The Eagles lost by 31 at home.
In his first season as head coach, Frank Spaziani led the Eagles to their worst defeat since joining the ACC when BC got demolished at Virginia Tech 48-14. The next worst margin of defeat was last season's 27 point loss at N.C. State and the next worst after that was the 22 point loss to Clemson this season. Tonight, BC had their worst home loss since joining the ACC by far.
The 31 loss to FSU was the worst home loss for BC in a long time and the worst since joining the ACC. This was another instance where Spaz broke his own record because the worst home loss was the 19-0 loss to Virginia Tech last season and the next worst was the 18 point loss to North Carolina two seasons ago. So now, Spaz has the three worst losses in conference at home and the three worst on the road since joining the ACC. That doesn't even factor in the loss to Notre Dame last season and the embarrassment at UCF this year.
What happened tonight?
Deuce Finch's fumble early in the game changed things. The defense played really well for most of this game and the game could've stayed close a lot longer if the fumble had not given the Seminoles the ball on the 2 yard line which quickly resulted in an FSU TD. in the second quarter, when it was 14-0 and the game was still in doubt, an FSU fumble recovered by Luke Kuechly was called incorrectly on the field. Unfortunately, for some reason, the booth thought the call could not be overturned which was blatantly disagreed by the announcers covering the game and of course all BC fans. But in the end, it would not matter whether or not that fumble was correctly called. FSU was then on their way to a 31 point victory. There were a bunch of breaks that went FSU's way in the first half, but they ultimately only effected the margin of defeat. BC had no chance of winning this game with the way plays were being called on offense. BC could not run the ball but we continued to run until the game was out of hand.
The one big story for BC started to develop with their last possession of the first half. Josh Bordner was put in and immediately got BC's first first down of the game. He was clearly nervous and lost his balance after just a little contact in the open field preventing what could have been a 50 yard run or maybe even a TD. Then, after leading the Eagles inside the 5, he fumbled the handoff with Finch. Later, in the second half he got his second turnover, ensuring there will not be much of a quarterback controversy the rest of the season at the Heights. Hopefully though, Spaz can get him some practice reps and Bordner can be used in spots with some designed run plays to keep defenses off balance from here on out.
It would be nice to talk about players making plays, but covering BC right now is about covering the coaches. The gameplan did not give the Eagles a chance to win tonight. Spaz and crew were able to get the defense to play pretty well tonight aside from when FSU got ridiculously good field position and before they had spent about the entire game on the field. The offense however turned the ball over 4 times, didn't get a first down until their final possession of the first half, and only managed 7 points. When we desperately need something to cheer about, why is the coaching staff not taking a little more risk? Especially once down tonight? We'll never know.
BC is now bowl ineligible for the first time since 1998. It's not a good scene on the Heights.