For the second straight game, Florida State’s offense seemed stagnant at best, struggling to gain momentum outside of two field goal drives.

While the Seminoles at least managed to get an early score last week, FSU didn’t manage to record a first down until its fourth drive of the game — the first of the aforementioned scoring drives that began on a short field, but in which Florida State scored just three points after getting stuck in the red zone.

The defense had its own sluggish start, allowing Boston College to dominate time of possession for over 14 minutes in the first quarter, with the second quarter opening with a touchdown by the Eagles. An inability to close the wheel route saw two huge catches by former FSU running back Treshaun Ward, first putting Boston College in scoring position and then securing another touchdown, making it 14-0 with 9:48 left in the second quarter.

After Florida State scored the game’s first points on a 31-yard field goal by Ryan Fitzgerald, the Seminoles’ defense forced the game’s third down and gave FSU another chance to score points before the end of the quarter.

It started slowly, but big passes to Ja’Khi Douglas (for 3 and 14 yards) and Malik Benson (19 yards) helped get Florida State into scoring position. Once in the end zone, though, Uiagalelei failed to connect with open receivers on first and second down, then missed again when he tried to feed the ball to Kyle Morlock.

The Seminoles currently trail 14-6 and get the ball early in the third quarter.

Boston College 14, FSU 6: Thoughts on the break

1. This is a little too “general angry sports columnist handwriting” (especially since the end of the second half looked so very different), but on both sides of the ball, it didn’t seem like Florida State was all that interested in winning one-on-one battles or executing without hesitation. Staring at receivers, uncertainty filling holes, inability to fill any gaps — they’re issues we saw plenty of last week against Georgia Tech , and any hope that they would be a one-week problem quickly evaporated once the Eagles were able to do whatever they wanted on offense and their defense shut down everything FSU tried to do. Once Florida State finally started to impose its will late in the second half, we saw some positive results, and now the second half is a chance to keep that momentum going.
2. DJ Uiagalelei’s inability to make anything happen in the passing game is one thing — you can blame that on receivers, if you really want to give the benefit of the doubt — but the aspect of his game that was lauded as unique was his ability as a runner. We didn’t see that emerge, as the quarterback seemed unsure of his ability to get off the ground on several occasions, and his sack on FSU’s first goal-to-go drive of the game played a role in the Seminoles having to settle for a field goal. If it’s a matter of a scheme that needs to further capitalize on his abilities, whether that means backing off or letting go, then the time for Norvell to turn it around and let his playmakers make plays is long overdue. There were some bright spots on that final FSU drive of the second quarter, but those moments need to become the norm rather than flashes, as we also saw him miss three easily convertible touchdown throws on consecutive plays. It might be a bit of an exaggeration to say that after just a game and a half, but if the results of the attack are due to Uiagalelei really reaching his ceiling, then it might be time to look at what the future holds for the rest of the squad.
3. Florida State’s defense might be starting to hit its stride? I won’t get too congratulatory, as those first two touchdown drives were just further evidence of a defense that has a lot There was still a lot of work to be done, but the Seminoles seemed to settle in a bit more as the second quarter progressed and managed to get the offense a few more possessions.

Florida State vs. Boston College: Halftime Stats

Total yards

Boston College: 188

FSU: 118

Pass yards

Boston College: 102

FSU: 108

Rush areas

Boston College: 86

FSU: 10

Punish

Boston College: 0-0

FSU: 2-10

1st Downs

Boston College: 9

FSU: 5

3rd downs

Boston College: 6-9

FSU: 1-7

4th Downs

Boston College: 0-0

FSU: 1-1

Total number of plays

Boston College: 36

FSU: 27

Average Yds/Play

Boston College: 5.2

FSU: 4.4

Average Yds/Completion

Boston College: 11.3

FSU: 13.5

Average Yds/Push

Boston College: 3.6

FSU: 1.7

Sack-Adj Rush Yd (Average)

Boston College: 88 (4)

United States: 18 (3.6)

Red zone

Boston College: 2-2

FSU: 2-2

Time of possession

Boston College: 21:06

FSU: 08:29

Convert (Def Pts Off)

Boston College: 0 (0)

FSU: 0 (0)

Fumbles-Lost

Boston College: 2-0

FSU: 1-0

Bags (Def Yds)

Boston College: 1 (8)

FSU: 2 (2)

TFL (defense Yds)

Boston College: 1 (8)

FSU: 4 (11)