The Sports Xchange
Nov 11, 2016
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- No. 18 Florida State shined in primetime and running back Dalvin Cook moved closer to school history as the Seminoles rolled to a 45-7 victory against Boston College in their first home game on a Friday night in 59 years.
Cook, who needed just 127 yards coming into Friday's contest to break the school's all-time career rushing mark, finished with 108 yards and a touchdown -- and he is now 19 shy of the record heading into next week's road game at Syracuse. The junior from Miami is seeking to break Seminoles legend and former NFL star Warrick Dunn's mark of 3,959 yards.
Cook appeared well on his way to achieving the mark, but he was pulled by head coach Jimbo Fisher before the fourth quarter.
Florida State (7-3 overall, 4-3 in the ACC) won its second straight game, this victory coming on a rare short week of rest. The Seminoles hadn't hosted a Friday night game at Doak Campbell Stadium since its 40-13 loss to Miami in 1957.
Boston College (4-6, 1-5) lost its second in a row and has now dropped four of its last five. The Eagles' offense -- ranked 126th out of 128 FBS teams -- only reached Florida State territory twice. The Eagles tallied 44 yards of total offense at halftime -- including negative seven yards in the second quarter -- and finished with just 146 yards for the entire game.
Boston College starting quarterback Patrick Towles finished 3 of 11 for 29 yards before being pulled for backup Darius Wade, and running back Myles Willis was the Eagles' leading rusher with 41 yards.
With 3:21 left in the game and backups in for both teams, Eagles running back Richard Wilson capped a nine-play, 75-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to avoid being shutout for the second year in a row by the Seminoles.
The Florida State defense, meanwhile, played its most complete game of the season. Linebackers Roderick Hoskins and Matthew Thomas led the Seminoles with six tackles each, and the defense recorded three sacks.
The Eagles' defense notched four sacks, and linebacker Connor Strachan led the way with nine stops.
Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois tossed three touchdown passes in the win, finishing 16 for 24 for 183 yards. Francois' throwing scores went to receivers Auden Tate, Travis Rudolph and Nyqwan Murray as Tate led all wideouts with six catches for a career-high 108 yards.
Francois, however, exited the game with just under two minutes to go in the third quarter after suffering a shoulder contusion following a roughing-the-passer penalty on the Eagles' defense. Francois was ruled out from there as Florida State backup quarter Sean Maguire -- one of 14 Florida State seniors honored on Senior Night -- came on to replace Francois and tossed a six-yard touchdown pass to Tate with 25 seconds remaining in the third quarter to push the lead to 35-0.
Maguire tacked on a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to fullback Freddie Steveson and backup kicker Logan Tyler booted a 53-yard field goal to cap the scoring.
The game was all Florida State from the opening quarter.
After several Veterans Day pre-game festivities in Tallahassee -- including three Special Operations Command teams parachuting out of the sky and landing on the Seminoles' midfield logo -- Florida State got on the scoreboard first.
Francois engineered a nine-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a six-yard touchdown pass to Tate to give Florida State an early 7-0 edge. The score was Tate's fifth of the season, which is tied for the team-high with Rudolph.
Florida State then cashed in on its next drive as well as Francois threw his second touchdown of the game -- this one from four yards out to Murray -- to put the Seminoles ahead 14-0.
With the Eagles' offense struggling, the Seminoles were able to strike again once more before halftime to go up 21-0 as Cook scampered in from 19 yards out for his lone touchdown of the game. Cook tallied 53 rushing yards at intermission and headed to the locker room just 74 yards shy of the school's all-time record.
None of Boston College's seven first-half drives were more than six plays -- five ended in punts and one was a turnover on downs -- and the Seminoles' defense forced four 3-and-outs in the opening two quarters.
Boston College is now 1-8 all-time against FSU when the Seminoles are ranked. In fact, the Eagles' last win on the road against a ranked opponent was against Florida State in 2008.
NOTES: Tallahassee native and World Series-winning catcher David Ross of the Chicago Cubs was on hand Friday night for the game. ... Florida State freshman DE and Tallahassee native Cedric Wood carried an American flag from Operation Inherent Resolve onto the field before kickoff Friday in honor of Veterans Day. ... Crew members from the USS Florida nuclear submarine, who are stationed in Base Kings Bay, Ga., were also recognized at halftime of the game in honor of Veterans Day. ... A total of 12 players on Boston College's roster hail from the Sunshine State. ... Florida State celebrated Senior Night on Friday as 14 seniors were recognized. The senior class who played four years went 43-7, while the fifth-year senior class went 55-9 ... Boston College and Florida State also played on a Friday night last year, although that game was played in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
