Monthly Archives: November 2017

Dillon leads rout

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It usually took this many Syracuse players to stop BC freshman A. J. Dillon. Photo by Charles Wainwright.

The Eagles ended their regular season with a 42-14 rout of Syracuse yesterday in the Carrier Dome. BC’s point total was its highest ever against the Orangemen, and the Eagles gained 581 yards in offense. Freshmen running back A. J. Dillon continued to shine, rushing for 193 yards on 23 carries and scoring 3 touchdowns, including a 22-yard score on his first carry.

It was about as easy a game as BC has had in a long time. While Syracuse gained more than 400 yards in the game, the Eagles limited the Orangemen to 2 touchdowns, both in the first half. BC scored twice in each of the first 2 quarters to lead 28-14 at the half, and then added a touchdown in each of the final 2 quarters.

Also scoring for the Eagles were Jeff Smith on a 64-yard run, Will Harris on a 30-yard run following a fumble recovery, and Travis Levy on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Darius Wade.

BC finishes the regular season with a 7-5 record, 4-4 in the ACC. The Eagles won 5 of their last 6 games. The 4 conference wins this season ties for the most in a season under coach Steve Addazio. The Eagles also won 4 in 2013 and 2014.

Dillon finished his regular season with a total of 1,432 yards, averaging 5.3 yards a carry. He’s the first freshman at BC to rush for more than 1,000 yards.

With 6+ wins, the Eagles qualify for a bowl game for the 4th time in 5 seasons. We will learn which bowl next Sunday, following the conference championship games. Clemson and Miami play for the ACC championship Saturday.

Highlights

Bowling

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The University of Connecticut had never beaten Boston College in football. That status continues (BC is 12-0-2). Yesterday, hosting BC at Fenway Park, in front of 20,000 cold and wet fans, the Huskies gained more yards than the Eagles, possessed the ball longer, passed for 2 touchdowns of more than 40 yards, and still lost by 23 points, 39-16. Indeed, the Huskies’ 2 long touchdowns came in the last 6:31 of the game, after they had trailed 39-3.

BC’s win brings its season total to 6, which makes the Eagles bowl-eligible for the 4th time in coach Steve Addazio’s 5 seasons. BC is 6-5, 3-4 in ACC play, with one conference game to go. UConn fell to 3-8.

A.J. Dillon

After the 1st quarter, during which UConn went up and down the field for more than 10 minutes, gaining 172 yards, the Huskies had only 3 points on a field goal. BC exploded for 33 points in the second and third quarters, mostly on the running of “the beast,” true freshman A.J. Dillon, who had a “monster” game. (Get the theme?)

Dillon added to his BC freshman rushing record, gaining 200 yards on 24 carries. His highlight was a 53-yard run for a touchdown in the second quarter, when he dragged 4 UConn defenders into the endzone. He scored again on a 20-yard run in the third quarter. Junior Jon Hilliman gave Dillon, but certainly not the Huskies defense, a breather in the fourth quarter, gaining 107 yards on 10 carries and scoring once.

BC had only 64 offensive plays for the game for 385 yards. UConn gained 412 yards on 74 plays. The Eagles ran on 49 of their 64 plays, and on 22 of their 26 plays on first down. Passing, QB Darius Wade was 7 of 15 for 55 yards and a touchdown.

It was not a good day for BC’s erratic kicker, Colton Lichtenberg. The natural grass field, wet and windy conditions, and bad holds may have been factors, as Lichtenberg missed his one field goal attempt badly and also missed his last 3 point-after attempts.

Highlights

San Diego Eagles at the UConn gamewatch.

BC finishes the regular season next Saturday at Syracuse. Game time 9:20 am PT.

Win streak ends

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Running onto the field on Senior Day. Photo by John Quackenbos.

Tied 7-7 with #23 North Carolina State yesterday, BC had the ball on its 23-yard line with 1:01 left in the first half. Three straight rushes by running back A.J. Dillon gained a net 1 yard and consecutive timeouts called by NC State resulted in a punt attempt by the Eagles with 15 seconds on the clock. The Wolfpack blocked the punt and recovered the ball with 8 seconds remaining in the half.

BC coach Steve Addazio called 3 consecutive timeouts to “ice” the N.C. State kicker, who, at the same time, was able to have 3 practice tries. With BC timeouts exhausted, N.C. State was successful with the field goal attempt and went into the half up by 3 points, 10-7.

Three points was also the final differential in the game score, as both teams scored touchdowns in the second half and the Wolfpack won, 17-14. The loss ended BC’s string of 3 consecutive wins, all over ACC opponents. The win by N.C. State also ended its own 2-game losing streak.

The statistics reflected the closeness of the score, with errors by both teams contributing as well. BC had 20 first downs to 17 for N.C. State, while the Wolfpack gained 20 yards more in total offense, 367 to 347. Possession time was within a minute of each other. Each team had an interception and BC recovered an N.C. State fumble. N.C. State quarterback Ryan Finley led the ACC in passing percentage coming into the game, but was only 13 of 32 for 146 yards on Saturday.

BC quarterback Anthony Brown suffered a leg injury early in the second quarter and did not return to the game, appearing on the sidelines on crutches. Brown had been 2 of 5 passing for 26 yards, with an interception. Backup Darius Wade was 8 of 15 for 82 yards.

Freshman running back A. J. Dillon rushed for 196 yards on 36 carries, including a 66-yard run for a touchdown, to become the first BC freshman to gain over 1,000 yards on the ground in a season. His total this season is 1,036, eclipsing the previous freshman record of 920 yards in a season by Montel Harris in 2008. He has at least 2 games remaining this year.

Highlights

Next game Saturday at 4 pm — UConn Huskies at Fenway Park. A victory would make BC bowl-eligible.