BC-FSU a Meeting of Battle-Tested Teams Playing Their Best in November
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Publisher
Boston College was in a free fall two and a half weeks ago. The Eagles were winless in ACC play, averaging 10 points per game against conference opponents and helpless at quarterback.
Weathering a four-game losing streak, BC was on the verge of complete desperation.
But before head coach Jeff Halfey had to, perhaps prematurely, start true freshman Emmett Morehead under center, Phil Jurkovec almost miraculously rescued BC’s season.
After missing six games with a season-threatening fracture to his throwing hand, Jurkovec made his unexpected return for the Red Bandana Game.
It was the first of two straight Eagles victories that have revived BC’s season. The latest was a comeback win at Georgia Tech that was a microcosm of BC’s roller coaster season.
“It’s hard to really find out who you are—as a team, as a person, as a coach, as a player—when things are really easy because you miss some stuff,” Hafley said. “But when you go through adversity, you find out a lot about yourself and your team.”
The same thing could be said for Mike Norvell, Florida State’s second-year head coach, and a Seminoles team that started the year 0-4 for the first time since 1974. FSU faithful have gone through every emotion this season: hatred, disbelief, surprise and, most recently, jubilation.
Norvell’s Seminoles bounced back to win three straight following their horrid September, which included a loss to FCS Jacksonville State. Then FSU fell back to earth with back-to-back defeats before keeping postseason hopes alive with the program’s first win over a rivalry opponent (Clemson, Florida or Miami) since 2017.
FSU’s victory over the Hurricanes last weekend extended beyond the gridiron, and it was a huge recruiting boost for a “sleeping giant.” When it appeared as if the Seminoles were going to blow a 20-7 halftime lead, quarterback Jordan Travis orchestrated a game-winning, 80-yard touchdown drive that featured a 4th-and-14 conversion and a Travis score with 26 ticks remaining.
You might as well take the stat comparisons with a grain of salt this week. BC (6-4, 2-4 ACC) and FSU (4-6, 3-4) are vastly different teams right now than they were a few months ago. It’s a matchup of Atlantic Division teams who like to “out-physical” opponents.
“I love games like that,” Norvell said this week. “Because, at the end of the day, you’ll see who’s willing to invest, who’s willing to push. Both sides, at some point, are going to get knocked down on Saturday. Can you get back up? Can you continue to push forward?”
BC left guard Zion Johnson knows what’s coming. He noted that every ACC team “has a lot of good defensive linemen,” however, the fifth-year NFL prospect gave significant props to an FSU front that has helped the Seminoles rank sixth in TFLs and sacks per game this season.
It’s a group that serves as the first level of a defense that’s posted the 11th-best Pro Football Focus run defense grade (85.6) in 2021. Jurkovec said Tuesday that he knows the Seminoles will do what they can to stop the Eagles’ rushing attack.
FSU can’t just stack the box like past BC opponents, though. Not with Jurkovec at the helm.
“I felt like at one point this year, when I watched, the whole world was in the box,” Hafley said. “And I don’t know if you can defend us like that anymore. ’Cause now the threat of getting the ball thrown over your head is back.”
Jurkovec will have to do it against an athletic FSU secondary: a position group that Seminoles transfer and now-BC strong safety Jaiden Woodbey knows extremely well.
“I feel like they’re a bunch of real tough guys,” Woodbey said Tuesday. “And I feel like they’re fast, they’re physical, they’re aggressive. That’s part of the reason why I went there initially because I wanted to play with players like that.”
Despite the Seminoles’ talent in the back end, they’ve been below average in pass defense this year. FSU is giving up 243.2 yards per game through the air, which is 88th in the FBS.
On the other hand, FSU’s biggest advantage over BC comes on offense. The Seminoles’ run game, like the Eagles’ last four opponents’, is dynamic.
“They’ve got good backs, they’ve got three of them,” Hafley said. “They got some really good wideouts. They’re talented. They’re a very athletic team. … I think Coach Norvell does a really good job with the scheme.”
Running backs Jashaun Corbin and Treshaun Ward do most of the work. Both are averaging north of six yards per carry, but Corbin is the primary workhorse with 815 yards and seven scores on 124 totes.
Then, of course, there’s Travis. The redshirt sophomore has 104 carries for 402 yards and six touchdowns. Hafley commented that he believes Travis, who transferred from Louisville after 2018, has elevated his passing this year. But he explained that Travis’ legs are why FSU is so good in the red zone.
The Seminoles have converted 25 straight red zone trips into points, the third-longest active streak in the FBS. Their 71.4% red zone touchdown percentage is first in the ACC and 18th nationally. Travis’ dual-threat ability creates problems for defenses. Miami saw him score twice inside the 20 last week.
“Very, very fast,” Woodbey said of his old quarterback. “And I think he’s more athletic than people think. … I’ve been around him for the past two years, and I feel like he was just real tough and a good person to be around.”
BC has conceded an average of 175.2 rushing yards per game this season, ranking 97th in the country in run defense. Quarterbacks have averaged 69.3 yards on the ground against the Eagles in their last four outings.
BC will be tested to limit Travis, who scampered for a game-winning 66-yard touchdown run in Alumni Stadium two years ago.
The Eagles want to avoid that result. After all, their first eight-win season since 2009 is still attainable.
“Fighting for each other, fighting for our head coach to win as many games as we can,” Johnson said. “Because we know that we have something that can be special.”
