TALLAHASSEE, Fla. _ Maybe Jimbo Fisher did not want to test the football gods.
After quarterback Deondre Francois left Florida State's 45-7 win over Boston College in the third quarter with a right shoulder contusion, Fisher opted to sit star running back Dalvin Cook in the fourth quarter despite being close to making school history.
Cook will have to wait another week to stake his claim as the best rusher in Florida State history, finishing 19 yards shy of breaking Warrick Dunn's school record for career rushing yards during the first Friday night game at Doak Campbell Stadium since 1957.
Cook, a junior from Miami who could likely be a first-round pick in April's 2017 NFL draft, finished with 18 carries for 108 yards and a touchdown in front of an announced crowd of 73,917 people waiting to witness history.
Now the Seminoles (7-3, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) shift their attention to the final two games of the regular season.
Francois played one of his most efficient games of his redshirt freshman season, finishing 16 of 24 for 183 yards and three touchdowns, but he did not return after taking a late hit, which drew a Boston College roughing the passer penalty.
Francois has been the target of multiple hits by opposing defenses this season and was sacked four times by the Eagles. Francois was able to return after needing medical attention against Miami and Clemson this season, but Fisher took a cautious approach to remove his quarterback while leading Boston College 28-0 midway in the third quarter.
Senior Sean Maguire came on in relief of Francois and threw two touchdown passes to help Fisher win his seventh consecutive game over Boston College.
Fisher, knowledgeable of Boston College's knack for loading the box to stop the run, used Francois on a number of designed runs and deep passes downfield to open up the defense for his star running back.
Cook broke free for a 19-yard touchdown run with 2:50 left before halftime, to set the stage in second half. But Fisher replaced Cook with backup running back Jacques Patrick in the final quarter to finish the blowout victory.
Cook had his eyes set on breaking Dunn's 20-year mark of 3,959 career yards for the past two weeks. He finished with 65 yards at NC State last week. Cook needs only four touchdowns to break Greg Allen's school record of 44 career touchdowns.
Francois threw touchdowns to Auden Tate, Nyqwan Murray and Travis Rudolph, while Maguire connected with Tate and fellow senior Freddie Stevenson for his first two touchdowns of the season.
Florida State's defense allowed Boston College to convert on its first third-down play midway through the fourth quarter and gave up a 1-yard touchdown with 3:21 left to miss its first shutout victory since last season's 14-0 win at Boston College.
Still, the Seminoles limited the Eagles to just 146 yards of total offense and an average of three yards per play during the game.
ESPN's Football Power Index gave FSU a 96 percent chance to beat Boston College and the Seminoles wasted no time living up to expectations.
Francois, a former Orlando Olympia High standout, completed 9 of 11 passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter, marking the first time FSU scored a first-quarter touchdown against a Power 5 team since Nov. 11, 2015, against Syracuse.
True freshman Logan Tyler added a 53-yard field goal in his first career attempt in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles (4-6, 1-6) suffered their fourth loss in five games and 13th in 14 ACC games, with the lone victory coming at NC State on Oct. 29.
It took 10 games for FSU to turn in its most complete performance of the season. Now, the Seminoles hope for improved health and to ride positive momentum into the final stretch of 2016.
