Boston College Athletics
November 05, 2026 | Football, #ForBoston Files
November begins with a matchup between two storied ACC programs.
Few expected Boston College to earn an impressive victory during the early stages of the 2024 college football season when the Eagles traveled to Tallahassee for a meeting with No. 10-ranked Florida State. The Seminoles were fresh off of a disappointing Week Zero loss to Georgia Tech but still carried the expectations of a program that won the previous year's ACC championship, and BC was beginning a new era under Bill O'Brien. Even with a Fenway Bowl victory from the previous year, BC wasn't known for beating top-10 teams and hadn't defeated a top-ranked opponent in nearly 10 years, so the opportunity to establish O'Brien's vision ran secondary to a more modest beginning.
The convincing 28-13 win therefore announced BC's arrival under its coaching staff. The Eagles controlled the line of scrimmage and established a running game that consistently pushed Florida State backward, and quarterback Thomas Castellanos combined a version of a hybrid dual-threat offense with O'Brien's pro style scheme for 180 combined yards and a touchdown. FSU quarterback DJ Uiagalelei found himself under duress and stress for much of the game, and BC's disciplined and rugged style paid immediate dividends against the muggy Florida conditions.
Though FSU eventually finished the season outside of the national championship and bowl postseason conversation, the overall team-based performance by BC remained one of the defining moments of a campaign that temporarily returned the Eagles to the national polls. Nearly two years later, the programs are meeting under different circumstances, but the opportunity for a memorable November afternoon between Boston College and Florida State is unquestionably present for teams seeking momentum before the conclusion of their regular seasons.
"Florida State played Miami very, very tough," said head coach Bill O'Brien, "and Miami is a great football team. There were some calls and some different things that happened in the game, so Florida State, it's like I've said about a few teams this year. Sometimes the way the ball bounces and the way Saturday goes, it's just college football. Florida State is not a 3-5 team."
The coaching transition at FSU is an unavoidable piece of the conversation because now-former head coach Mike Norvell previously brought the Seminoles to the brink of the College Football Playoff with an undefeated season. The amassed talent still possesses considerable firepower, but the lack of synergy with a defense that hasn't produced enough explosiveness is a hanging thread and shadow looming over the undetermined outcome of the game.
Saturday represents an important opportunity for both programs to take a giant step forward. For FSU, a fourth win with three remaining games injects new life into a bowl conversation that felt like it was on life support after the previous three losses. For BC, a fifth win sets the stage for an end-of-season run that's as open-ended as any year in recent history.Â
On with the preview of the renewal of former Atlantic Division rivals:
*****
Weekly Storylines (Walt Disney Edition)
We evolved by necessity. We did not sit down and say to ourselves, "How can we make a big pile of dough?" It just happened.
Florida State's significant issues on the defensive side of the ball stem from its inability to generate consistent stops on third down situational plays, but the lack of a positive turnover margin means that the unit hasn't compensated for an opposing offense's ability to sustain drives and create further issues. Facing a BC team that's established in the backfield with its running game is therefore a critical issue that the Seminoles have to take into account, especially since the Eagles are constructed closer to their own offense with quarterback Mason McKenzie.
"We're going to have to do some things," said O'Brien. "They definitely have a great pass rush that's very athletic, very determined. They have a good scheme. It's going to be difficult. To think we're going to be able to sit back there, drop back, and wait three seconds to pass, that's never going to happen. It's never happened against Florida State…They have a unique way that they play. Going back to [longtime defensive coordinator] Mickey Andrews, Ernie Sims played for him. They were tough, nasty fast, 11 guys to the ball. So our guys have to be ready."
BC remains one of the better ACC rushing teams, so using the run to establish passing situations requires McKenzie to utilize his awareness of the second and third level players. Three different linebackers each have 35 tackles on the season for the Seminoles, and four defensive backs reached the same number while shifting between multiple formations and five-back sets. Defensive linemen aren't needed to rush the passer outside of Rylan Kennedy, and the larger bulk of their quarterback takedowns are generated from downfield coverages.
The only problem with anything of tomorrow is that at the pace we're going right now, tomorrow would catch up with us before we got it built.
The offensive groundwork remains BC's gold standard for overall improvement, but the changeover in the defense broke through several glass ceilings before running into Duke running back Nate Sheppard during last week's loss. The offense, therefore, needs to handle the FSU front four and generate long drives to counterweight and create opportunities for the defense to force the Seminoles into rushed or overly-aggressive postures, which is where the Eagles truly excelled in the win over Georgia Tech.
"They've got guys that are fast, that can catch, that can break tackles," said O'Brien. "We've got to really pursue the ball. We've got to do a good job of combining rush with coverage, but it's going to be difficult. We'll just try to play it one play at a time, and we'll see what their plan is, then try to adjust to that plan."
FSU lost both Duce Robinson and Ousmane Kromah for the season, so there's ample opportunity for players like KP Price and Anthony Palano to spy into the backfield without losing track of their downfield assignments. Not having either player could also limit the play action and force the Seminoles into more quarterback-specific running plays, which means that Palano and Price are two players who could switch out the proverbial fourth or fifth rusher if they're communicating on who controls the downfield coverage.
I don't want the public to see the world they live in while they're in the Park. I want them to feel they're in another world.
Interim FSU head coach Rick Stockstill led Middle Tennessee to championship-caliber seasons in both the Sun Belt and Conference USA, and his 2021 trip to the Bahamas Bowl during the first season after the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a 17-point fourth quarter comeback that produced a 31-24 win over Jason Candle and Toledo's vaunted rushing attack. A later win over Miami in 2022 helped pave a road that ended in a 25-23 Hawaii Bowl win over San Diego State, so the former FSU quarterback led the Seminoles to the Orange bowl in the early years under Bobby Bowden. In other words, he's exactly the hard-nosed and rugged coach that's capable of moving this team back into relevance before the season ends at the end of the month.
That also means that he's going to understand how to induce mistakes from a BC team that was heavily penalized over the past couple of weeks. The nine penalties against Georgia Tech surrendered approximately 100 yards in a win, and the 15 penalties against Duke marked the second consecutive week where BC drew more flags than its opponent. The Eagles haven't been less penalized than an opponent since the Pitt game, and no game produced five-or-less flags since the win over Maine, which was still one penalty more than the Black Bears.
"The calls have been pretty fair," admitted O'Brien. "They have to play the ball better, and we worked hard on that. We do different things to try to help that in drills, but at the end of the day, they have to execute. You have to get their hands out of there and trust their athletic abilities. We have guys that can run, so instead of reaching out and grabbing, they have to move their feet and stay in good position. Leverage is huge. In defensive football, if you have outside leverage, you have to maintain it. If you have inside leverage, maintain it. Don't lose the leverage, and know where your help is."
*****
Question Box
Can BC take advantage of FSU's quarterback turnover problems?
Ashton Daniels is a dynamic playmaker who can extend plays and create opportunities for wide receivers, but his 11 interceptions includes a minimum of one pick in all but one of his performances in an FSU uniform. He threw three picks in last week's game against Clemson and previously ran into the same issue against Alabama, and turning even one of those interceptions into a touchdown drive would have brought the Seminoles into a tie-game or close-game situation.Â
That said, his 12 rushing touchdowns make it hard to pack him into a tightly-wound pocket or force him to make plays on the run, so maintaining disciplined pass rush lanes while forcing him to make decisions under pressure is a critical element of stopping his leadership.
Can the offensive line re-establish its momentum against the FSU defense?
Duke's ability to jump out to a first half lead forced BC to play from a disadvantageous position for the entire game, and the statistics wound up reflecting a lack of balance and cohesion between the different units. The resulting 213-yard performance, therefore, is nowhere near an indicator of BC's effectiveness within its scheme, nor does it illustrate how the offensive line jumped forward in the two previous games against Pitt and Georgia Tech.
Finding the momentum from those two wins is paramount to beating Florida State because the Eagles controlled the pace and tempo of both of those games. They made opponents chase their style of play when they wanted to go fast or slow things down, and they frustrated both teams into submission by outsmarting them on both sides of the ball. They never gave themselves that opportunity against Duke, so FSU is a need to jump back into those shoes.
Can FSU withstand the downturn in Massachusetts weather?
Weather in Tallahassee remained muggy and warm throughout the Halloween holiday, and while overnight lows dipped far enough into the 50s to remain seasonably comfortable, the midday highs on Tuesday and Wednesday reached into the mid-80s with humidity percentages nearing 90 percent.
Boston neared that temperature on Wednesday and remained in the 70s throughout Thursday, but the downturn on Friday yielded rain and high mercuries that were closer to the midnight lows in the Florida Panhandle. Saturday isn't shaping up to be much better as things continue to drop back closer to our November normals.Â
Locals understand that this isn't necessarily "cold" for this time of year, but folks from warmer climates need to adjust to anything under 50 degrees. That first bite on their hands, that first wind gust on their faces - it's all very, very cold, and there's a possibility that later games in New England face these conditions more often than not.
*****
Meteorology 101
See above about the downturn in conditions. Friday's rain is going to saturate the leaves and make things wet and slippery around these parts, and it's unlikely that the sunny and cold conditions from Sunday morning are going to minimize that impact as the weekend moves forward.
The hour time change also means that the fourth quarter is going to take place under setting shadows behind Alumni Stadium, which means that the stadium will cloak into colder weather as the game proceeds. The Florida State sideline has the benefit of being in the sunshine for much of the first half, but managing the conditions as teams drive towards the Yawkey Center is something to note, at the very least.
*****
X Factor of the Week
The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose. -James Baldwin
Florida State's 2019 trip to Boston College showcased the danger of a team that played with the appropriate amount of desperation after parting ways with then-head coach Willie Taggart. A loss would've sent the Seminoles to No. 8 Florida with a six-loss record, so the likelihood of finishing a second straight season without a postseason bowl game was significantly higher if they lost in Chestnut Hill. BC, meanwhile, would've tracked closer to a seven-win season after losing starting quarterback Anthony Brown to a season-ending injury in October, and the Eagles were vastly improved after overcoming their season loss to Kansas. An outside shot at finishing in second place in the tightly-packed Atlantic Division existed if they held home turf against FSU, so the game offered similarities to Saturday in the sense that each carry different circumstances that could potentially impact the final few weeks of the season.
A one-play or two-play swing wouldn't have changed the result against Louisville, but hinging games against SMU, Alabama, Miami and Clemson is eye-popping. Even a two-game swing puts the Seminoles back in the ACC championship mix alongside one-loss Wake Forest and the six programs currently with two league losses, and a three-game or the unthinkable four-game swing puts FSU next to Miami in the College Football Playoff picture.Â
In other words, five or six plays separate a team with a 1-4 league record from sitting at 4-1 with three weeks remaining, and the team that's now lost its head coach is entering Saturday with an appropriate amount of desperation that could define the difference between bowl ineligibility and the extra practices and upward trajectory associated with playing at a neutral site destination.
"They have talent everywhere, at every position," said O'Brien. "They have great speed on offense. They have great speed on defense. They're tough. They play hard. It's going to be a very, very challenging game for us, but I think our guys have had a good week, and we'll be ready to go."
*****
Around College Football
Miami's ascension to the No. 1 spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff rankings brought the renegade Hurricanes to the forefront of a conversation that they once dominated. They earned 62 first place votes in the Associated Press poll compared to the eight controlled by the combined efforts of Georgia and Utah, and their 68 votes in the AFCA Coaches Poll represented the highest share by an ACC program since Clemson's 55 votes in mid-October of the COVID-19 season in 2020. No conference team had earned 60 votes in the coaches poll since Clemson started the 2019 season with a perfect 5-0 record, and those Tigers notably lost 32 votes to Alabama during a bye week.
No other ACC team is in the top-12, so Saturday night's trip to South Bend to play the No. 11 Fighting Irish is a massive test for the top-ranked Canes. Notre Dame is 7-1 and is guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoff if it finishes inside of the top-12, so a loss to the Hurricanes, especially in November, would likely end the independent's threat of making the field.
Other gigantic matchups dot this week's schedule, and none are more prevalent than in the SEC, where No. 6 Kentucky hosts No. 13 Tennessee and No. 10 Ole Miss hosts second-ranked Georgia after No. 5 Alabama travels to No. 14 LSU. In the Big 12, meanwhile, a Holy War matchup between No. 9 BYU and No. 3 Utah is a potential eliminator for the Cougars, who are still reeling from their loss to Central Florida. In each of their cases, No. 15 Texas Tech and No. 18 Wake Forest are looming as potential gainers if the right dominoes fall.
Also in the SEC, No. 7 Texas is at No. 18 Missouri, and No. 8 UCLA travels to Minnesota for a midday game against the Golden Gophers and their 50-degree weather. In the Big Ten, No. 23 Oregon is at No. 12 Ohio State, and in the Group of Six conferences, No. 25 Boise State heads to Colorado State.
Around the ACC, SMU hosts Virginia Tech on Friday night before Clemson leads off Saturday with a road trip to Syracuse. Duke is at NC State, and Louisville heads to Georgia Tech for the nightcap. Both non-conference games involve New England-based teams with North Carolina traveling to Connecticut and Merrimack heading to Wake Forest.
And on the local radar, UMass's 31-30 overtime win over Ball State in midweek MACtion pulled the Minutemen within one game of advancing to a bowl game. In the Ivy League, Harvard's loss to Dartmouth opened the door for a three-way tie atop the conference, and the Crimson host Columbia on Saturday while the Big Green head to Princeton in a virtual elimination game for the conference championship. In the NEC, unbeaten-in-conference Central Connecticut heads to Stonehill in a game with similar stakes, while the lower conferences feature Northeast-10's first place Assumption Greyhounds against a one-loss Franklin Pierce program and a potential NESCAC championship game between two unbeatens from Amherst and Trinity.
*****
Dan's Non-Sports Observation of the Week
Election Day offered a nondescript time for the Rubin household. My wife and I scheduled our civic duties around different times so that we could watch our daughters, who didn't have school, and her decision to take the girls to lunch allowed me to catch up on work while watching some old school action movies. She worked out in the morning, I worked out in the afternoon - we made some dinner, and I watched basketball at Conte Forum after the kids went to bed.
It went surprisingly well, so naturally the other shoe dropped on Thursday when my older daughter enjoyed a second early release day from her kindergarten class. She'd been a little ornery in the morning because she woke up a little too early - the time change is still ruining her week - and having last Thursday as an early release day alongside Tuesday's off day seemingly ran her to the edge of hanging around the house with her dear old mom and dad.
In short, Thursday was a disaster in the house, and she was about as cranky as humanly possible. We delayed an inevitable meltdown by having her rake some leaves with me in the afternoon, but she desperately wanted to climb my ladder to the roof to use the rake on the leaves accumulated on our house. The tears flowed when we said no, and the stubbornness didn't stop until bedtime.
Needless to say, we didn't finish the leaves, and my wife and I spent Thursday night on separate couches as we attempted to clear the cobwebs.
*****
Pregame Quote and Final Thought
Forget about style. Focus on results.
-Bobby Orr
Saturday's game checks a ton of boxes for a wild day at Alumni Stadium.
Boston College and Florida State kick off on Saturday at 12 p.m., from Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Television coverage is available via the ACC Network with longtime play-by-play personality Jorge Sedano on the call alongside former Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson, and former Boston College lacrosse national champion and media personality Annabelle Hasselbeck is returning home to provide sideline reporter duties. Streaming coverage is available through the ESPN family of Internet and mobile device apps for cable subscribers with access to the network.
The convincing 28-13 win therefore announced BC's arrival under its coaching staff. The Eagles controlled the line of scrimmage and established a running game that consistently pushed Florida State backward, and quarterback Thomas Castellanos combined a version of a hybrid dual-threat offense with O'Brien's pro style scheme for 180 combined yards and a touchdown. FSU quarterback DJ Uiagalelei found himself under duress and stress for much of the game, and BC's disciplined and rugged style paid immediate dividends against the muggy Florida conditions.
Though FSU eventually finished the season outside of the national championship and bowl postseason conversation, the overall team-based performance by BC remained one of the defining moments of a campaign that temporarily returned the Eagles to the national polls. Nearly two years later, the programs are meeting under different circumstances, but the opportunity for a memorable November afternoon between Boston College and Florida State is unquestionably present for teams seeking momentum before the conclusion of their regular seasons.
"Florida State played Miami very, very tough," said head coach Bill O'Brien, "and Miami is a great football team. There were some calls and some different things that happened in the game, so Florida State, it's like I've said about a few teams this year. Sometimes the way the ball bounces and the way Saturday goes, it's just college football. Florida State is not a 3-5 team."
The coaching transition at FSU is an unavoidable piece of the conversation because now-former head coach Mike Norvell previously brought the Seminoles to the brink of the College Football Playoff with an undefeated season. The amassed talent still possesses considerable firepower, but the lack of synergy with a defense that hasn't produced enough explosiveness is a hanging thread and shadow looming over the undetermined outcome of the game.
Saturday represents an important opportunity for both programs to take a giant step forward. For FSU, a fourth win with three remaining games injects new life into a bowl conversation that felt like it was on life support after the previous three losses. For BC, a fifth win sets the stage for an end-of-season run that's as open-ended as any year in recent history.Â
On with the preview of the renewal of former Atlantic Division rivals:
*****
Weekly Storylines (Walt Disney Edition)
We evolved by necessity. We did not sit down and say to ourselves, "How can we make a big pile of dough?" It just happened.
Florida State's significant issues on the defensive side of the ball stem from its inability to generate consistent stops on third down situational plays, but the lack of a positive turnover margin means that the unit hasn't compensated for an opposing offense's ability to sustain drives and create further issues. Facing a BC team that's established in the backfield with its running game is therefore a critical issue that the Seminoles have to take into account, especially since the Eagles are constructed closer to their own offense with quarterback Mason McKenzie.
"We're going to have to do some things," said O'Brien. "They definitely have a great pass rush that's very athletic, very determined. They have a good scheme. It's going to be difficult. To think we're going to be able to sit back there, drop back, and wait three seconds to pass, that's never going to happen. It's never happened against Florida State…They have a unique way that they play. Going back to [longtime defensive coordinator] Mickey Andrews, Ernie Sims played for him. They were tough, nasty fast, 11 guys to the ball. So our guys have to be ready."
BC remains one of the better ACC rushing teams, so using the run to establish passing situations requires McKenzie to utilize his awareness of the second and third level players. Three different linebackers each have 35 tackles on the season for the Seminoles, and four defensive backs reached the same number while shifting between multiple formations and five-back sets. Defensive linemen aren't needed to rush the passer outside of Rylan Kennedy, and the larger bulk of their quarterback takedowns are generated from downfield coverages.
The only problem with anything of tomorrow is that at the pace we're going right now, tomorrow would catch up with us before we got it built.
The offensive groundwork remains BC's gold standard for overall improvement, but the changeover in the defense broke through several glass ceilings before running into Duke running back Nate Sheppard during last week's loss. The offense, therefore, needs to handle the FSU front four and generate long drives to counterweight and create opportunities for the defense to force the Seminoles into rushed or overly-aggressive postures, which is where the Eagles truly excelled in the win over Georgia Tech.
"They've got guys that are fast, that can catch, that can break tackles," said O'Brien. "We've got to really pursue the ball. We've got to do a good job of combining rush with coverage, but it's going to be difficult. We'll just try to play it one play at a time, and we'll see what their plan is, then try to adjust to that plan."
FSU lost both Duce Robinson and Ousmane Kromah for the season, so there's ample opportunity for players like KP Price and Anthony Palano to spy into the backfield without losing track of their downfield assignments. Not having either player could also limit the play action and force the Seminoles into more quarterback-specific running plays, which means that Palano and Price are two players who could switch out the proverbial fourth or fifth rusher if they're communicating on who controls the downfield coverage.
I don't want the public to see the world they live in while they're in the Park. I want them to feel they're in another world.
Interim FSU head coach Rick Stockstill led Middle Tennessee to championship-caliber seasons in both the Sun Belt and Conference USA, and his 2021 trip to the Bahamas Bowl during the first season after the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a 17-point fourth quarter comeback that produced a 31-24 win over Jason Candle and Toledo's vaunted rushing attack. A later win over Miami in 2022 helped pave a road that ended in a 25-23 Hawaii Bowl win over San Diego State, so the former FSU quarterback led the Seminoles to the Orange bowl in the early years under Bobby Bowden. In other words, he's exactly the hard-nosed and rugged coach that's capable of moving this team back into relevance before the season ends at the end of the month.
That also means that he's going to understand how to induce mistakes from a BC team that was heavily penalized over the past couple of weeks. The nine penalties against Georgia Tech surrendered approximately 100 yards in a win, and the 15 penalties against Duke marked the second consecutive week where BC drew more flags than its opponent. The Eagles haven't been less penalized than an opponent since the Pitt game, and no game produced five-or-less flags since the win over Maine, which was still one penalty more than the Black Bears.
"The calls have been pretty fair," admitted O'Brien. "They have to play the ball better, and we worked hard on that. We do different things to try to help that in drills, but at the end of the day, they have to execute. You have to get their hands out of there and trust their athletic abilities. We have guys that can run, so instead of reaching out and grabbing, they have to move their feet and stay in good position. Leverage is huge. In defensive football, if you have outside leverage, you have to maintain it. If you have inside leverage, maintain it. Don't lose the leverage, and know where your help is."
*****
Question Box
Can BC take advantage of FSU's quarterback turnover problems?
Ashton Daniels is a dynamic playmaker who can extend plays and create opportunities for wide receivers, but his 11 interceptions includes a minimum of one pick in all but one of his performances in an FSU uniform. He threw three picks in last week's game against Clemson and previously ran into the same issue against Alabama, and turning even one of those interceptions into a touchdown drive would have brought the Seminoles into a tie-game or close-game situation.Â
That said, his 12 rushing touchdowns make it hard to pack him into a tightly-wound pocket or force him to make plays on the run, so maintaining disciplined pass rush lanes while forcing him to make decisions under pressure is a critical element of stopping his leadership.
Can the offensive line re-establish its momentum against the FSU defense?
Duke's ability to jump out to a first half lead forced BC to play from a disadvantageous position for the entire game, and the statistics wound up reflecting a lack of balance and cohesion between the different units. The resulting 213-yard performance, therefore, is nowhere near an indicator of BC's effectiveness within its scheme, nor does it illustrate how the offensive line jumped forward in the two previous games against Pitt and Georgia Tech.
Finding the momentum from those two wins is paramount to beating Florida State because the Eagles controlled the pace and tempo of both of those games. They made opponents chase their style of play when they wanted to go fast or slow things down, and they frustrated both teams into submission by outsmarting them on both sides of the ball. They never gave themselves that opportunity against Duke, so FSU is a need to jump back into those shoes.
Can FSU withstand the downturn in Massachusetts weather?
Weather in Tallahassee remained muggy and warm throughout the Halloween holiday, and while overnight lows dipped far enough into the 50s to remain seasonably comfortable, the midday highs on Tuesday and Wednesday reached into the mid-80s with humidity percentages nearing 90 percent.
Boston neared that temperature on Wednesday and remained in the 70s throughout Thursday, but the downturn on Friday yielded rain and high mercuries that were closer to the midnight lows in the Florida Panhandle. Saturday isn't shaping up to be much better as things continue to drop back closer to our November normals.Â
Locals understand that this isn't necessarily "cold" for this time of year, but folks from warmer climates need to adjust to anything under 50 degrees. That first bite on their hands, that first wind gust on their faces - it's all very, very cold, and there's a possibility that later games in New England face these conditions more often than not.
*****
Meteorology 101
See above about the downturn in conditions. Friday's rain is going to saturate the leaves and make things wet and slippery around these parts, and it's unlikely that the sunny and cold conditions from Sunday morning are going to minimize that impact as the weekend moves forward.
The hour time change also means that the fourth quarter is going to take place under setting shadows behind Alumni Stadium, which means that the stadium will cloak into colder weather as the game proceeds. The Florida State sideline has the benefit of being in the sunshine for much of the first half, but managing the conditions as teams drive towards the Yawkey Center is something to note, at the very least.
*****
X Factor of the Week
The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose. -James Baldwin
Florida State's 2019 trip to Boston College showcased the danger of a team that played with the appropriate amount of desperation after parting ways with then-head coach Willie Taggart. A loss would've sent the Seminoles to No. 8 Florida with a six-loss record, so the likelihood of finishing a second straight season without a postseason bowl game was significantly higher if they lost in Chestnut Hill. BC, meanwhile, would've tracked closer to a seven-win season after losing starting quarterback Anthony Brown to a season-ending injury in October, and the Eagles were vastly improved after overcoming their season loss to Kansas. An outside shot at finishing in second place in the tightly-packed Atlantic Division existed if they held home turf against FSU, so the game offered similarities to Saturday in the sense that each carry different circumstances that could potentially impact the final few weeks of the season.
A one-play or two-play swing wouldn't have changed the result against Louisville, but hinging games against SMU, Alabama, Miami and Clemson is eye-popping. Even a two-game swing puts the Seminoles back in the ACC championship mix alongside one-loss Wake Forest and the six programs currently with two league losses, and a three-game or the unthinkable four-game swing puts FSU next to Miami in the College Football Playoff picture.Â
In other words, five or six plays separate a team with a 1-4 league record from sitting at 4-1 with three weeks remaining, and the team that's now lost its head coach is entering Saturday with an appropriate amount of desperation that could define the difference between bowl ineligibility and the extra practices and upward trajectory associated with playing at a neutral site destination.
"They have talent everywhere, at every position," said O'Brien. "They have great speed on offense. They have great speed on defense. They're tough. They play hard. It's going to be a very, very challenging game for us, but I think our guys have had a good week, and we'll be ready to go."
*****
Around College Football
Miami's ascension to the No. 1 spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff rankings brought the renegade Hurricanes to the forefront of a conversation that they once dominated. They earned 62 first place votes in the Associated Press poll compared to the eight controlled by the combined efforts of Georgia and Utah, and their 68 votes in the AFCA Coaches Poll represented the highest share by an ACC program since Clemson's 55 votes in mid-October of the COVID-19 season in 2020. No conference team had earned 60 votes in the coaches poll since Clemson started the 2019 season with a perfect 5-0 record, and those Tigers notably lost 32 votes to Alabama during a bye week.
No other ACC team is in the top-12, so Saturday night's trip to South Bend to play the No. 11 Fighting Irish is a massive test for the top-ranked Canes. Notre Dame is 7-1 and is guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoff if it finishes inside of the top-12, so a loss to the Hurricanes, especially in November, would likely end the independent's threat of making the field.
Other gigantic matchups dot this week's schedule, and none are more prevalent than in the SEC, where No. 6 Kentucky hosts No. 13 Tennessee and No. 10 Ole Miss hosts second-ranked Georgia after No. 5 Alabama travels to No. 14 LSU. In the Big 12, meanwhile, a Holy War matchup between No. 9 BYU and No. 3 Utah is a potential eliminator for the Cougars, who are still reeling from their loss to Central Florida. In each of their cases, No. 15 Texas Tech and No. 18 Wake Forest are looming as potential gainers if the right dominoes fall.
Also in the SEC, No. 7 Texas is at No. 18 Missouri, and No. 8 UCLA travels to Minnesota for a midday game against the Golden Gophers and their 50-degree weather. In the Big Ten, No. 23 Oregon is at No. 12 Ohio State, and in the Group of Six conferences, No. 25 Boise State heads to Colorado State.
Around the ACC, SMU hosts Virginia Tech on Friday night before Clemson leads off Saturday with a road trip to Syracuse. Duke is at NC State, and Louisville heads to Georgia Tech for the nightcap. Both non-conference games involve New England-based teams with North Carolina traveling to Connecticut and Merrimack heading to Wake Forest.
And on the local radar, UMass's 31-30 overtime win over Ball State in midweek MACtion pulled the Minutemen within one game of advancing to a bowl game. In the Ivy League, Harvard's loss to Dartmouth opened the door for a three-way tie atop the conference, and the Crimson host Columbia on Saturday while the Big Green head to Princeton in a virtual elimination game for the conference championship. In the NEC, unbeaten-in-conference Central Connecticut heads to Stonehill in a game with similar stakes, while the lower conferences feature Northeast-10's first place Assumption Greyhounds against a one-loss Franklin Pierce program and a potential NESCAC championship game between two unbeatens from Amherst and Trinity.
*****
Dan's Non-Sports Observation of the Week
Election Day offered a nondescript time for the Rubin household. My wife and I scheduled our civic duties around different times so that we could watch our daughters, who didn't have school, and her decision to take the girls to lunch allowed me to catch up on work while watching some old school action movies. She worked out in the morning, I worked out in the afternoon - we made some dinner, and I watched basketball at Conte Forum after the kids went to bed.
It went surprisingly well, so naturally the other shoe dropped on Thursday when my older daughter enjoyed a second early release day from her kindergarten class. She'd been a little ornery in the morning because she woke up a little too early - the time change is still ruining her week - and having last Thursday as an early release day alongside Tuesday's off day seemingly ran her to the edge of hanging around the house with her dear old mom and dad.
In short, Thursday was a disaster in the house, and she was about as cranky as humanly possible. We delayed an inevitable meltdown by having her rake some leaves with me in the afternoon, but she desperately wanted to climb my ladder to the roof to use the rake on the leaves accumulated on our house. The tears flowed when we said no, and the stubbornness didn't stop until bedtime.
Needless to say, we didn't finish the leaves, and my wife and I spent Thursday night on separate couches as we attempted to clear the cobwebs.
*****
Pregame Quote and Final Thought
Forget about style. Focus on results.
-Bobby Orr
Saturday's game checks a ton of boxes for a wild day at Alumni Stadium.
Boston College and Florida State kick off on Saturday at 12 p.m., from Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Television coverage is available via the ACC Network with longtime play-by-play personality Jorge Sedano on the call alongside former Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson, and former Boston College lacrosse national champion and media personality Annabelle Hasselbeck is returning home to provide sideline reporter duties. Streaming coverage is available through the ESPN family of Internet and mobile device apps for cable subscribers with access to the network.
Players Mentioned
Sunday, November 15
Sunday, November 15
Sunday, November 15
Sunday, November 15
