With the NFL season still a week away, college football takes advantage of the Monday night primetime slot on Labor Day with an ACC tilt between Boston College and Florida State in Tallahassee. The Eagles will make their season debut against a Seminoles team that was shocked by Georgia Tech in a 24-21 Week 0 loss.
Boston College has a new head coach in Bill O’Brien, who spent last season in the NFL as the New England Patriots’ offensive coordinator and was Alabama’s OC in 2021 and 2022. O’Brien replaces Jeff Hafley, who left his Eagles head coaching post to be defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers.
Florida State will hope its first home game turns out better than its season opener in Dublin last week, when the Seminoles lost outright as a 10 1/2-point favorite. FSU drove the field easily on its opening drive, but after that, it was outplayed and outcoached by Brent Key’s Yellow Jackets.
The pick — Boston College team total UNDER 16.5 points (-104, FanDuel)
The point spread for this game moved significantly after Florida State’s loss to Georgia Tech. The Seminoles were around a 21-point favorite for Week 1 going into their opener, and that number significantly crashed in the hours and days following that performance.
When the line dipped below Florida State -16, there was resistance as money came in on the Seminoles to bring the point spread back to -16.5. I can definitely see a FSU bounce-back, but don’t trust QB DJ Uiagalelei and the Noles offense to cover a big number.
I’ll attack this game by betting on a strong performance from the Florida State defense in the comfort of Doak Campbell Stadium. Boston College returns a dual-threat QB in Thomas Castellanos, who was a solid player for the Eagles last season, but I’m unsure how he will do in O’Brien’s pass-first scheme. I also have doubts about O’Brien being able to adjust his play-calling to fit Castellanos’ skill set.
Last week’s defeat to Georgia Tech was a bad loss for the Seminoles, but their season is far from over. Florida State still has a path to the 12-team College Football Playoff by winning the ACC title.
On Monday night, I would expect an all-out effort at home from the Seminoles, especially on the defensive side of the ball.