Safid Deen

Democrat sports writer

Another victory, and another spot down a national college football poll for the Seminoles.

Florida State improved to 11-0 this season with a 20-17 victory over Boston College thanks to a late field goal by Roberto Aguayo on Saturday, and remained atop The Associated Press Top 25 poll, but fell to No. 2 in the Coaches’ Poll behind Alabama on Sunday.

The Seminoles, winners of 27 consecutive games, will find out Tuesday night where they stand in the College Football Playoff Rankings. They’re currently No. 3 behind Alabama and Oregon — both 10-1.

As FSU quarterback Jameis Winston pointed out after Saturday’s game, FSU is receiving the same criticisms about its schedule this season as it did last season en route to winning the national championship. FSU is currently winning by an average of 13.27 points per game, compared to 37.57 last season.

“We were downgraded every time we blew someone out last year so think of the irony of that,” Winston said. “What everyone else thinks about us, that’s none of our business.”

In an interview on ESPN Sportscenter Sunday morning, FSU coach Jimbo Fisher made it a point to disregard factors the playoff selection committee takes into account such as game control, style points and strength of conference opponents.

“This team has never lost, and those things don’t have to be explained because winning is the key component,” Fisher said.

The Seminoles knew Saturday that the Eagles were going to stack up players on their offensive line, use quarterback Tyler Murphy as a runner, and slowly trek down the field to keep Jameis Winston and the FSU offense off of it.

Both teams had only nine possessions on offense, and it was the second time all season the Seminoles were held under double-digit possessions. The first happened against The Citadel in Week 2 where FSU scored four touchdowns and two field goals, respectively, on its first six drives.

Winston, who finished the game completing 22 of 32 passes for 281 yards and a touchdown, threw several passes to Rashad Greene, Jesus Wilson and Ermon Lane that could have extended drives or resulted in touchdown passes, but simply fell through. A tipped pass to Greene ended up resulting in an interception for Winston, who has thrown one in each of his last five games.

“Those guys don’t do it on purpose, but you can’t make those mistakes in a tight game like that,” Fisher said. “That’s what keeps it close.”

Added Winston: “When you have very little possessions, you have to execute.”

Boston College controlled time of possession for 33:37 of the 60-minute game and accounted for 240 yards on the ground, rushing on 51 of their 62 offensive plays. But with 5:50 left in the fourth quarter, BC chose to go for the victory with a trick play from 29 yards out. Murphy lined up on the outside, but could not come down with a perfect pass from wide receiver Josh Bordner.

“You know as a quarterback, you expect for guys to make the catch when they get their hands on the ball,” Murphy said. “It was my chance to do the same and I didn’t make the play.”

Florida State will play its final game in Doak Campbell Stadium this Saturday at 3:30 p.m., against the school Murphy transferred from, the University of Florida.

Murphy was a backup to Jeff Driskel under coach Will Muschamp for the UF-FSU game on Nov. 24, 2012 — the last time the Seminoles lost a game. This year’s game will be Muschamp’s final regular-season game at the helm of the Gators (6-4).

“The majority of game we played in this year have been like (Saturday) so this is nothing new,” Winston said. “But obviously, it’s going to be a different atmosphere for the Gators.

“They feel like they can beat anybody, and we’re going to be ready.”

Winston shove

In a statement to ESPN, ACC coordinator of officials Doug Rhoads said the contact between Winston and an official during the third quarter “was incidental and insignificant and did not rise to the level of unsportsmanlike conduct and automatic disqualification.” FSU had a late substitution and the official was trying to ensure Boston College had the same amount of time to also make a switch.

FSU vs. Florida

When/Where: Saturday, 3:30 p.m., Doak Campbell Stadium

TV/Radio: ESPN/103.1 FM

Live Blog: www.tallahassee.com