BC won its opening football game of the 2017 season — barely and butt-ugly.

Colton Lichtenberg was 3-for-3 in field goals.

Colton Lichtenberg’s third field goal of the game, with 2:13 remaining, put the Eagles ahead of Northern Illinois, 23-20. Only a botched field goal attempt by the Huskies at the close of the game kept it that way.

QB Anthony Brown

Redshirt freshman Anthony Brown played the entire game at quarterback for BC. His selection, after a reported competition for the spot with senior Darius Wade, was announced by Coach Steve Addazio immediately prior to the game. Brown was 26 of 42 for 191 yards passing, two touchdowns and one interception.

Overall, the Eagles gained 339 yards in 92 plays, for an average of 3.7 yards a play. Northern Illinois gained a total of 367 yards in 74 plays, gaining an average of 5 yards per play.

The winning 37-yard field goal came at the end of a 13-play, 48-yard drive in which the Eagles converted 2 4th-downs. Lichtenberg had kicked field goals of 42 and 35 yards in the 1st half. He did not miss a field goal.

Northern Illinois scored first to go up 3-0 in the middle of the 1st quarter. BC tied it with Lichtenberg’s first field goal, then fell behind 10-3 with NIU’s 15-yard touchdown pass. Lichtenberg added the second field goal to make it 10-6, but the Eagles took the lead, 13-10, into halftime with a 5-yard Brown pass to junior WR Mike Walker.

BC pushed the lead to 20-10 with a 4-yard TD pass to sophomore tight end Ray Marten in the middle of the 3rd period. NIU came back with a field goal and then touchdown to tie the game early in the final quarter.

Leading rusher for the Eagles was junior Jon Hilliman, who had 25 carries for 77 yards. Defensively, BC had no sacks and 2 tackles for loss. Pre-season all-America defensive end Harold Landry was held to 6 tackles, none for a loss.

New venue

Among the 30+ alumni at Striders last night. From left: Kevin Smosky ’00, Brian Tsu ’00, David Cubeta ’07, Christa Cubeta, Megan Ashley, and Justin Niles ’09.

Thirty-plus alumni and friends enjoyed the opener at a new venue for BC gamewatches — Striders, near the Gaslamp District. Very nice setup and nice attention to the BC group.

Josie Campese ’02, left, shows off the name of the new venue on her shirt. Center is Bill McDonald ’68 and to the right is Team Shepstone — Allison Kuder Shepstone ’06 and husband, Tim.

BC plays Wake Forest next Saturday in the home opener. Join us to check out Striders in the morning.