Boston College continues conference fade, falls to Florida State

Boston College safety KP Price didn’t hesitate when asked if Saturday’s 31-24 setback against Florida State was one of the more disappointing losses he has endured in his time with the program.

“It was,” said Price, sporting a 2023 Fenway Bowl T-shirt. “It is what it is. It definitely hurt, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to get up and go back at it tomorrow.”

The Eagles (4-5, 2-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) still have an outside shot at a bowl game, but their chances are dwindling. Facing a sputtering program that navigated a coaching change this week, this was an opportunity that was there for the taking at Alumni Stadium.

BC showed flashes in spurts against the Seminoles (4-5, 2-4), yet couldn’t capitalize in a game that ultimately resulted in an ice bath for interim Florida State coach Rick Stockstill, who took over for the fired Mike Norvell.

It was Florida State’s first road win since 2023. BC’s triumph at Florida State to open the Bill O’Brien era in 2024, meanwhile, is now a distant memory.

“We just didn’t make enough plays,” O’Brien said. “Give Florida State credit. They made more plays than we did. They did some good things. We did some good things, but not enough.”

The Eagles, highly motivated after a debacle at Duke, held FSU to 23 first-quarter yards.

Bo MacCormack (16 carries, 105 rushing yards and 1 touchdown) scored on a 6-yard run and Luca Lombardo added a 48-yard field goal as the Eagles possessed the ball for 12-plus minutes to build a 10-0 edge at the end of the first quarter.

“It’s always important to start out fast,” MacCormack said. “I think we had a better start today than we had in the past. We just have to continue what we were doing earlier in the game and sustain that.”

The Seminoles responded with a 4-yard TD rush from quarterback Ashton Daniels (15 of 26, 178 yards passing; 10 carries, 38 yards rushing) early in the second. BC quarterback Mason McKenzie hit Nedrick Boldin Jr. for a 29-yard TD strike down the left sideline to give BC a 17-7 advantage with 9:24 left before halftime.

The Seminoles seized momentum on Amari Thomas’s 20-yard touchdown run that cut BC’s lead to 17-14 with 6:03 left in the second quarter.

On fourth and goal from the 1, Florida State executed a fake field goal attempt when holder Carter Jula flicked the ball over his shoulder to 5-foot-9-inch senior kicker Gabe Panikowski, who ran it in untouched for a go-ahead touchdown that enabled the Seminoles to control a 21-17 halftime lead.

“That was brutal by us,” O’Brien said. “Terrible.”

McKenzie (15 for 27, 166 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception) briefly left the game due to injury early in the third quarter before returning.

“I wouldn’t want any other quarterback,” O’Brien said. “He’s a hell of a competitor.”

Freshman backup QB Grayson Wilson threw an interception in his absence, then Max Tucker tipped a Daniels pass to Marcus Upton for a BC interception.

Two trick plays propelled the Eagles on the ensuing drive. A snow globe “Ring Around The Rosie” huddle yielded a 2-yard TD underhand toss from McKenzie to Javarius Green to give BC a 24-21 lead with 4:11 left in the third quarter.

“When it’s a gimmick kind of play, you feel like you kind of have to make it work because it gives a lot of life to the team,” MacCormack said.

That was, however, the last time the Eagles would find the end zone, as Florida State (202 rushing yards) regained a rhythm and never relented.

Panikowski tied it, 24-24, with a 22-yard field goal with 13:22 left. The Seminoles then jumped ahead, 31-24, with 2:29 remaining, on Thomas’s 11-yard TD scamper that punctuated a 14-play, 90-yard drive that chewed up 8 minutes, 16 seconds off the clock.

The Eagles advanced past midfield, but couldn’t break through as Dawson Pough was unable to haul in McKenzie’s fourth-and-15 heave into Florida State territory with 1:28 left.

O’Brien said he would have gone for the 2-point conversion had BC scored, but that decision was rendered moot when the Eagles crumbled in crunch time.

The Eagles next face a grueling stretch drive, beginning with a huge road game against Notre Dame on Saturday, followed by a home finale vs. Syracuse Nov. 21 and the regular-season finale at Miami Nov. 28.

“I have absolutely no control over the schedule at Boston College,” O’Brien said. “We just try to do the best we can. It’s going to be a really difficult row to hoe.”

Trevor Hass is a sports producer who covers Boston’s professional teams. He also writes about Boston College football and high school sports for The Boston Globe.