Much has been said about the hire of Bill O’Brien as Boston College Football’s head coach after Jeff Hafley left abruptly for the NFL’s Green Bay Packers. On Monday, that talk will come to a head as he begins his BC career with a matchup against a Florida State team coming off a disappointing Week Zero loss against Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland.
The result of this game may not define O’Brien’s legacy as a coach at BC, but it is certainly an opportunity to pull off a signature win as early as possible in his time on the Heights.
The Seminoles have as much to prove as any top-10 ranked team in the nation after disappointment stemming from a dramatic end to their 2023 season—a campaign that saw them become the first and only undefeated Power Five conference champion to ever miss the four-team college football playoff in the last season of the format. Fans’ disappointment continued into the first game this season with their loss to the Yellow Jackets.
As much pressure as there is on O’Brien and the Eagles, Florida State likely has much more.
Who is BC playing?
No. 10 Florida State
When is BC playing?
Monday, Sept. 2, 7:30 p.m.
Where is BC playing?
Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Fla.
How to watch:
The game will air on ESPN and College Sports Network on WEEI 93.7 FM/850 AM.
Series history:
Florida State (0–1, 0–1 Atlantic Coast) leads the all-time series 16–5 against BC, The Seminoles are riding a five-game winning streak against BC, winning nine of the last 10 contests between the two ACC foes.
Last year’s matchup was a memorable one, as BC nearly completed a comeback over the top-five ranked Seminoles, but penalties forced the Eagles to come up short, losing 31–29 in Alumni Stadium.
What to expect from Florida State:
Offense
In the transfer portal era, the journeyman quarterback has become a commodity among the nation’s top programs. Florida State’s DJ Uiagalelei might be one of the nation’s most notable examples. The signal caller started out in the ACC with Clemson, where he made his starting debut against BC in 2020 with a 342-yard performance, leading the Tigers to a win with Trevor Lawrence sidelined due to COVID.
Since then, he has failed to live up to his ranking as the top quarterback in the 2020 high school class that ranked him higher than quarterbacks such as the Houston Texans’ C.J. Stroud and 2024 Heisman hopeful Carson Beck.
He put up an average performance against Georgia Tech, completing 70.4 percent of his passes for 193 yards but failed to throw a touchdown pass. He will be expected to play better at home against BC, but the real problem for Florida State in Dublin was its run game.
Star running backs Roydell Williams and Lawrance Toafili combined for 20 rushes for just 70 yards against Georgia Tech. The Seminoles will be expected to try to take advantage of BC’s smaller defensive line with these bigger backs, which Uiagalelei and their passing game can play off if successful.
Defense
Florida State lost a lot of talent to the NFL Draft this past season, and possibly none bigger than Jared Verse, its former star defensive end who was drafted 19th-overall by the Los Angeles Rams in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Without Verse, Florida State’s defensive line struggled to contain Haynes King, the Yellow Jackets’ dual-threat quarterback. King rushed for 64 yards, and the Seminoles failed to sack him even once.
King is certainly a capable rusher, rushing for 648 yards and nine touchdowns last season for the Yellow Jackets, but BC’s Thomas Castellanos ranks among the best rushing quarterbacks in the country, rushing for 957 yards and reaching paydirt 11 times in the Eagles’ 2023 campaign.
Similarly to Florida State potentially taking a run-heavy gameplan, BC will likely try to run its offense through Castellanos’ legs to keep up with the Seminoles in a sold-out Doak Campbell Stadium. Castellanos is also flanked by returning bruising back Kye Robichaux and Kansas State transfer Treshaun Ward, who can help carry the load in the Eagles’ run game.
Outlook:
The Eagles will definitely be underdogs against the highly-ranked Seminoles, but if Castellanos, Robichaux, Ward, and the rest of the Eagles can keep up with Uiagalelei’s Seminoles and pull off a Week One upset, heads will turn toward Chestnut Hill and what O’Brien is building on the Heights.
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