EAGLES CONTROL ACC DESTINY

November 23, 1984. That was the last time Boston College won a football game in the state of Florida. The 21 year, 11 month streak is over.

#22 Boston College went into their game with unranked Florida State as underdogs. They came out with control over the ACC Atlantic Division. Clemson is in first place of the division with a 4-1 record after beating Georgia Tech. However, BC is tied with them in the loss column and posess the tie-breaker. In fact, Boston College is the only team that has beaten Clemson this season, something which will help the Eagles in the BCS and the eyes of the national sports media.

NC State dropped down in the divisional standings with their loss to Maryland. At the same time, Maryland is now in the mix for the divisional title.

Boston College has a home game against Buffalo next week. It seems as though every team in Buffalo is playing a Boston team in a 7 day period. In fact, they are. After BC disposes of Buffalo, they'll have 4 ACC games to play. They'll be at #25 Wake Forest on the 4th of November and could very will win or lose the divisional title that day. Then they get Duke, then Maryland. The Maryland game may or may not be vital. Then they're on the road in Miami.

We beat Wake Forest, we've pretty much got the division wrapped up. We lose to them and we'll need Clemson, Wake, maybe NC State and Maryland to all lose another game. The important thing is that we control our destiny. We win, we're in.

BC did come close to blowing this game. I thought it would be another heartbreaking BC loss when they're on the precipice of being an elite program. O'Brien's decision to take a safety at the end of the game was simply incorrect. He ran off 0:08 from the clock, and gained maybe 20 to 30 yards of field position. But he also made it so a single touchdown would win the game for FSU. One missed tackle, a big return, a blown coverage, and the game would be over. They wouldn't even be forced to try an extra-point to tie it.

Boston College might be able to move into the Top 20 in the national rankings with their win over FSU. BC is already 20th in the BCS, but will probably move up. #19 Georgia Tech, #17 Nebraska, and #14 Oregon all lost this week so the Eagles may wind up somewhere around 16th or 17th.