Seminoles rally for dramatic win, keep hope for bowl alive
TALLAHASSEE — Florida State’s defense put it in position to win early and, though it took a while, the offense eventually caught up to help the Seminoles defeat No. 20 Boston College 22-21 Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium.
With the win, FSU avoided watching a 36-year bowl streak come to an end. Instead, the Seminoles will get a chance to extend it when they face rival Florida in the regular-season finale.
After throwing two interceptions in the first half against Boston College, FSU quarterback Deondre Francois remained poised and found Tamorrion Terry for a 74-yard touchdown on the Seminoles’ final drive of the night.
Francois finished 19-of-39 passing for 322 yards.
Francois said the first thought that crossed his mind when they got the ball back for the last time was, “I smell blood.”
He added that he focused on the opportunity at hand.
“Really, I was ready to go,” he said. “I figured, ‘What would Tom Brady do in this situation? Or what would Aaron Rodgers do in this situation?’ You can’t focus on the first half and the mistakes you made in the first half and the mistakes you made, and that’s what we did as an offense. We continued to be resilient and we drove the ball down the field.”
Entering the contest, the Seminoles were focused on containing Boston College running back AJ Dillon.
In the first half, the FSU defense held him to just 3.6 yards per carry, his third lowest total of the season. He finished the game with 116 yards.
FSU’s secondary came up with two interceptions and no pass-interference calls, a huge step forward from last week.
The Seminoles ran into trouble on offense, with Francois tossing two picks in the first half, one immediately after teammate Hamsah Nasirildeen hauled in an interception to get him the ball.
FSU’s offensive line was also called for three falsestart penalties and a costly hold in the first half, but the Seminoles still only trailed 7-6 at the break.
The Seminoles’ offense found its rhythm in the third quarter, with Francois coming out during the second drive and finding Nyqwan Murray for a 45-yard pass and Naseir Upshur for 28-yard gain.
This set up a four-yard Cam Akers touchdown, helping the Seminoles claim a 13-7 lead, their first since early in the second quarter.
Akers finished with 110 yards, his first 100-yard rushing game this season. Coach Willie Taggart said Akers has matured this year.
“I see a young man that’s patient now,” Taggart said. “…Cam was trying every which way to make a play for our football team, and that was hurting him more than it was helping him. Once he started to relax and started to be patient, he set a lot of those blocks up so he can find a hole that he can get through.”
Boston College became more aggressive with the pass game in the third quarter, taking advantage of a few miscues by the FSU secondary. The Eagles converted a few big third downs and eventually scored after Anthony Brown found Jeff Smith on a 26-yard pass. Taggart said being so focused on the run caused the missteps in the secondary.
“It was some things they did, but a lot of it was missed assignments,” he said. “We were so locked on stopping the run. … I think a lot of it had to do with them running the football and we being so eager to stop the run. You still gotta be disciplined.”
Boston College looked to have iced the game in the fourth after a six-yard touchdown run by Dillon before Francois’ countered with the dramatic game-winner.