Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis set career-highs for both passing yards and total offense in leading the Seminoles to a 44-14 win over Boston College in Tallahassee on Saturday. The win pushed FSU’s record to 4-0 and the Seminoles are off to their best start since 2015.
Travis completed 16-of-26 passes for 321 yards and a touchdown, and gained 16 yards on his only rush for a career-best 338 yards of total offense in just three quarters of play.
Florida State’s Trey Benson returned the opening kickoff 93-yards for a touchdown and the Seminoles never looked back in the convincing win. It was the first kickoff return for a touchdown by the Seminoles since Kermit Whitfield’s 100-yard return in the 2014 Rose Bowl National Championship game win over Auburn.
FSU’s offense did not give the Eagles a chance to breathe, scoring on each of its first three possessions after the special teams TD to open the game. Omarion Cooper set up FSU’s second score with an interception at Boston College’s 34-yard line. A 32-yard pass from Jordan to tight end Camren McDonald put the Noles near the goal line and a one-yard TD run by Lawrance Toafili with 12:52 left in the first quarter made it 14-0 Florida State.
FSU took a 21-0 lead with 6:05 left in the first when Benson rushed over the right side for a 15-yard touchdown capping a 10-play, 94-yard drive that is the Seminoles’ longest of the season.
Ryan Fitzgerald’s 30-yard field goal put the Seminoles up 24-0 early in the second quarter, and Travis found Kentron Poitier with a 31-yard scoring strike with nine seconds left in the half to give the Seminoles a 31-0 lead at the half, it’s largest halftime lead in an ACC game since leading Syracuse 38-0 in 2013
FSU stretched the lead to 37-0 in the third quarter on a 22-yard touchdown run by Treshaun Ward that capped a 90-yard drive, but the extra point attempt missed to the right.
Boston College dashed the Noles’ hope for a shutout with a 12-play, 75-yard drive scoring when quarterback Phil Jurkovec found Alex Broome in the end zone with a five-yard TD pass as the third quarter came to an end.
Benson’s third touchdown of the game came in the fourth quarter when he ripped past the left side of the Boston College defense on a 36-yard run that put the Seminoles up 44-7 with 9:30 left in the game.
Boston College closed out the scoring when Jurkovec threw his second touchdown pass of the game with :50 left to make the final score 44-14.
Florida State receivers shined in the game with Poitier scoring his first touchdown of the season. Ontaria Wilson’s 72-yard reception is FSU’s longest play of the year and his career-long, and Darion Williamson finished with a team-high 98 yards and five catches.
The ACC announced that FSU’s game against Wake Forest in Tallahassee next Saturday will kickoff at 3:30 p.m.