Florida State linebacker Kalen DeLoach has been quite busy in the Seminoles’ last two games.

Serving as FSU’s primary quarterback spy against LSU’s Jayden Daniels and Louisville’s Malik Cunningham, when the Seminoles elected to use a spy, proved to be a worthy challenge.

It’s a challenge he has enjoyed despite not succeeding at it 100% of the time. And it’s a job that definitely fits DeLoach’s skill-set. While both Daniels and Cunningham ran for more than 100 yards against the Seminoles, DeLoach had key plays in both games where his surprisingly fast closing speed forced stops in key moments on the quarterbacks.

“I like to run people down. That’s something I like to do,” DeLoach said. “I get to showcase my closing speed and things like that.”

That being said, DeLoach isn’t complaining about an opponent this week in Boston College (Saturday, 8 p.m. on ACC Network) that won’t rely so heavily on a mobile quarterback.

“It’s definitely a sigh of relief. He does have the ability to run, but it’s not going to be as often,” DeLoach said. “We’ll be preparing for it, but it definitely does take a little off your shoulders to know that we’re not going to have to chase down a quarterback at any possible moment.”

BC’s returning starter, Phil Jurkovec, has showed some ability as a running quarterback previously. Last year against FSU, he ran for 59 yards and a touchdown, finishing the season with 322 yards and five rushing touchdowns.

This year, though, offensive line problems have severely limited what Jurkovec has been able to accomplish. The Eagles lost quite a few starters up front off last year’s team and lost a few more projected starters to injuries. That has left BC struggling mightily to protect Jurkovec, allowing 12 sacks – tied for the most among Power 5 schools – through three games this season.

“Everybody’s got injuries at this point in the year. I’m sure they’re not trying to make any excuses,” FSU defensive coordinator Adam Fuller said. “They’re just trying to get better from it just like we are. Looking forward to the preparation this week.”

There are quite a few prominent FSU defenders whose statuses are up in the air for Saturday’s game.

Standout defensive tackle Fabien Lovett didn’t travel for the game after suffering an injury late in the Louisville win while defensive end Jared Verse and defensive tackle Malcolm Ray both suffered injuries at Louisville and their statuses also remain a question.

If FSU is without any of these three, it will force the Seminoles to go deeper into the depth chart, as they did at Louisville.

But the FSU defense is confident it can have success even if it is without a few key contributors against BC, as it did in key moments against Louisville.

“We responded real good. I’m not going to say we practice that, but we work on next man up,” DeLoach said. “We always want the next man to be ready. We don’t want any drop-off, defensive-wise. We want the second player to give the same amount of effort as the first player. That’s how we practice. Next man up.”

Perhaps the biggest question mark is starting cornerback Omarion Cooper. He missed the first game of the season due to an injury and was able to make it back in time to play against LSU. However, that seemed to come at a cost as Fuller said Cooper gave the team his guts in that game and he wasn’t able to start or play many snaps at Louisville.

Cooper has been practicing this week and it’s worth monitoring if he’ll play his first game of the season at or close to full health under the lights at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday.

“We’re just trying to get him back,” Fuller said. “I don’t want him to keep going backwards by sending him out there."

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