Eagles Can't Finish Upset Over FSU

Losers of three straight and starting a true freshman at quarterback, the BC Eagles strolled into Tallahassee this afternoon with little to lose against a Florida State team sitting atop the ACC's Atlantic division with plenty of explosive weapons on both sides of the ball. Ranked 16th in the country, the Seminoles were favored by some three touchdowns against a Boston College team in a clear rebuilding stage. Before the game, BC coach Frank Spaziani said that their goal was to make it to the fourth quarter and still be in a close ball game, giving themselves a chance to win it. If nothing else, the Eagles certainly accomplished that goal.

Thanks to an eye-popping 168 rushing yards in the first half from running back Montel Harris, the Eagles found themselves trailing the Seminoles by just 8 points at the break. With an encore of big plays by their defense -- who forced 4 turnovers in the game -- BC found themselves with a 19-17 lead heading into the fourth and final frame. All it took, though, was one big reverse play by Florida State to re-seize the lead for good. With 10:50 remaining, Bert Reed took a toss-reverse around the edge and scurried 42 yards for what would amount to the dagger in the heart of a BC upset attempt. After converting on a fourth-and-inches late in the game, the Seminoles were able to run the clock out and leave Eagles fans disappointed once again.


Quarterback Chase Rettig played like most of the coaching staff may have expected for his first full game of NCAA action -- flashes of brilliance, but flashes of inexperience. The mistakes were very limited, though -- he finished 9-for-24 for just 95 yards, but he didn't throw any interceptions. It didn't help that he was sacked 4 times by a Florida State defense that led the country coming into the game with 26 sacks on the season. Montel Harris finished with 191 yards on 26 carries, setting a new career high for rushing yards in a game. Eagles sophomore linebacker Luke Kuechly, who came into today's game leading the nation with an average of 14.2 tackles per game, registered 11 tackles.

At 0-3 in the ACC, the Eagles are all but finished from making a run at the championship game -- especially with Florida State at 4-0 now in the conference. Still, BC will look to keep making improvements to build a foundation for future years. Many of the pieces are set in place; now it's time to develop them.