The BC Mac Attack. QB Mason McKenzie hands off to RB Bo MacCormack III in yesterday’s game against Florida State University. (BC Athletics photo)

After BC’s embarrassing 47-2 defeat to Duke the previous week, Eagles fans were understandably concerned about how their team would respond yesterday against Florida State.

Based on BC’s performance in the game’s first quarter, it looked as if they would respond with vigor and purpose. The Eagles took the opening kickoff and marched down the field on 13 plays to score the opening touchdown. Following a Seminoles punt, BC added a 48-yard field goal and the teams ended the opening quarter with the Eagles up, 10-0.

It was a dominating start by BC. The Eagles possessed the ball for just over 12 minutes, ran 22 plays for 87 yards, making 6 1st downs and going 4-of-6 on 3rd down conversions. The Seminoles ran 8 plays for 23 yards and had 0 yards passing, with 1 1st down.

The domination, however, didn’t last. As has been characteristic of BC games this season, the opponent overcame successes by the Eagles and Florida State went on to defeat BC 31-24.

Florida State flipped the game in the second quarter, They scored their first touchdown within the first minute of the quarter and added two more to take a 21-17 lead into halftime. Both teams moved the ball during the quarter, but the Seminoles were more effective in scoring. 

The game was tied at 24 early in the final quarter. The Eagles then couldn’t stop Florida State as the Seminoles completed a 14-play, 90-yard drive that took 8 minutes 16 seconds off the clock and brought the score to 31-24. With just over 2 minutes left, BC advanced the ball past midfield, but gave up the ball on downs with an incomplete pass on 4th-and-15. Florida State took knees to finish the game.

The headline for this post was inspired by The Boston Globe‘s description of the Eagles’ finish as they “crumbled in crunch time.”

Florida State, which ended a 12-game losing streak in away games, ended up gaining 380 yards compared to 320 for BC. Both teams were pretty balanced, with the Seminoles running for 202 yards and passing for 178 and the Eagles gaining 148 on the ground and 172 through the air.

Florida State was 5-for-5 in the Red Zone, scoring 4 touchdowns and a field goal. BC was 2-of-2 with 2 TDs.

RB Bo MacCormack III was BC’s leading rusher, gaining 105 yards on 16 carries and scoring a touchdown. QB Mason McKenzie ran for 38 yards and was 15-of-27 passing for 166 yards and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception.

Nine different BC players caught passes, including McKenzie. Javarius Green and Nedrick Bolden Jr. each caught a touchdown pass.

Highlights (9:23) (Check at the 6:40 mark for a trick play BC used to score a touchdown. Entertaining, at least.)

BC falls to 4-5, 2-4 in the ACC. Next opponent is Notre Dame, in South Bend. The Irish defeated #1-ranked Miami yesterday.

It’s worth noting that in 1993, the Eagles went out to Indiana to play Notre Dame the week after the Irish had defeated then #1 Florida State and took over the top spot in the national rankings. As time ran out, BC kicker David Gordon hit a 41-yard field goal to defeat Notre Dame 41-39. It was the only loss that season for the Irish, who finished ranked #2.

Go Eagles!

BC Quarterback Mason McKenzie pressured by Duke defense, as he was most of game yesterday, in Duke 47-2 wipeout. (Ben McKeown/Associated Press)

Following BC’s stellar defeat of Georgia Tech October 24, Coach Bill O’Brien said, “The team you saw in the second half, to me, that’s our football team.” That team had scored 37 points, rushing for 277 yards, in the second half on its way to a 49-27 comeback win.

That was not our football team yesterday. Not even close.

Facing the Duke Blue Devils in Durham, N.C., BC scored only two points and that was on the return of a botched point-after-attempt by Duke following its second touchdown. (That play accounted for 100 “miscellaneous yards” in the game stats.) Inept play, errors, penalties added up to what the Boston Globe described as “by far their worst performance this season” and a 47-2 shellacking.

Was it because the Eagles were playing Devils on Halloween? I have to hope something supernatural was involved.

BC’s possessions during the game ended with, in order: a punt, punt, on downs, punt, punt, punt, punt, fumble, on downs, fumble, on downs, and on downs. The Eagles were 2 of 13 on 3rd-down conversions and 0 of 4 on 4th down conversions. They reached the red zone once.

And the penalties. So many of BC’s few positive offensive plays were nullified by penalties and Duke benefited as well, making 7 first downs by penalty. BC was called 11 times for penalties in the first half alone. The Globe reported them, in order: face mask, pass interference, holding, pass interference, unsportsmanlike conduct, illegal touching, unsportsmanlike conduct, holding, roughing the passer, offside, and illegal formation.

BC had 4 additional penalties in the second half for a total of 15 for the game and 129 yards. The total of yards penalized was greater than yards gained rushing by the Eagles (78) and just below the total they gained passing (135).

QB Mason McKenzie was 9-of-17 passing for 87 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked 4 times. The Duke quarterback was not sacked. Backup BC quarterbacks appeared in the final quarter. Femi Babaloa was 3-of-5 for 49 yards, including a 36-yard completion. Grayson Wilson was 2-of-5 for -1 yard. Both backups were sacked once.

Duke, of course, took advantage of BC’s woeful play. Their final score was their second highest of the season, exceeding only their 62 points against FCS William & Mary. (Interestingly, Duke lost 25-28 to Georgia Tech, the team blasted by the Eagles the previous week.)

The Blue Devils scored in each period, with 4 touchdowns in the 1st half, 2 TDs in the 3rd period, and 2 field goals in the 4th. They punted twice.

Highlights (8:53)

BC falls to 4-4 overall, 2-3 in the ACC. Next opponent is Florida State on November 7, gametime 9 am PT.

QB Mason McKenzie, lower right, shushes Georgia Tech fans after he scored on a 15-yard touchdown run in BC’s 49-27 victory yesterday over Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Ga. (TV screen capture)

Actually the Eagles didn’t really “ramble” yesterday in dispatching Georgia Tech, 49-27. Rather than wander about, they ran with purpose, accumulating 399 yards and scoring 5 touchdowns on the ground.

It was the most points scored by BC against an ACC opponent since 2019. 

“The team you saw in the second half, to me, that’s our football team,” said coach Bill O’Brien. All but a very few BC fans would be happy with that. The Eagles scored 37 points in the second half, rushing for 277 yards in the half. 

QB Mason McKenzie ran for 2 touchdowns and passed for another, while RB Bo MacCormick III rushed for 3 touchdowns. Charlie Comella scored on a 4th quarter pick-6 and Luca Lombardo added a field goal and 3 points after.

As has been its wont this season, BC allowed the opponent yesterday to score first . . . and second. Georgia Tech opened the game with an 8-play drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown pass. After BC missed a 48-yard field goal attempt, the Yellow Jackets responded with a 9-play drive and a successful field goal to lead 10-0 at the end of the opening quarter.

A McKenzie 25-yard TD pass to WR Nedrick Bolden Jr. put the Eagles on the board early in the second quarter. MacCormack added a touchdown on a 7-yard run to put BC ahead 12-10. Both PAT attempts had failed.

Georgia Tech added a 20-yard field goal as the first half ended to go ahead 13-12. 

Halftime adjustments by the Eagles seemed to have an effect on the team’s performance. BC scored two touchdowns in the 3rd quarter (with another PAT missed) and blanked the Yellow Jackets to enter the final period ahead 25-13.

The final period could have been a typical score for previous entire BC games this year as the Eagles nearly doubled their score total with 24 additional points and held Georgia Tech to 14. After an early Lombardo field goal, McKenzie scored on a 15-yard TD run, Comella returned an interception 47 yards for a TD, and MacCormack closed out the scoring with a 19-yard TD run.

Comella’s interception and return was particularly exciting as he paused to allow his defensive teammates to form a blocking team and weaved through the Yellow Jackets to lunge into the endzone. His score made it 42-20 with 8:10 left. The teams traded touchdowns in the remaining time to make the final 49-27.

At left, Charlie Comella intercepts a GaTech pass and, at right, lunges into the endzone. (TV screen captures)

Both McKenzie and MacCormack ended the game with more yards gained rushing than the entire Georgia Tech team. McKenzie ran for 170 yards on 16 carries (10.6 yards average) and MacCormack ran for 155 yards on 20 carries. The Yellow Jackets had 101 yards rushing.

McKenzie was 9-for-17 passing for 101 yards, 1 touchdown, and 0 interceptions. BC’s combined offense was 500 yards, while GaTech gained 360 yards total. The Eagles were 6-for-7 in Red Zone chances, scoring 5 touchdowns and a field goal.

Highlights (11:40)

The Eagles moved to a winning 4-3 record, 2-2 in the ACC. They’re tied for 4th in the conference. 

Next opponent is Duke, at Durham, N.C. Gametime is 9 am PT. Duke is 5-2, with losses to North Carolina and Georgia Tech.

“Ramblin’ wreck” is the Georgia Tech fight song and the name of its mechanical mascot, a 1930 Ford Model A Sport Coupe. The opening line of the song is “I’m a ramblin’ wreck from Georgia Tech and a helluva engineer.”