The No. 3 Florida State Seminoles showed the good, the bad and the ugly during their 31-29 win Saturday against Boston College. It was the ACC opener and the first road game for the Seminoles (3-0, 1-0), who have some work to do heading into next Saturday’s showdown against Clemson. 

Florida State ran off 28 unanswered points between the 2nd and 3rd quarters to turn an early 10-3 deficit into a seemingly comfortable 31-10 lead. But Boston College began to rally behind the efforts of freshman quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who accounted for 400 total yards (305 passing, 95 rushing) and 2 touchdowns. 

The Eagles (1-2, 0-1) put up 19 consecutive points with a touchdown run by Kye Robichaux, a defensive touchdown and a scoring run by Castellanos pulling the score to 31-29. But Boston College couldn’t stay out of its own way and a late face-mark penalty call on the defense helped FSU ice the victory. It was Boston College’s 18th penalty. 

“The good thing is we are an experienced team,” Seminoles coach Mike Norvell said. “We played a lot of football. We’ve been through it. There were times in the past where those things have happened and we did not come out victorious. We get to grow from what happened today.”

Player of the Week:  No one will confuse D.J. Lundy’s 2-way contributions with those of Colorado 2-way star Travis Hunter, but the Florida State linebacker did get his 1st interception and later scored on a short run while playing fullback on a goal-line possession. 

Lundy finished with 4 tackles, a half sack, an interception and a rushing touchdown. 

Freshman of the Week: The Seminoles’ running game couldn’t do much Saturday, but redshirt freshman Rodney Hill gained 42 yards on 5 carries to lead Florida State newcomers in that department. 

Biggest surprise: Keon Coleman was held to 0 catches on 2 targets. Johnny Wilson, who had been struggling, picked up the slack with 4 catches for 105 yards, but Coleman should never be held without a catch in a game. 

Biggest concern: The defense and FSU defensive coordinator Adam Fuller are going to be in the crosshairs again. Boston College gashed the Seminoles for 457 yards and the defense struggled  to contain Castellanos all day. This is arguably the Seminoles’ best defense, talent-wise, since the heart of the Jimbo Fisher days a decade ago, but Fuller always has been a question mark because this is his 1st job at a Power 5 program during 20-plus years of coaching. Florida State did have some injuries, most notably starting safety Akeem Dent, but there’s plenty of depth on this team. 

Developing trend: The Jordan Travis Heisman campaign should be dead by now. It’s not that Travis has been playing badly, far from it, but the numbers don’t support him when quarterbacks like Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders are piling up 400-yard games weekly. Travis was fine, he went 16-of-24 for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns with 38 yards rushing. And he shook off a shoulder stinger. But he hasn’t had a real head-turning game yet and doesn’t need to for the Seminoles to continue winning. 

Key stat: FSU’s defense struggled to get off the field. Boston College ran 17 more plays (75 to 58) and went a combined 12-for-24 on 3rd- and 4th-down conversions. But the other key stat is a big reason FSU won — Boston College had 18 penalties for 131 yards. 

Also Trey Benson had just 38 yards on 12 carries. FSU needs much more from him. 

First impression about Week 4 at Clemson: Norvell said the Seminoles can grow from this and they will have a week to do so as a much tougher road environment at a place they’ve won twice since the turn of the century awaits their arrival. This could be the last real test for the Seminoles this season. If they pass it, a conference title and the playoff will feel like much more of a reality.