Boston College at Florida State: BC Offense vs. FSU Defense
By Joe Micik
Oct 30, 2014; Louisville, KY, USA; Florida State Seminoles linebacker Reggie Northrup (5) celebrates with defensive back P.J. Williams (26) defensive back Jalen Ramsey (8) after intercepting a Louisville Cardinals pass during the second half at Papa John
BC Offense vs. FSU Defense: Stat Analysis
Florida State’s defense has not been anywhere near elite this year, though there is no denying the talent that they have. The Seminoles have been susceptible to giving up both yardage and points, but the most notable part is that they get burnt more badly in the passing game.
The problem is that Boston College’s offense is not burning anyone with their passing attack, if it can be called as such. Tyler Murphy is coming off of his worst game of the season, in which he threw four interceptions and rushed for only 41 yards — that may seem fine for any quarterback, but for him, it was a season-low.
Florida State has not been great at pressuring the quarterback, but they do just enough to let their offense get past the teams they play week in and week out. Teams have broken the Seminoles this season defensively, but they have done a good job at times of tightening up. Yet, while they were getting to Florida State’s defense, they did it through the air. Does this mean we will see Boston College continue to throw the ball more? It might, though how advisable a course of action that is, we can only find out on Saturday.
BC Offense vs. FSU Defense: Key Matchup
DE Mario Edwards Jr. vs. Tyler Murphy. Edwards, a junior defensive end, is having a fine season for the Seminoles, and some have him as a late first round or early second-day pick in the 2015 NFL Draft if he comes out. He leads Florida State in tackles for a loss and will probably be one of their first lines of defense with regards to containing Murphy. The Eagles are probably not going to have a good day offensively if Murphy does not break those big runs into the secondary, and Edwards will be at the forefront of the effort to stop him.
BC Offense vs. FSU Defense: Florida State Defense Names to Know
• Junior LB Reggie Northrup leads the Seminoles in tackles with 85 for the season.
• 320-pound junior DT Eddie Goldman has the most sacks on the team with four.
• Junior DB P.J. Williams is another projected high draft pick from Florida State who has 41 tackles and an interception; he was recently involved in an off-field incident after leaving the scene of a crash.
• Sophomore DB Jalen Ramsey has 60 tackles for Florida State this year and two picks.
BC Offense vs. FSU Defense: Final Analysis
While Florida State has some clear areas of vulnerability on defense, one of them does not appear to be the run game, where the Eagles do most of their work on offense. It is possible to get a good run game going against the Seminoles — the Miami Hurricanes ran for 176 yards last week — but Boston College is going to need way more than that to keep up.
Boston College’s offensive line is going to need to play an outstanding game, which will not be easy considering the talent level and mass of their defensive linemen on Florida State.
Boston College will have some frustrations, but if they do pass the ball, they need to be flawless. That’s a big if.