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Tomahawk Nation is setting up preview pages for each of Florida State's football opponents. This is the page for Boston College. Florida State welcomes in the Boston College Eagles Nov 22 to Tallahassee. BC actually gave FSU a scare last year as it was one of only two schools to be within a score at halftime. This year, FSU will be looking to put the game away earlier.
My early take? BC's receiving corps will be awful, and since FSU has the best pair of cornerbacks in the country, it can lock them down and stuff the box, beating the run with the numbers advantage. Luckily for Boston College, this game is in late November and not in the crazy heat. And BC is a very physical team, which I am sure the Seminoles would prefer to get earlier in the year, and not seven days before welcoming the Gators.
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Here's Bill Connelly, who sees a regression following a year in which a lot went right for BC. Now the true rebuild begins. As always, I'll implore you to read the entire link.
Temple struggled in Addazio's second year, and it's not difficult to see BC doing the same. That's just what happens when you lose your best players at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, offensive tackle, defensive end, and linebacker.
Still, it's not hard to see this offense remaining similar in quality. Addazio and Day produced a strong running game (without Andre Williams) at Temple and could do the same with Myles Willis and company. And it's not out of the realm of possibility that Tyler Murphy and the new passing game could be just as inefficient (and non-explosive) as last year's. If the secondary can pick up the slack for a pass rush that might suffer, then BC could produce a level of play similar to last year's. And while we wait to find out what kind of recruiter Addazio really is, maintenance of form won't be the end of the world.
But if BC indeed ranks in the 60s again in 2014, the path to a bowl game will be quite tricky. The Eagles play five teams projected in the top 20, and while we can debate the merits of Clemson in the top 10 or Louisville in the top 20, those teams are probably going to be better than BC. If the Eagles can go 2-4 against these five teams and Pittsburgh, that leaves a doable path to 6-6, albeit it one with minimal room for slips.
It appears BC is back to being a competent, decent program after a stark three-year slide. And it appears that Addazio should have the horses in the backfield to keep running and running the ball for the foreseeable future. For all the other details, though -- recruiting, passing, defense -- we'll have to wait and see.
Paul Myerberg's preview will be added when it comes out.