Bill O'Brien's latest resurrection project opened with a resounding success, as he led Boston College on the road and shocked No. 10 Florida State with a 28-13 win Monday night. The Eagles snapped a 13-game losing streak to top-10 opponents and earned their largest win against a top-10 opponent this century.
It felt, in many ways, like a Boston College team ripped straight from the 2000s.
This kind of impact is nothing new for O'Brien. He saved Penn State in its darkest hour over a decade ago when he won eight games just one season removed from the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal.
Now he takes over a Boston College team that hasn't elevated itself beyond mediocre in recent years. O'Brien seems well-equipped to break that lull.
Beating a lifeless Florida State team doesn't make Boston College a juggernaut, but it certainly lends credence to what O'Brien has been telling us all offseason long: he has a good football team, one that's capable of winning meaningful games.
"I love coaching this team," O'Brien said at the 2024 ACC Football Kickoff. "I love working with the players... Really enjoy the team. These guys, they show up on time. They buy into what we're trying to get done relative to offense, defense and special teams."
But just how far can O'Brien take this thing? Here are three reasons to be believers in the Eagles.
Re-establishing BC's tough-as-nails identity
Boston College's history is built on blue-collar, hard-nosed football, with an emphasis on and around the line of scrimmage. This is the program that produced multiple Pro Football Hall of Famers along the defensive line and, since the turn of the century, first-rounders like Luke Kuechly, B.J. Raji, Mathias Kiwanuka, Anthony Castonzo and Chris Lindstrom, to name a few. They either crunched running backs and quarterbacks or road-graded defenders. Either way, they were tough as nails.
O'Brien leaned into that tradition in his debut as head coach. Boston College ran the ball on each of its first four plays against the Seminoles and gained a brisk 20 yards in the process.
Though O'Brien mixed in some wrinkles, like running back wheel routes that worked to great effect, that ground-and-pound approach was central to Boston College's offensive identity. And it worked tremendously; the Eagles steamrolled a Florida State defensive line that, at least based on preseason projections, is stocked with NFL talent.
Boston College finished with 263 yards rushing on 5.1 yards per carry. Running backs Kye Robichaux and Treshaun Ward and quarterback Thomas Castellanos all had at least 70 yards rushing. The Eagles held the ball for 39:09 of game time, and ran 68 plays to Florida State's 58.
While BC's offense was grinding the Noles down, it was winning at the point of attack on defense. Edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku was a constant presence in Florida State's backfield, often getting the best of preseason All-ACC offensive tackle Darius Washington to collect two sacks and one quarterback hurry.
Florida State's rushing attack was non-existent. The Seminoles finished the game with a net gain of 21 yards. Their running backs didn't have a single rush over 10 yards.
O'Brien didn't lose any players to portal
It helps that O'Brien didn't inherit a complete disaster. Though it's been a long time since the Eagles have been relevant on a national scale, it's hard to say that the last decade has been bad by any stretch.
Boston College has been to a bowl game every single year, with the exception of two 3-9 seasons, since 2013. The Eagles didn't have a single player enter the transfer portal after O'Brien was hired. They return 16 starters, seven on offense and defense. That's a level of stability that most programs strive for in the modern era. Jeff Hafley, who left to be the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers, did a fine job in Chestnut Hill.
O'Brien wasn't hired just to make bowl games, though. It's largely faded from the collective college football consciousness, but there was a time not long ago that Boston College fought for ACC titles and factored heavily into the BCS system.
That's the high watermark that O'Brien has his eyes on. Monday's win made that seem more attainable, and a peek at the future shows that it could come a lot sooner than expected.
The path is wide-open because of manageable schedule
The Eagles have a very manageable schedule. Florida State was their largest hurdle: a preseason top-10 team with legitimate College Football Playoff hopes, fired up because of a historic snub one year ago and on its own home turf.
Florida State's season-opening loss to Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland should have fanned the flames to an uncontrollable blaze, knowing that a second loss in a row effectively eliminates the Noles from ACC contention -- let alone anything more -- but Boston College doused the sparks and stomped on the smoking rubble for good measure.
Now everything is in front of the Eagles. They do have to travel to what should be a top-10 Missouri team on Sept. 14. A loss in that scenario doesn't mean anything for the ACC standings, and the 12-team College Football Playoff format means that there's certainly some leeway for teams that lose, on the road, to an SEC program in Week 3 of the season.
The rest of the non-conference consists of home tilts against Michigan State and Western Kentucky. The Spartans floundered against Florida Atlantic and Boston College should be able to handle the Hilltoppers.
Then comes conference play. Boston College avoids both Clemson and Miami. In fact, Louisville is the only team remaining on the schedule that ranked top five in the preseason ACC media poll.
The Oct. 17 road game against Virginia Tech looks a lot easier after the Hokies lost to Vanderbilt. SMU hasn't blown anyone away through its first couple games as an ACC program. North Carolina and Pittsburgh should be tough end-of-season tests, but Boston College gets to play both within the friendly confines of Alumni Stadium.
It's not outlandish to see double-digit wins on this schedule, especially if Boston College can carry the line of scrimmage like it did against Florida State. Depending on how the cards fall, that could mean a spot in the ACC Championship Game and one win's distance from the College Football Playoff. Now it's up to the Eagles to go out and take it.
