Boston College loses to Florida State 20-17

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Boston College coach Steve Addazio couldn't have asked for much more against the reigning national champions that have now won 27 consecutive games.

His Eagles were tied at 17 with less than five minutes remaining against a Florida State team favored by nearly 20 points.

Alex Howell missed a 42-yard field goal in the pouring rain that set up Florida State's final drive, but Addazio is sick of the close calls. The Seminoles kicked their own game-winner with three seconds remaining for a 20-17 win.

"I'm absolutely proud of their toughness and their fight and their character, and that's a fact and you can write that down. Ink it," Addazio said. "However, we didn't come down here to lose that football game. We didn't come down here to be a bridesmaid. We didn't come down here to take solace in the fact that everyone tells us how hard we played.

"I've heard about as much of that as I can stomach, and as we go along and as we develop this program, these games -- the last play against Clemson, the last play against Colorado State, the last series here. Those are going to have different outcomes. That's part of the development of the program and that's part of the growth. Yes, I get that. I understand that. But if you want me to tolerate that, I'm not, nor is our team."

Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston led Florida State 66 yards to put Roberto Aguayo in position for a 26-yard field goal to win the game.

The loss is the first time Boston College has dropped consecutive games in 2014.

The Eagles (6-5, 3-4) stuck with their run-first philosophy throughout and finished with 240 yards on the ground. Quarterback Tyler Murphy bounced a read-option around the left end for a 21-yard score midway through the third quarter to tie the game at 17. Howell's miss would have given Boston College the lead. The drive took 17 plays, ate up 8:52 of clock and had Florida State on its heels.

"It's not fun," Murphy said about watching the game-winning drive. "You'd rather have the ball in your hands. We had our chance and I had a chance to make a play and I just didn't make it. I fell short."

The Eagles ran a trick play on second down that had Josh Bordner throw back to Murphy downfield, but it fell incomplete.

Jon Hilliman finished with 73 yards rushing on 14 carries and the Eagles averaged 4.7 yards per carry against an FSU defense that couldn't stop the run. Marcus Outlow added 61 yards and Murphy finished with 48 and the touchdown.

"I'm truly disappointed," Addazio said. "I feel like we really had a good opportunity in this game. It's not a lack of effort. We just needed to make some more plays to win this game."

The Eagles are already bowl eligible and finish their season with a home game against Syracuse.

The Seminoles have already locked up a berth in the ACC championship game, but there are bigger goals remaining. Florida State hosts Florida in the regular-season finale with a second consecutive undefeated season on the line. The `Noles have sat at No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings despite being the last undefeated team from a Power 5 conference.

Florida State (11-0, 8-0 ACC) had been plagued by slow starts throughout the season and the Seminoles went into the fourth quarter tied 17-17 with the Eagles. But with less than five minutes left, Winston helped engineer another game-winning drive.

"The majority of the games we've played this year have been like this game," Winston said. "So this isn't anything new.

"We have confidence. So, I told them get ready to score."

Florida State took over on its own 26-yard line after Boston College missed a 43-yard field goal with 4:37 left and the Seminoles drove to the Eagles' 8. Rashad Greene, who had two big drops in the first half, caught back-to-back passes for 11 and 15 yards to move the Seminoles within field goal range. The drive took 4:34 off the clock.

Copyright 2014 by The Associated Press

This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. Wire index

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