Quotables and Notables: FSU Game
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Publisher
Murphy's law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
The adage sums up Boston College's opening half against Florida State Saturday night. BC was shut out, 31-0, in the first two quarters of its 44-14 defeat at Doak Campbell Stadium.
FSU running back Trey Benson ran back the opening kickoff for a 93-yard touchdown. Then BC quarterback Phil Jurkovec threw an interception on the Eagles' ensuing drive, setting the stage for the second Seminoles touchdown in just over two minutes of action.
While Jurkovec failed to establish any sort of rhythm, FSU signal caller Jordan Travis was humming. Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell and OC/O-Line coach Alex Atkins dialed up an effective game plan against a BC defense that is slipping more and more by the week.
The game was over by halftime, and backups were in at the end of the third quarter.
QUOTABLES
There wasn't much that went right for the Eagles in Tallahassee. Third-year head coach Jeff Hafley emphasized how BC needs to improve in all three phases, both in terms of coaching and execution.“Just not good enough," he said. "We didn’t coach good enough. We didn’t play good enough. We didn’t tackle good enough.”
Eagles linebacker Vinny DePalma echoed the same sentiment. DePalma actually logged a game-high 11 total tackles, including eight solos, in the loss. He discussed the challenge of bouncing back from a slow start.
“Momentum is a big thing in college football," DePalma said. "In all sports. It’s just about supporting each other and playing complementary football.”
BC's nightmare start began with Benson's house call. Hafley explained that Danny Longman, who he said has been kicking well this season, booted the ball right down the middle, which Hafley made clear can't happen. But he acknowledged that, even with a kick like that, his coverage team should have gotten Benson down. Missed tackles, four of them really, cost the Eagles.
“If you go up against a team like this in an environment like this, and you give up an opening kick for a touchdown, it’s usually not going to end well," Hafley said.
BC has been outscored in the first half of its ACC games this season, 48-3. The Eagles did pull within one possession of Virginia Tech in the third quarter of that Week 2 matchup, however, BC was nowhere near to catching up to FSU this time around. Hafley spoke about the Eagles' struggles when playing from behind.
"Right now, we’re not good when we go down," Hafley said. "I think it affects us, and we need to fix that."
The Eagles are now 1-3 and still searching for their first win in conference play. BC averaged 10 points per game in its first four ACC games last season. It's averaging 12 per game in its first two league bouts in 2022. Running back Pat Garwo III stressed that the only option is to stick together.
“We just gotta stay true to what we believe in and how we started this year: together," Garwo said. "That’s the biggest thing. We’re gonna have to get better together."
He continued: “We got good leadership. At the end of the day, we got all fighters on our team. Coach Hafley does a good job instilling that on us. Even by ourselves, we got good leadership. So, at the end of the day, we notice when we’re doing good or we’re doing bad. And we’re not playing great right now, so we’ve gotta pick it up together and we gotta fight through for the next week.”
NOTABLES
— BC missed 17 tackles against FSU, according to PFF. No Eagle missed more tackles Saturday night than free safety Jason Maitre (four).— Jurkovec started 0-of-4 but finished 15-of-19 to go 15-of-23 on the night. Still, he averaged only 4.6 yards per attempt. The graduate quarterback attempted just one pass that traveled 20 or more yards downfield, per PFF.
— FSU quarterback Jordan Travis, on the other hand, was 16-of-26 for 321 yards and a score. Travis also scrambled for 16 yards.
— Seminoles running back Trey Benson, an Oregon transfer, entered the week averaging an insane 7.0 yards per carry. He increased that number against the Eagles, piling up 78 rushing yards on 10 carries. Plus, he scored three touchdowns (two on run plays, one on the opening kickoff return).
— BC backup quarterback Emmett Morehead was 3-of-6 for 35 yards and a touchdown in garbage time. He found true freshman wideout Joe Griffin for six. It was the first career touchdown for both of them.
— The Eagles, once again, couldn't get much of anything going on the ground. They averaged 2.8 yards per carry on 34 attempts. Seven different BC wideouts/running backs had at least one rushing attempt.
— Zay Flowers was the lone BC wide receiver with a catch in the opening half. He wound up with seven receptions for 45 yards. He was targeted 12 times, and no other Eagle was targeted more than three times, per PFF.
— BC finished with only four fewer first downs (17) than FSU (21), but the Eagles had just two plays of 20-plus yards, while the Seminoles had 10 such plays.
— BC's average third down distance Saturday night was 8.2 yards. The Eagles were 4-of-13 on third down.
