FSU at Boston College: Good Times, Bad Times

In recent history, Florida State has had its way with Boston College and will look to continue that trend on Friday night by winning its eighth straight game in the series. FSU is just 2-4 this season while the Eagles are 4-4 after consecutive wins.

The history between the schools hardly goes way back, but the teams have played every year since the Eagles joined the ACC in 2005. Many of the games have been competitive and early on, they were instrumental in deciding the Atlantic division.

As FSU looks to get back in the win column on Friday night, we revisit the series history between the Noles and Eagles. It’s time for this week’s installment of a segment we call, “Good Times, Bad Times”:

All-Time Series: FSU leads 11-4.
Good Times: Florida State’s second-ever trip to Boston College would be the first road win for legendary head coach Bobby Bowden as the Seminoles beat the Eagles 28-9 on Oct. 9, 1976. After trailing 6-0 early, Rudy Thomas’ 12-yard touchdown run put the Seminoles ahead for good. After Jimmy Black’s 10-yard touchdown run gave FSU a 14-9 lead after three quarters, Mark Lyles added to it with a 1-yard plunge. Rudy Maloy put the exclamation point on the victory by returning a fumble 65 yards for a score with just over a minute to play.

Boston College’s first conference game as a member of the ACC came against eighth-ranked Florida State at home on Sept. 17, 2005 and for the Eagles, things couldn’t have started much worse. FSU linebacker A.J. Nicholson returned a Quinton Porter interception 20 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the game before adding another interception in the quarter which set up a Drew Weatherford touchdown pass to Greg Carr to make the score 14-0. No. 17 Boston College would storm back with 17 unanswered points to take the halftime lead, but Weatherford’s second touchdown pass to Carr with 10:13 to play put FSU ahead for good. FSU running back Lorenzo Booker scored from four yards out with less than four minutes to play to cap the scoring in a 28-17 victory for the Seminoles. Nicholson would finish with 19 tackles on top of his two picks to lead the FSU defense.

Boston College was 8-0 and ranked No. 2 in the country as the Seminoles came to visit on Nov. 3, 2007. The FSU defense would intercept Boston College quarterback and future NFL star Matt Ryan three times while Seminoles’ quarterback Drew Weatherford passed for 354 yards and two scores in the 27-17 upset. De’Cody Fagg finished with 111 yards receiving while Preston Parker added 93 yards; both scored touchdowns. FSU never trailed in the contest, but with under two minutes to play, the Eagles got the ball back down 20-17. Linebacker Geno Hayes sealed the victory for FSU by returning a Ryan interception 38 yards for a score. Cornerbacks Patrick Robinson and Tony Carter also intercepted passes for FSU.

Bad Times: Florida State busted out the black uniforms for the first time ever on Oct. 21, 2006 and a dark day, it would be for the Seminoles. After a scoreless first quarter, FSU grabbed a 10-7 lead on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Drew Weatherford to Greg Carr with 4:09 to play in the second quarter. A disastrous end to the first half however, would be too much to overcome. After BC grabbed the lead on a 6-yard touchdown run from L.V. Whitworth, DeJuan Tribble returned a Weatherford interception 36 yards for a score with just 20 seconds to play in the half to put Boston College up 21-10. After a Boston College field goal extended the lead to 14, Weatherford cut it in half on a quarterback sneak early in the fourth quarter. A late safety made it 24-19 and gave the Seminoles the ball back with less than a minute to play, but Weatherford’s Hail Mary on the last play of the game was intercepted in the end zone by Larry Anam.

No. 20 Florida State again busted out the black uniforms for the 2008 contest in Tallahassee on Nov. 15. The result was the same as the Seminoles fell to Boston College, 27-17. A touchdown from Chris Crane to Rich Gunnell gave the Eagles an early lead before BC defensive back Marty Bowman returned a Christian Ponder interception 87 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0 early. The Seminoles scrapped and drew to within seven early in the fourth quarter on a touchdown pass from receiver Preston Parker to Greg Carr, but FSU could get no closer. A 9-minute Boston College drive, capped by a 30-yard Steve Aponavicius field goal put the game away. Montel Harris finished with 121 yards rushing for the Eagles while the BC defense intercepted Ponder three times.

Montel Harris was again a thorn in the side of Florida State when the Seminoles traveled to Boston College the following year on Oct. 3, 2009. Harris’ 42-yard game-winning touchdown run with more than four minutes to play was the difference as the Eagles beat FSU, 28-21. Harris scored the game’s first touchdown to make it 7-3 before quarterback Dave Shinskie threw a pair of second quarter touchdown passes to give the Eagles a 21-3 advantage. The Seminoles were able to rally with 18 straight points, thanks to a second Dustin Hopkins field goal and touchdowns from Louis Givens and Jermaine Thomas. Following Harris’ go-ahead touchdown, the Seminoles turned the ball over on downs. Harris finished with 179 yards on the ground. FSU quarterback Christian Ponder passed for 340 yards in the loss while Bert Reed and Richard Goodman each eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark, but that was not enough.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson