in college football for the first time this season. Harvard hosts St. Thomas (no that's not a hockey game) and Yale hosts Holy Cross. Brown is at Bryant, and Dartmouth renews its rivalry at New Hampshire on Saturday while Rhode Island is at Maine on Friday.

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Dan's Non-Sports Observation of the Week

I'll be honest, there's a part of me that absolutely wants to sit in the crowd and get wild for this game. Some of my favorite games had some really awful weather, and the idea of struggling with a poncho while my hat gets soaked and wet is exactly what college football, to me, is all about.

I really believe that toughing out bad weather, as long as it's safe, is part of the New England experience. We shovel during blizzards and help our neighbors with clearing their driveways and streets. We stand in the street together as snow and cold blisters around us, and we skate on frozen ponds until our cheeks turn red from wind burn. We bundle our bodies to preserve heat, and we embrace a heartiness unlike anywhere else in the country or the world.

It looks like the hurricane is going to miss hitting Massachusetts with a direct shot. I could be wrong - I was way, way, way, way, way off on reading the radar last week when I thought thunderstorms tracked south of Boston - but if it's safe - and by safe, I mean truly safe - this is exactly the type of weather that brings us together as a region. We're a hearty bunch. If it's dangerous to leave our homes, we won't. If it's safe to leave our homes and check on our neighbors, it's encouraged.

Unless you're in the city during winter. Then it's more about not touching someone's lawn chair space saver under penalty of physical harm.

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Pregame Quote and Prediction

Left the house this morning. Bells were ringing and filled the air. I was wearing the cross of my calling. On wheels of fire, I come rolling down here. -Bruce Springsteen, "The Rising"

#ForWelles.

Boston College and No. 3 Florida State kick off on Saturday at 12 p.m. from Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Television coverage is available on national television via ABC with online streaming available via ESPN's platform of Internet and mobile apps. Radio broadcast is also available through the BC Learfield IMG Sports Network, which is on local radio in Boston via WEEI 850 AM with satellite options available via Sirius XM channel 389, with streaming audio available through the Varsity Network.

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Players Mentioned

Thomas Castellanos

Kyle Hergel

Kye Robichaux