By Cody Queen
Queen Media Sports Report
Six days. That's how long it took Florida State to go from firing Mike Norvell to finally winning a game away from home. The Seminoles beat Boston College 31-24 Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass., moved to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the ACC, and gave interim head coach Rick Stockstill a win in his first game in charge.
The week before it was a mess. Norvell was fired on Nov. 1, a day after a 36-24 home loss to Clemson dropped the team to 3-5. He went 41-39 in seven seasons, and his buyout is about $50 million, which is a lot of money to pay a man to stop coaching. Defensive coordinator Tony White was fired too. Linebackers coach Ernie Sims became interim coordinator, and play-calling stayed with offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr.
Stockstill, who had been the team's director of scouting, is no stranger to the place. He played quarterback at Florida State from 1977 to 1981 under Bobby Bowden, spent 18 seasons as head coach at Middle Tennessee, and is in the school's athletics Hall of Fame. Florida State says he's the sixth coach in program history to win his first game, and the first since 2017.
As for the road drought, per the Associated Press, this was Florida State's first road win since Nov. 25, 2023. Almost three years. Even the most gracious Seminole fan gets a little queasy reading that date.
The first quarter didn't hint at any of this. Boston College scored on its first two drives, a six-yard run by Bo MacCormack III and a 48-yard field goal by Luca Lombardo, and it was 10-0 after one. Then the Seminoles started punching back.
After a three-and-out, freshman receiver Jasen Lopez returned a punt 40 yards to the BC 29, and five plays later quarterback Ashton Daniels ran it in from the four. BC went back up 17-7. Freshman running back Amari Thomas answered with a 20-yard run for his first career touchdown. Then came the play of the day. On fourth-and-goal from the 1, after a Boston College timeout, Florida State lined up for a field goal, Carter Jula flipped the ball to kicker Gabe Panikowski, and Panikowski ran into the end zone without anybody laying a hand on him. That made it 14 straight points and a 21-17 halftime lead. If you've got nothing to lose, why not let the kicker score? It worked.
Boston College got back in front late in the third, 24-21, on Mason McKenzie's two-yard touchdown pass to Javarius Green. Florida State's reply was a 14-play, 71-yard drive that ended in a 22-yard Panikowski field goal to tie it early in the fourth. The defense forced a punt, and then the offense put together its longest drive of the afternoon, the one that decided it: 14 plays, 90 yards, 8:16 off the clock. Thomas carried six times on it. Lopez kept it breathing with an 11-yard catch on third-and-4. With 2:29 left, Thomas took it 11 yards to the outside for the winning touchdown.
That kid had himself a day. Thomas finished with career highs of 98 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, and Florida State ran for 202 as a team, with Quintrevion Wisner adding several key runs. Daniels ran for 38, including his 13th rushing touchdown of the season, which ties him for 10th on the program's single-season list. Through the air he was 15 of 26 for 178 yards with an interception, and Micahi Danzy caught seven passes for 86 yards, tying his career high in receptions. The Seminoles outgained BC 380 to 320.
The defense, which changed coordinators in the middle of the week, got better as the afternoon went on. Ja'Bril Rawls and Nehemiah Chandler each intercepted McKenzie, defensive back Ashlynd Barker made 10 tackles, and Boston College didn't score in the fourth quarter. Florida State won that period 10-0. For a group that spent the week learning a new boss, that's a decent first impression.
Now the cold water. Beating a 4-5 Boston College team doesn't fix what got Norvell fired. The accuracy questions at quarterback that followed his last three seasons are still here, and the passing game was ordinary again. What looked different was how this team handled a one-score game on the road. It leaned on the run, played clean late and closed the door, something it hadn't managed in almost three years. Stockstill's group played loose, like it actually believed it could win a close one. Whether that survives past one Saturday is the open question.
Florida State is at Pitt on Friday night, still needing two more wins to become bowl eligible.
Don't just watch the game. Understand it. Queen Media Sports Report.
Cody Queen is the lead columnist for the Queen Media Sports Report, bringing you the hard hitting facts, the deep dives, and the unapologetic truth about the teams you love. Queen Media Sports Report is brought to you by Backwater Royalty.
