By Manny Navarro, Grace Raynor and Alex Andrejev
The Bill O’Brien era at Boston College opened with a win as No. 10 Florida State fell to 0-2.
The Eagles’ offensive line dominated as Seminoles quarterback DJ Uiagalelei struggled Monday, going 21-for-42 for 272 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The loss marks the second for Florida State in as many games to start the 2024 season, with both upsets to unranked teams after Georgia Tech defeated FSU 24-21 in their season-opener in Ireland on Aug. 24.
Boston College put up 263 rushing yards in Monday’s 28-13 victory, led by Kye Robichaux (18 carries for 85 yards) and Treshaun Ward (12 carries for 77 yards). Ward also posted three catches for 61 yards and one receiving TD.
Welcome to BC, @9mxvi_!
80 all purpose yards and a TD for 0️⃣.
📺 @ESPN pic.twitter.com/W25JCzd5nx
— Boston College Football (@BCFootball) September 3, 2024
Eagles quarterback Thomas Castellanos went 10-for-16 for 106 yards with two TDs and no interceptions. He added 15 carries for 66 yards and one TD on the ground in the victory.
Florida State, meanwhile, becomes the fourth AP Top-10 ranked team to start 0-2 in the last 10 seasons. The others were 2022 Notre Dame, 2020 Penn State and 2017 Florida State.
What’s wrong with FSU?
In a word: Everything. The Seminoles lost 10 players from last season’s ACC championship squad to the NFL Draft, including three who earned first-team All-ACC honors and six others who were on the second or third team. Many of those stars clearly haven’t been replaced.
Uiagalelei has been unable to fill the shoes vacated by Jordan Travis, and his accuracy down the field has been a consistent issue. Uiagalelei has missed several open receivers in his first starts including a memorable one in the end zone late in the first half on Monday against Boston College.
But it’s more than the quarterback. FSU has the most experienced offensive line in the ACC in terms of career starts, but the Seminoles haven’t opened many holes for their running backs. After rushing for 98 yards and averaging only 3.16 yards per carry in the opening loss to Georgia Tech, the Seminoles had 28 yards rushing through three quarters Monday and abandoned the run after they fell behind by 15 points.
The biggest disappointment, though, has been the Seminoles front seven. Expected to have one of the best defensive lines in the country, FSU was carved up for 190 yards and 5.28 yards per carry in its opening loss in Dublin and was shredded again Monday by Boston College.
FSU’s pass rush? The Seminoles had three sacks Monday — three more than they had against Georgia Tech. Nothing really has gone according to plan. — Manny Navarro, college football staff writer
Bill O’Brien’s big debut
The national conversation this week will be centered around Florida State’s demise, and rightfully so. The Seminoles are already broken and it’s not even Week 2. But give Boston College props under O’Brien in his first game with the Eagles. O’Brien was hired late in the coaching carousel and didn’t take over the program until Feb. 9. But he retained one of the more explosive quarterbacks in the ACC in Castellanos, who gave the Eagles everything they could have asked for Monday night. Castellanos played within the system and never tried to do too much, but came up huge in keeping the chains moving, especially early. The Eagles were also dominant up front, rushing for 263 yards on 52 carries. Florida State, meanwhile, barely ran the ball, picking up just 21 yards on 16 attempts.
Boston College was projected in the preseason to finish 14th in the ACC out of 17 teams. FSU was predicted to win the conference. Clearly, those projections were off and the Eagles may be better than expected, while the Seminoles are already in turmoil. The Eagles have a huge test in two weeks against Missouri, but for now, this is quite the splash for the beginning of the O’Brien era. Boston College is historically a tough place to win, but he might be the guy to help the Eagles take the next step. — Grace Raynor, college football staff writer
Treshaun Ward has his moment
Ward, Boston College’s graduate running back, transferred to the Eagles from Kansas State this offseason. But before his one-year stint with the Wildcats, he spent four seasons at Florida State from 2019 to 2022. Monday marked Ward’s first time playing at Doak Campbell Stadium again and he made sure to make the most of it.
Behind a dominant offensive line, the 5-foot-10, 190-pounder had averaged 6.4 yards per carry. With Boston College running the ball the way they did Monday night, expect this to be a strength of the Eagles moving forward. — Raynor
Required reading
(Photo: James Gilbert / Getty Images)
