Florida State football will play on Labor Day weekend for the fourth consecutive season.

It will also be its home opener during the prime-time game at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN at Doak Campbell Stadium Sept. 2.

It is a new era for Boston College.

Bill O'Brien is a college football head coach again after one season as an offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for the New England Patriots.

Before that, he served the same role under Nick Saban in Alabama.

With his college and pro coaching experience, Boston College could likely be a better team than the last meeting with FSU.

Boston College went 7-6 last season but ended the year losing three of the last four games, leading to Jeff Hafley's departure.

Who is Boston College's head coach

O'Brien was hired on Feb. 9. He is BC's 37th head coach in program history. It is the first time since 2012 that O'Brien has returned to the college head coaching ranks.

O'Brien is no stranger to building a winning team right away. He led the Nittany Lions to an eight-win season in his first season at Penn State.

He was 15-9 during his tenure before taking an NFL head coaching job for the Houston Texans in 2014, which lasted for six seasons.

He became Alabama's offensive coordinator and QB coach for the 2021 and 2022 seasons and one year for the Patriots last year.

FSU-BC all-time record

16-5, FSU

Last meeting between FSU and Boston College

Florida State defeated Boston College 41-16 last season at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

Boston College's top players

Offense: QB Thomas Castellanos, 2248 passing yards, 15 TDS, 1289 rushing yards, 13 TDs;

OL Thomas; OL Ozzy Trapilo; RB Kye Robichaux, 791 yards, 8 TDs; WR Lewis Bond, 646 yards, 7 TDs)

Defense: DT Cameron Horsley, 122 total tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss for 43 yards, 3.5 sacks, five passes defended, and one fumble recovery; LB Kam Arnold, 66 tackles, TFLs, one sack, three passes defended, one forced fumble;

DE Donovan Ezeiruaku, 53 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, two sacks, seven QB hits, two forced fumbles; DE Neto, 26 tackles, five TFLs, two sacks, seven QB hits; CB Amari Jackson, 39 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, one interception,

Boston College's key losses, additions

Additions: S Cameron Martinez, LB Holt Fletcher, S Brody Kidwell, QB Grayson James, CB Bryquice Brown, CB Ryan Turner

Losses: S Elijah Jones, LB Vinny DePalma, S Josh Pupel, DE/OLBShitta Sillah (edge)

Outlook on Boston College

BC has not beaten FSU at Doak Campbell Stadium since 2008. The Seminoles could start the year 2-0 for three consecutive seasons.

With O'Brien's track record of building a winning team right away, BC could look to try to make a stunning upset at Doak Campbell Stadium.

If it wants to contend for the College Football Playoffs again, FSU cannot afford bad losses, especially in its conference.

FSU will already be ahead in the ACC a week before their first nonconference game against Memphis the following week.

Florida State football schedule 2024

• Aug. 24 vs. Georgia Tech *Dublin, Ireland at 7:30 p.m., ESPN

• Sept. 2 vs. Boston College at 7:30 p.m., ESPN

• Sept. 14 vs. Memphis

• Sept. 21 vs. California

• Sept. 28 at SMU

• Oct. 5 vs. Clemson

• Oct. 18 at Duke

• Oct. 26 at (U) Miami

• Nov. 2 vs. North Carolina

• Nov. 9 at Notre Dame

• Nov. 23 vs. Charleston Southern

• Nov. 30: Florida

• Dec. 7: ACC Championship

BOLD = ACC

* = Neutral Site

Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football vs Boston College preview for 2024 season