Lots of Eagles

In the fourth quarter of yesterday’s game against Florida State, BC led by 5, 21-16, and twice had the ball in Seminole territory. With the potential at least to add to the lead or take more time off the clock, the Eagles coaching staff decided instead to punt. First time, that decision didn’t hurt. Second time, it gave Florida State the ball with 2:45 to go and the opportunity to launch a 74-yard touchdown pass to beat BC 22-21.

Earlier, with 9:38 remaining, 4th down and 5 on the Florida State 38, the Eagles had punted to the 12. BC then got the ball back with 6:17 remaining and drove to the Florida State 40. Fourth down and 1, 2:52 remaining. BC took its last timeout and then attempted, unsuccessfully, to draw the Seminoles offside. After a 5-yard penalty for delay of game, the Eagles punted 32 yards to the FSU 13.

Winning Seminole touchdown followed three plays later.

BC’s Michael Walker took the ensuring kickoff out to the Eagles 39, but, with no timeouts remaining, BC quarterback Anthony Brown was forced to throw to the sidelines, which he did three times unsuccessfully. On BC’s last play, 4th and 10, Brown was tackled after gaining 2 yards.

About the decision to punt on a 4th-and-1 on the opponent’s 40 with less than 3 minutes to play and leading by 5, BC coach Steve Addazio told the Boston Globe: “I know that’s the right thing to do. It did not have the right outcome.”

BC, #20 in the College Football Playoff rankings, was favored by only 1.5 points coming into the game against a 4-6 Florida State team that had won 2 ACC games, so the game was projected to be close. It was, pretty much, both in score and statistics. Eagles ran 87 plays to FSU’s 75, but the Seminoles gained 478 yards to the Eagles’ 422.

Running back AJ Dillon, though seemingly hobbled with an ankle injury, carried the ball 37 times, gaining 137 yards, for a 3.1 average. His long rush was 16 yards and he scored 2 touchdowns. Brown was 18 of 36 passing for 297 yards, an interception and touchdown.

BC cornerback Hamp Cheevers intercepted a pass, his 7th of the season, leading the nation.

Video highlights

BC (7-4) finishes the regular season Saturday against Syracuse. Back to breakfast time!

Clemson’s Christian Wilkins pancakes BC QB Anthony Brown, sending him out of the game.

Clemson, ranked #2 in the country all season, had outscored its opponents 163-20 in the three games previous to last night’s game against the Eagles at Alumni Stadium. Obviously, that offense was what BC had to worry about.

Think again. It was Clemson’s defense that shut BC down and led to its 27-7 win over the Eagles. The Tigers were no slouch, mind you, when they had the ball. They gained 424 yards in offense. On defense, Clemson almost didn’t let BC play.

The picture above shows Clemson defensive tackle Christian Wilkins — 6-4, 315 — compressing BC QB Anthony Brown on the field at Alumni Stadium. It was BC’s sixth play, a little bit more than five minutes into the game. BC had gained 14 yards at that point. In the rest of the first half, BC ran 17 plays and gained 9 yards. At halftime, BC had fewer yards total offense (23) than number of plays (24). Clemson had gained 260 yards on 42 plays in the first half.

But the halftime score was only Clemson 13, BC 7.

When Clemson had punted to end the possession following Brown’s injury, BC’s Michael Walker fielded a ball, in a crowd of Tigers, that had bounced off a Clemson player. Walker made a career move and scored his first-ever touchdown on a punt return, bringing it to the end zone in a scintillating 74-yard run.

Clemson had opened the game with only a field goal on its opening drive, a boost to Eagles morale. Walker’s punt return had put the Eagles ahead. On Clemson’s next possession, freshman QB Trevor Lawrence was 7-7 passing in a 9-play drive for 70 yards and a touchdown. The Tigers added a second-quarter field goal.

In one series late in the second quarter, with BC backup QB EJ Perry playing, the Eagles had gained rare consecutive first downs. On the next play, a high snap sent Perry back to retrieve the ball, for a loss of 32 yards. Perry was then sacked for another five yards and followed that up with a completion for a loss of two additional yards. BC then punted on 4th down and 49. That’s half the field.

Speaking of punting, BC’s redshirt sophomore Grant Carlson punted 12 times for 520 yards. An awesome statistic no team wants to see.

After a three-and-out by BC to open the second half, Clemson scored its second touchdown following a three-play, 64-yard drive, consisting of a 25-yard run, 33-yard pass reception, and a 6-yard run by Lawrence for his first rushing touchdown.

Clemson added a punt return for a touchdown to make the final score, 27-7. Removing the special teams touchdowns by each team, the score would be 20-0, which was exactly the betting line for the game.

The Eagles finished with 113 yards total offense. Running back EJ Dillon, whom everyone seemed to acknowledge was not fully recovered from previous injuries, carried the ball 16 times for 39 yards.

BC’s defense was substantially better than its offense. Clemson’s 424 yards total offense pulled their season’s average total offense down to 528 yards per game. The Eagles defense was also out on the field almost 11 minutes longer than the BC offense during the game.

Video highlights

Next up: Florida State, in Tallahassee