It is Veteran’s Day and military appreciation day. There was a very emotional moment when a family was surprised by the return of the father/husband after being deployed for the past year in Afghanistan. If you did not see it, check the online videos, and watch U.S. Army soldier Ryan Otto stun his wife, Jennifer, and their four children on the field in front of close to 80,000 people. The family was there under the guise that they had won something. He was addressing the family on the JumboTron when he ran out on the field, from the FSU bench, completely surprising them! It’s an incredibly heartwarming Must See Moment for Veterans Day.
For Florida State, this is the 1st time they have played a home Friday night game since 1957. As to the game tonight it was really no match-up for Florida State. *BC did not convert a 3rd down until late in the game when there were mostly reserves playing. They had been 0-11 and finished 1-12. *BC ended with 146 total yards, 35 for 96 rushing, 1 rush early in the game was for 39 yards on a broken play {player ended with 41 yards on 3 carries} and 4 for 13 passing for 50 yards. *FSU was ahead 28-0 when QB Deondre Francois was leveled on a late hit and forced from the game. Jimbo Fisher said it was a shoulder contusion and could have returned if necessary. This opened the door for senior Sean McGuire to finish the game on a senior night. McGuire went 5-7 for 53 yards and 2 TD’s. That was a great way to finish his 2nd to last game at home with his parents in attendance. *BC with wins in their final 2 games, U Conn and Wake Forest would become bowl eligible. With 80 positions to fill and not enough 6 win teams, it would be possible for them to get a bid at 5-7 due to their high academics. While on the subject of teams with a chance for a bowl sporting a 5-7 record I think it is remarkable what David Cutcliffe has done at Duke, with so little. Duke currently sits at 4-6 and they finish the season on the road with a game this Saturday at Pittsburg and at Miami on November 26th. Again, a win in either of those games may very well get them a bid at 5-7.
On Friday night there was a Nashville connection. Prior to the game I visited the Boston College locker room and had a nice conversation with BC Athletic Director Brad Bates. I’m sure many of you either know or remember Brad from his days as an associate AD at Vandy. It’s been a rough couple of years for BC as they set an all-time low last season by going 0-8 in football and 0-18 in basketball in ACC conference play. After the Friday night game they are 1-6 in conference play so a chance for a bowl bid would at least be some redemption.
Florida State can finish the season on a high note with a win next week, at Syracuse, as well as a victory over in-state rival Florida in Tallahassee on November 26. With wins in their final 2 regular season games, as well as a bowl victory, they can once again reach the 10 win plateau. In the ACC and national level things sure got interesting over the week-end. It will be interesting to see what the movement will be on Tuesday, with the losses by the 2nd, 3rd and 4th ranked teams. These next few weeks should be very interesting. At this point nothing is really clear for the CFP except Bama should be there.
