The Florida State Seminoles have no room for error as they hope to keep their flickering bowl hopes alive on Saturday afternoon against visiting Boston College. The Seminoles were trounced for the third consecutive week, dropping a 42-13 decision at Notre Dame to remain stuck on four victories with two regular-season games remaining. And things don’t get any easier this week, as they host an Eagles side that has already secured a bowl berth despite last weekend’s 27-7 home loss to Clemson.
While Boston College doesn’t quite have the same level of urgency as the Seminoles, the Eagles would love to put together two great showings to close the season in order to lock up a spot in a more prominent bowl appearance. But that could prove difficult without the services of No. 1 quarterback Anthony Brown, who suffered an undisclosed “internal” injury in the setback to the Tigers that puts his status for this one in doubt. There is no line or total for this game yet.
- Florida State is 2-11 ATS in its last 13 games vs its conference.
- Boston College is 1-7 SU in its last eight games vs Florida State.
- The total has gone UNDER in seven of Boston College’s last nine games vs ACC opponents.
Boston College vs Florida State Game Center
Eagles are Road Warriors
After getting humbled in a 20-point home loss to a Clemson team destined to reach the College Football Playoff, hitting the road might actually work in Boston College’s favor. While the Eagles have gone just 2-2 away from Alumni Stadium in 2018, they’re 7-3 SU in their past 10 road games overall and have gone a red-hot 8-2 ATS over that span.
The key to Boston College’s recent road success? Scoring – and plenty of it. The Eagles have racked up 30 or more points in five of their past seven road games, including a stretch that saw them score 40-plus in four consecutive road contests. Their opponents over that span: Louisville, Virginia, Syracuse and Wake Forest.
Boston College still has plenty to play for – and given how much the Seminoles have struggled of late, particularly on defense, the Eagles are in good position to cover, with or without Brown in the lineup. Consider the road cover here, even with Boston College having covered just one of its previous eight games against the Seminoles.
Seminoles a Red-Hot Over Play
Florida State’s struggles have been OVER bettors’ gains this season. The Seminoles have surpassed the total in seven of their 10 games, including six of their previous seven. And while the first three OVERS in that stretch were buoyed by the Florida State offense, the most recent three have been the result of a catastrophic collapse on the defensive end.
How bad have things been for the Seminoles? They’ve allowed an average of 49.3 points in losses to Clemson, N.C. State and Notre Dame while being gashed for an average of 478.7 yards in those losses. They’ve also had major problems hanging on to the football over that stretch, losing three fumbles while getting intercepted three times.
Even if the Seminoles have problems scoring points for a fourth consecutive game, Boston College should be able to take care of business sufficiently to push this one OVER the total. The Eagles have been a superior UNDER play against ACC opponents of late, but the Seminoles haven’t been able to stop anyone lately.
My Pick: Eagles Will Soar Past Team Total
Some might look at Boston College having gained just 113 yards in the loss to Clemson and second-guess whether the Eagles can bounce back against Florida State. But they’ve been a sensational rebound team of late, having gone 5-1 ATS in their last six following a straight-up loss and 5-2 ATS in their previous seven after scoring 20 or fewer points last time out.
With Florida State imploding on both sides of the ball and the Eagles having averaged a whopping 44.4 points in their previous five games following a loss, I like the Eagles to surpass their team point total in Tallahassee. Even if this one gets out of hand early, Boston College should keep its foot on the pedal until the latter stages.
