Despite loss, BC made impact

Boston College may not have won its Atlantic Coast Conference debut, but the Eagles -- ranked 17th before dropping out of the Top 25 after Saturday night's 28-17 setback to No. 8 Florida State -- seemed to win a measure of respect from the Seminoles.

''That was an outstanding Boston College team," said Florida State linebacker A.J. Nicholson, who led the Seminoles with 19 tackles (17 solo) and was responsible for giving his team a 14-0 first-quarter lead when he intercepted Quinton Porter and returned it 19 yards for a 7-0 lead seven seconds into the game and, on BC's next possession, again picked Porter for a 40-yard return that helped set up Drew Weatherford's 20-yard scoring toss to Greg Carr. ''They're going to win a lot of games this year."

Nicholson felt compelled to salute the Eagles after they withstood FSU's first-quarter flurry to score 17 points for a 17-14 halftime lead.

''Their offensive line is as good as everybody said," Nicholson said. ''They were big up front and were opening up huge holes for the running game. Fortunately, we were able to make enough big plays to win the game."

The Seminoles (3-0, 2-0 ACC) secured their first road win of the season -- in their first visit to Alumni Stadium since 1976, coach Bobby Bowden's first year as head coach -- by capitalizing on a BC offense that sputtered in the second half after fifth-year senior Porter left the game with an injured right ankle midway through the third quarter and gave way to sophomore backup Matt Ryan.

Florida State, as a result, rallied to score 14 points in the fourth quarter. The last score was set up by a blocked punt and recovery by Darius McClure.

''That was a very physical football game," Nicholson said. ''And it's good thing we have a week off before our next game."

The Eagles (2-1, 0-1), however, won't have any such luxuries. They go from the frying pan to the fire Saturday when they travel to Clemson (2-1, 1-1) to play their first ACC road game at one of the league's most hostile venues: Death Valley, where the Tigers suffered a 36-30 loss to Miami in triple overtime Saturday.

''It's really loud, they're right on top of you," said BC coach Tom O'Brien, who indicated Virginia Tech's stadium in Blacksburg, Va., best compared to Clemson's field. ''So it's a great atmosphere to play college football."

So, too, was sold-out Alumni Stadium Saturday night. And ESPN's ''College GameDay" made its first visit to BC's campus in Chestnut Hill.

And while he jokingly said he would've preferred to ''ease into things" instead of having to face the Seminoles right out of the box, O'Brien saw the benefit of playing such a high-profile opponent in a nationally televised game in BC's conference debut.

''I think the whole thing, once you throw in [ESPN 'College GameDay'] and the crowd and the whole thing, it was a great thing for our school," O'Brien said.

But O'Brien also accentuated some of the positives he saw on the field, despite BC's shaky shart.

''We only gave up 13 yards rushing and we had drives of 13 plays on offense, 13 plays, 9 plays, 12 plays," he said. ''We controlled the line of scrimmage with our offensive line and we gave up one sack -- Ryan got sacked in the third or fourth quarter there -- against a team that sacked Miami nine times.

''So, there's some things you could point to and say, 'Hey, there's things we've got to do better in other areas, but there's some positives we can take from this game and build on.

''To be able to run the football effectively like we did and to be able to pass protect like we did bodes well for our offense."

What doesn't, though, is Porter's uncertain status for Clemson. O'Brien was encouraged by Ryan's performance, especially at the end of the game when he marched the Eagles 79 yards in six plays to the FSU 2. BC, however, failed to crack the end zone after six tries, the last three from the 1.

''Well, I think he was nervous at the start," O'Brien said of Ryan (7 of 11 for 89 yards). ''I think as things went on, he settled down and, obviously, it's not a situation we wanted to thrust him in, but he handled it as well as could be expected. If Quinton can't make it to practice this week, I'm sure it's an experience he'll be able to build on."

Defensively? The bend-but-don't-break effort BC's defense submitted seemed best illustrated by the turnover Mathias Kiwanuka forced when he came steaming up from behind on the backside of Lorenzo Booker's 32-yard screen play and stripped the FSU player at the goal line. The ball popped in the air and Jazzmen Williams recovered for the Eagles just before he struck the pylon as he stepped out of bounds. Replay officials ruled it a touchback and gave BC possession at its 20.

''You look at the tremendous effort Mathias made on the screen play to cause the fumble, that's a classic example of never quitting," O'Brien said. ''Same with Jazzmen to go after the ball in that situation. The things you've got to correct is you give them a touchdown on an interception and you give them a short field and it gives them three scores.

''We missed some [scoring] opportunities and I think the thing probably turned in the third period when we missed a [39-yard] field goal and then, two series later, Quinton goes down," O'Brien added. ''It took a little air out of our balloon and took us a while to get back in the swing on that last drive.

''But you can't [play] coulda, woulda, shoulda. They won the first five and last five minutes and we had the other 50. So I think there's a lot of positives for our football team if we can use it in that respect. Not that we're into moral victories and not that we're trying to justify that things are OK; they're not.

''We came to win the football game and we didn't get it done."