Monthly Archives: September 2019

Demons rule

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Photo by John Quackenbos

For the first time under coach Steve Addazio, the Eagles gained more than 500 yards in total offense in a game . . . and lost. The Eagles fell short, 27-24, against Wake Forest yesterday.

Tied at 17 at halftime, the two teams had each run 38 plays in the first half, with BC outgaining the Demon Deacons by 50 yards, 260 to 210. As has been characteristic of this season, the Eagles were outdone in the second half.

Wake Forest ran 49 plays in the second half, 10 more than BC, and possessed the ball for nearly 8 1/2 minutes longer than the Eagles. While BC outgained Wake in the half, 273-230, the Deacons scored a touchdown and field goal to go up 27-17 early in the fourth quarter. The Eagles responded with a 10-play, 65-yard drive for a touchdown, to come within three with 6:39 remaining.

Wake then took 12 plays to gain only 35 yards, but consume six minutes, 11 seconds, of game time. Their punt put BC back on its own five-yard line, with only 28 seconds left and no time-outs. The game ended when BC fumbled after a series of laterals.

At the start of the fourth quarter, with Wake ahead 20-17, BC had moved from its 18-yard line to the Wake Forest 26. On fourth-and-three, Aaron Boumerhi kicked a 44-yard field goal to tie the game. Flag. Delay-of-game penalty against BC. On the subsequent play, backup QB Dennis Grosel’s pass attempt was incomplete and Wake Forest took possession.

Addazio said in the Boston Globe that he had decided not to call a time-out to avoid the penalty. “I made the call to not call the timeout at that time. That was my call. At that point I still thought we would get it off. I knew it was close, but I did not want to burn that timeout and I thought we would get the ball off.”

Once again, BC running back AJ Dillon turned in a an excellent performance, rushing for more than 150 yards for the third time this season. Dillon ran 23 times for 159 yards, a 6.9 yard per carry average. QB Anthony Brown was 21-of-29 for 265 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions.

Here are video highlights.

BC falls to 3-2 for the season, 1-1 in the ACC. Besides Notre Dame, only pure ACC teams remain on the schedule. Next up is Louisville.

 

Roughing up Rutgers

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AJ Dillon against Rutgers

After failing as a 20-point favorite last week in their 48-24 loss to Kansas, the Eagles took care of business yesterday as eight-point favorites against Rutgers. BC scored in each quarter and stifled the Scarlet Knights in the second half to take a 30-16 win.

Not saying it was a thing of beauty. Rutgers, like Kansas, has seen rough times. The loss yesterday put them at 1-16 in their last 17 meetings with FBS teams and the one win was this season’s opener against UMass. In the first half, however, the Eagles allowed Rutgers quarterback Artur Sitkowski to flourish, going 14-of-17 for 206 yards and a 74-yard touchdown pass. BC held a 17-13 lead at halftime.

Unlike previous games, e.g., Kansas, the Eagles won the second half of this game. BC ran 46 plays in the second half for 222 yards, scoring two touchdowns, while holding the Scarlet Knights to 24 plays, 144 yards, and a field goal.

For the game, the Eagles ran the ball on 61 plays for 272 yards, with AJ Dillon gaining 150 yards on 32 carries. BC passed for 159 yards total, as QB Anthony Brown was a mediocre 13-of-25 in the air.

Here is a brief (1:33) video of the few highlights.

BC meets 4-0 Wake Forest Saturday. Back to lunchtime!

 

Rock chalked

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Credit to BC Interruption for the perfect picture to accompany their article about BC’s game Friday.

Friday the 13th. Full moon. Boston College football. A recipe for weirdness.

Favored by 21 points, the Eagles (2-0), for the second straight week, took less than three minutes to score a touchdown in their Friday night game against Kansas (1-1). By the end of the first quarter, BC led 17-7 and had gained 153 yards in offense. AJ Dillon had already gained 82 yards and scored a touchdown.

The first quarter was the only good quarter for the Eagles.

At halftime, BC had gained another 160 yards for a first-half total of 313 and Dillon was up to 128 yards rushing. Kansas, however, had exploded for 204 yards in the second quarter (310 yards total offense for the half), and 21 points to lead the Eagles at halftime, 28-24.

Halftime adjustments! Halftime adjustments? BC could not counter the trends set by Kansas in the second quarter. The Eagles did not score in the second half, but allowed Kansas another 257 yards offense and 20 points. Final score: Kansas 48, BC 24.

Against Coastal Carolina the previous week, Kansas had scored seven points against the Chanticleers and lost 12-7. The Jayhawks gained a total of 280 yards in that game. The win against BC was Kansas’ first on the road against a Power 5 conference team since 2008.

Dillon rushed for another 23 yards in the second half for a game total of 151 yards. Quarterback Anthony Brown threw for 195 yards and one touchdown, completing 18 of 36 passes. Brown also scored a touchdown on a pass reception.

Video “highlights”

Next week, back to BC game watch brunch.