Just how far will Florida State football sink in 2017? Fans are about to get an answer on Friday night when the Seminoles travel up to Chestnut Hill to take on the Boston College Eagles.
So far, Florida State’s losses have been to decent or good teams. Even the worst of the good teams (Louisville) had the Heisman winner and superstar Lamar Jackson. Contests against Wake Forest and Duke were close, but Florida State still pulled out victories against them. A loss on Friday would signal a team completely devoid of any motivation.
Boston College knows how big of a win this could be. Rattling off three straight victories with two being against Louisville and Florida State might even get head coach Steve Addazio a bit of wiggle room that he did not have even a month ago. That relies, of course, on an offense that has typically been the weak point of his tenure. The Eagles’ performances against Louisville and Virginia were fantastic,but can they keep it up?
We here at The Daily Nole will tell you exactly what we think will go down on Friday. This week’s predictions are done by editor Mike Ferguson, staff writer Clint Eiland, site manager Edwin Collins, staff writer Josh Mixon and recruiting analyst Jay Brading.
Mike: With both teams making a concerted effort to run the football, I think we’re looking at another short game, but I expect the offenses to be effective. The Seminoles are banged up on that side of the ball, but the Boston College run defense is bad and receiver Auden Tate torched the Eagles a season ago. Motivation and not turning the ball over may be the two biggest factors for FSU in this one. FSU wins close, 24-17.
Clint: Much like the Louisville game, Florida State has no real excuse to score any less than four touchdowns. Boston College might be resurgent as of late, but its defense is still mediocre and its offense only has two games worth of good results. The Seminoles’ mental approach to this game will tell fans how the rest of the season will go. Are they going to give up and throw in the towel? Or are they going to try and push hard for bowl-eligibility? I’ll bet on the Florida State defense bringing the Eagles back down to earth. 21-17, Florida State.
Edwin: Boston College 31, FSU 21. Florida State has too many injuries to overcome to beat a good BC team on the road that happens to be peaking at the right time.
Josh: I’ve predicted every game correctly this year except one, so I like my chances this week. Traveling to a place like Boston College on a short week is a tough ask for any team, so I like BC’s chances to pull the upset against a reeling Florida State team. However, I’m going with – yet again – the team with superior talent. Losing Jacques Patrick and George Campbell certainly won’t help, but I think a full game of Cam Akers, paired with a defense coming off a secretly good performance against Louisville, will be enough to bring the Eagles back down to earth. I’m going with FSU to win, 24-17.
Jay: Boston College wins, 28-24. It’s Boston College’s annual “Red Bandana” game and FSU at this point, is much better at finding ways to lose than ways to win.
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