Credit: Bowen Morrison

WSPN’s Bowen Morrison discusses college football and the BC and FSU rivalry.

Florida State University (FSU) and Boston College (BC) are two historically deep teams. FSU has been in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) since 1991, while BC joined in 2005. These two teams have been playing head-to-head ever since. The record between the teams is 16-5, with FSU in a comfortable lead. In fact, the last time FSU lost to BC was 5 years ago. FSU, at the time of this game, was ranked number three in the Associated Press (AP) weekly poll, while BC was unranked. This year, the FSU v. BC football game was closer than some college football fans thought. The score of the game was 31-29, with a FSU victory.

Boston College has been on the decline in the ACC for some time now. The last time that BC was ranked within the top 25 in the country was 2018. Their head coach at the time, Steve Aziado, was fired after a seven-year coaching career with the BC Eagles. His record with the team was 42-42. After the 2018 season, BC hired Jeff Hafley, who has been coaching the Eagles for 5 years now. Recently, there has been controversy regarding concerns of Hafley’s coaching ability and expertise, resulting in some BC fans chanting “Fire Hafley!” at home BC games. Some BC fans are upset with their current coaching staff, and are on the lookout for a new head coach in the upcoming season.

Florida State is currently ranked at number four in the country. FSU is a strong contender for the College Football Playoffs this year. However, it wasn’t always this way. Following FSU’s National Championship win in 2013, it had a strong record within the following years, going 10-3 in 2015 and 2016. After a disappointing season going 7-6, former FSU coach Jimbo Fisher was hired by Texas A&M University on a 10 year contract of $9.15 million per year. Fisher took the job at Texas A&M, and the FSU Seminoles went 5-7 the following year, finishing third to last in the ACC with head coach Willie Taggart at the helm. After the disappointing season from FSU, Taggart was let go by the program, and Mike Norvell was hired in December of 2019. After a rocky start in 2019 and 2020 with a combined nine wins and 14 losses, in 2021, Florida State’s record was 5-7. It was clear that Norvell was turning the program around in 2022 when FSU went 10-3, finishing second to Clemson in the ACC. In the offseason, the Seminoles recreuited a five star wide receiver, Hykeem Williams, along with eight other four star recruits. However, recruiting wasn’t the only place where FSU shined during the offseason, as the Seminoles also landed star Michigan State wide receiver Keon Coleman, cornerback Fentrell Cypress II and South Carolina transfer tight end Jaheim Bell. Today, Florida State is ranked number four in the nation, and is currently projected to make the playoffs according to USA Today.

With nine games remaining in the schedule for both teams, FSU and BC now move on to complete the rest of their season. However, this matchup between Florida State and Boston College is definitely one to remember.