BC fans hold up cellphones as candles last night to honor the memory of Welles Crowther ’99, who died saving others during the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. It was the annual “Red Bandana” game.
College football fans — supporters of Clemson and BC as well as just overall fans — must have been surprised to see that the Eagles and #5 Tigers were tied 3-3 deep into the first half of their game yesterday.
With Clemson’s first touchdown coming with only 45 seconds remaining in the half, their 10-3 lead at halftime was far below the pre-game spread of 20.5 points.
The folks who establish pre-game odds, however, know their job well. And Clemson knew it was important to re-establish their top-five status in the national rankings.
In the second half, the Tigers held the Eagles to fewer than 100 yards total offense and zero points while gaining 233 yards and scoring three touchdowns to finish a workmanlike 31-3 victory.
BC quarterback Phil Jurkovec was a mediocre 19 of 40 passing for 188 yards. He completed no touchdown passes, but also had no interceptions. Jurkovec was sacked three times and pressured often. Wide receiver Zay Flowers was again the best of the receiving corps, catching eight passes for 75 yards.
The Eagles rushing attack was negligible, with their two running backs — Patrick Garwo and Xavier Coleman — running 22 times for 52 yards. Jurkovec, backup quarterback Emmett Morehead, and Flowers netted a negative 18 yards.
The Eagles were missing five significant contributors for yesterday’s game due to injury. BC’s next game is not until October 22, at Wake Forest and at a time to be announced.
BC fell to 2-4 overall, 1-3 in conference play. Season is half over!
Facing double coverage, Zay Flowers collects a pass from Phil Jurkovec inside the 10 for a 57-yard touchdown against Louisville yesterday. Photo by Erin Clark, Boston Globe.
Thirteen penalties. Three turnovers. Eighteen fewer offensive plays than the opponent. An inexplicable backwards heave by the quarterback recovered by the opposition. Not a typical recipe for victory.
But . . . QB Phil Jurkovec’s overall best performance of the year, featuring touchdown passes of 57, 69, and 1 yards; wide receiver Zay Flowers receiving those two long touchdown passes and five passes overall for 151 yards; and a breakout game by freshman running back Alex Broome added up to an exciting, if uneven, 34-33 BC victory over Louisville yesterday at Alumni Stadium.
The Cardinals started the game looking like the two-touchdown favorite they were. Getting the initial kickoff on their 30-yard line because of a BC penalty, Louisville took six minutes off the clock with a methodical 12-play drive for the opening touchdown.
The Eagles’ initial drive of the game also looked as if their fans would continue to be frustrated. Following a 50-yard pass to WR Jaelen Gill, Jurkovec’s next pass bounced off the intended receiver’s hands and was intercepted by Louisville.
Late in the first quarter, however, a one-yard pass from Jurkovec to freshman WR Joe Griffin tied the score at 7-7.
Within the first three minutes of the second quarter, Louisville took the lead with a field goal and the Eagles answered back with a 57-yard touchdown pass to Flowers (picture at top of post). Be sure to check it out in the video highlights below.
In the middle of the second quarter, there was a play that seemed unfathomable. After a 20-yard run by Pat Garwo to the BC 46 and a two-yard pass to Flowers, Jurkovec went back to pass on second down. He was about to be sacked. Instead, he heaved the ball backward, perhaps seeking to connect with Garwo (#24). The ball, however, came nowhere close and it constituted a fumble by Jurkovec recovered by Louisville on the BC 17-yard line. Below is a screen capture of the attempt. Something else to check out on the highlights video.
Louisville scored in two plays to take the lead 16-14. Then, the point-after attempt was blocked by defensive tackle Chibueze Onwuka, the effect of which was immense later in the game.
Getting the ball back, Jurkovec connected with Jaelin Gill for 17 and 18 yards. Two plays later, freshman running back Alex Broome ran 40 yards for a touchdown and a 21-16 BC lead. The Cardinals answered right back with a nine-play, 78-yard drive to take a 23-21 halftime lead.
In the first hall, the Cardinals had run 42 plays for 176 yards. The Eagles had run 14 fewer plays, but for a total of 95 more yards.
Louisville dominated the third quarter in terms of time of possession (10:32 to 4:28) and number of offensive plays (20 to 8), but BC gained 96 yards, compared to 127 for the Cardinals, and the score was 33-28 in favor of Louisville. Biggest play of the quarter was a 69-yard touchdown pass, Jurkovec to a wide-open Flowers.
The Cardinals did not score again. The Eagles added a 37-yard field goal by sophomore Connor Lytton with 7:24 remaining in the game after a 12-play 60-yard drive. BC got the ball again with 4:46 left and, on the first play of what would be the game-winning drive and score, Jurkovec scrambled for 33 yards to the Louisville 28. Lytton kicked the game-winning 26-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining.
The Eagles had flipped the script in the final quarter, possessing the ball for 10 minutes 34 seconds, two seconds longer than Louisville had possessed it in the third quarter. BC ran 21 plays for 81 yards in the final quarter, compared to 13 plays for 49 yards by the Cardinals.
In total, the Eagles ran 57 plays for 448 yards, while Louisville ran 75 plays for 352 yards. Jurkovec completed 18 of 21 passes for 304 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Flowers caught five passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Gill had four catches for 97 yards.
Broome had nine carries for 83 yards, while Garwo added 66 yards on 12 carries.
Here are video highlights.
This was BC’s first ACC win of the season, improving its overall record to 2-3 (1-2).
Next opponent is #5 Clemson, at 4:30 pm PT Saturday, October 8.
