Florida State walked into Alumni Stadium short-handed and under a new head coach, and still left with its first road win of the season.
Boston College had its chances, including a 17-7 lead in the second quarter and a 24-21 advantage early in the fourth, but the Seminoles kept answering and finished off a 31-24 win on Saturday in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The loss was Boston College’s second straight and fourth in ACC play.
Freshman running back Amari Thomas delivered the knockout punch late, finishing with 98 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. His final score came in the fourth quarter, after Florida State had already pulled even at 24 on a 22-yard field goal from Gabe Panikowski with 13:22 left.
Panikowski was everywhere for the Seminoles. He hit four extra points, drilled the tying field goal and even scored on a trick-play touchdown at the end of the second quarter, a play that flipped Florida State into a 21-17 halftime lead.
Boston College opened fast and controlled the first quarter. The Eagles marched 75 yards in 13 plays on the game’s first possession, using three third-down conversions through the air before Bo MacCormack III finished it with a six-yard rushing touchdown. Luca Lombardo’s extra point made it 7-0.
BC’s defense then forced a three-and-out, and Charlie Comella’s 21-yard punt return set the Eagles up at Florida State’s 43. Lombardo converted a 48-yard field goal to stretch the lead to 10-0 before the first quarter ended.
Florida State finally got moving after Jasen Lopez ripped off a 40-yard punt return late in the opening period. Ashton Daniels punched in a four-yard keeper, his 13th rushing touchdown of the year, to cut the deficit to 10-7 early in the second quarter.
Boston College answered again. After another pair of third-down conversions, Nedrick Boldin Jr. turned a screen pass into a 29-yard touchdown, pushing the Eagles back ahead 17-7. Two chunk plays on that drive - a 17-yard run by Mason McKenzie and a 34-yard pass to Javarius Green - were erased by holding penalties, but BC still found the end zone.
Florida State responded with Amari Thomas’ 20-yard touchdown run to make it 17-14, then grabbed the lead just before halftime on Panikowski’s fake field goal from the two-yard line. Holder backward-lateraled the ball to Panikowski, who ran it in himself to make it 21-17.
Boston College had one more chance before the break when McKenzie threw an interception, but Florida State couldn’t turn it into points before halftime.
The second half got messy in a hurry.
BC forced a punt to open the third quarter, then drove before McKenzie was injured on a seven-yard run and headed to the medical tent. Backup Grayson Wilson entered, but his series ended quickly with an interception on third-and-19 at Florida State’s 39.
The Seminoles gave the ball right back three plays later when Marcus Upton picked off Daniels after Max Tucker tipped the pass into the air. Upton returned it 24 yards to the Florida State 44.
Then McKenzie came back, and Boston College pulled off one of the strangest touchdowns of the day. After the Eagles worked to the two-yard line, the offense broke into a spinning, linked-up formation before the snap.
When the play started, everyone but center DJ Williams and tight end Zeke Moore sprinted to the sideline, leaving McKenzie in the backfield with Dawson Pough and Green split beside him. McKenzie set MacCormack in motion, faked the handoff, rolled right and flipped an underhand pass to Green for the touchdown.
That put BC back in front 24-21 after the extra point.
The play drew obvious comparisons to the Kansas City Chiefs’ “Ring Around the Rosie” touchdown from January of 2023.
But Florida State handled the final stretch better. The Seminoles tied it with Panikowski’s field goal, then took the lead for good on Thomas’ late touchdown. Boston College’s last drive, which started with 2:22 left, ended without points.
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