Defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku had five tackles and a sack against Virginia.

The intended effort, again, was to play fast from the beginning of the game. That’s been repeated throughout the season, but not yet achieved. In yesterday’s game against Virginia, BC continued the string, falling behind to the winless Cavaliers, 21-7, in the first half.

Halftime must have been refreshing for the Eagles. BC dominated the third quarter and then won its first ACC game of the season, edging Virginia, 27-24, with a 42-yard field goal by Liam Connor with just over two minutes left.

In certainly one of their best quarters this season, the Eagles ran 23 plays for 176 yards in the third quarter, possessing the ball for 10 minutes, 45 seconds. They limited the Cavaliers to eight plays, 12 yards, and zero points. More importantly, BC scored two touchdowns and a field goal to take the lead, 24-21. Quarterback Thomas Castellanos was three-of-five passing, for 40 yards and two touchdowns in the quarter. He also ran six times for 43 yards.

The Eagles rushed for 136 yards in the third quarter, just about two-thirds of their game total 203 yards rushing.

BC bettered the Cavaliers statistically again in the final quarter, though not as distinctively as in the third. After Virginia recovered a BC fumble on the BC39, they tied the score with a 44-yard field goal. On BC’s next possession, they went on an 11-play drive, using just under five minutes on the clock, and Connor hit another 42-yard field goal.

The Cavaliers got the ball back with 2:11 on the clock. BC held them on downs and ran out the clock for the win.

The stats for BC in the opening quarter were ghastly. The Eagles ran 13 plays for 33 yards offense. The second quarter was a little better, but BC allowed Virginia to gain 171 yards in that quarter. The insult came on the final play of the quarter, when Virginia connected on a 36-yard Hail Mary pass to the end zone to go up 21-7.

For the game, Castellanos was 16 of 26 for 183 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. For only the second time this season, he was not also BC’s leading rusher. RB Patrick Garwo III gained 87 net yards on 23 carries and scored a touchdown. Castellanos ran for 78 yards on 16 carries. WR Lewis Bond was BC’s leading receiver with seven catches for 104 yards and a touchdown.

The Eagles committed only five penalties yesterday, but had four turnovers: two passes intercepted and two fumbles lost. BC sacked the Virginia quarterback five times.

WR Ryan O’Keefe was injured colliding with a Virginia player early in the fourth quarter. He remained laying on the field for about 10 minutes being treated by medical personnel before being removed on a stretcher. BC reported he had been taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for tests on a neck injury and observation. It noted midday Sunday that he had been discharged and had returned to the BC campus.

Highlights (11:52)

The Eagles’ record improved to 2-3 overall, 1-2 in the ACC. They remain tied with Clemson in the ACC standings. :) BC’s other win this year was over Holy Cross, which lost to Harvard Saturday.

The Eagles play Army next Saturday at West Point. Game time is 9 am PT.

QB Thomas Castellanos runs 39 yards for a touchdown against Louisville.

It’s somewhat difficult to refer to the BC unit that played against Louisville’s offense yesterday as a “defense.” The Cardinals had the ball six times in the first half. They scored six touchdowns.

Louisville also continued a BC 2023 football season tradition by becoming the fourth opponent in succession to score after receiving the second half kickoff. They didn’t waste any time, either. On the first play after a fair catch put the ball on the 25, running back Jawhar Jordon took a short pass from QB Jack Plummer and ran 75 yards for the Birds’ seventh touchdown in seven possessions.

The Eagles showed signs of offense occasionally. With less than six minutes left in the second quarter, Louisville held a 28-0 lead. BC then scored on a 39-yard run by QB Thomas Castellanos and on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Castellanos to Ryan O’Keefe. After each touchdown, however, the Eagles had to give the ball back to the Cardinals, who also scored two touchdowns. No closing of the scoring gap.

Each team scored two touchdowns and two PATs — 28 points in total — in the last 5:47 of the first half. The last, by Louisville, was especially embarrassing for the Eagles. With the ball on the 25 because of a touchback and only 32 seconds on the clock, Louisville lined up in a formation that implied they would run out the clock with a kneel-down.

They didn’t kneel down. Jordan ran for 42 yards to the BC 33. After a one-yard run, Cardinal QB Plummer threw a 42-yard touchdown pass. BC got the ball back at their 37 on the kickoff with two seconds left. They did the kneel-down.

Louisville led 42-14. The Cardinals gained 371 yards in the half, compared to 199 yards for BC.

As noted, the Cardinals jumped out to a 49-14 lead on their first play of the third quarter. After that, BC won the quarter statistically. They had the ball for nine minutes, 13 seconds, and ran 25 plays compared to eight for Louisville. The Cardinals actually had to punt twice, with their first punt coming 4:58 into the second half.

Louisville, however, scored two touchdowns in the third quarter and BC scored one, on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Castellanos to Lewis Bond. The Cardinals extended their lead to 56-21.

The Eagles opened the final quarter with a touchdown in the first minute, with Castellano passing 11 yards to Bond in the endzone. BC had the ball for only two minutes, 32 seconds, in the quarter and the game ended with a 56-28 Louisville win.

The Cardinals gained 582 yards total offense, 388 yards through the air. They averaged 9.4 yards per play. BC gained 427 yards total, 295 passing. For the first time this year, the Eagles’s penalties were in the single-digit category, but they still committed seven, three more than Louisville.

Louisville quarterback Plummer had a good game. He was 18 of 21 passing for 388 yards and five touchdowns, no interceptions. BC’s Castellanos again led the team in rushing as well as passing, running 10 times for a net 49 yards and going 17 of 33 for 265 yards and three touchdowns.

The Cardinals advanced to 4-0 for the season, 2-0 in conference play. BC fell to 1-3, 0-2 in the ACC. The Eagles have the same conference record as Clemson. :)

The headline in The Boston Globe was “Boston College takes big step backward with embarrassing blowout loss to Louisville.” In the article, beleaguered BC coach Jeff Hafley said, “I haven’t seen us play like that since we’ve been here. I wish I had an answer. Clearly, I’ve got to find one, but I do not have a great one right now.”

Highlights (7:13)

BC plays Virginia next Saturday. Kickoff at 11 am PT.

BC quarterback Thomas Castellanos

It was disappointing, and yet fitting, that the Eagles lost their chance to win the game against #3 Florida State yesterday because of a penalty. Down 31-29 with less than two minutes to go, BC appeared to stop the Seminoles short of a first down on third down, likely bringing about a change of possession.

Instead, BC was called for a facemask penalty, giving Florida State an automatic first down and the opportunity to run out the clock and secure the win.

After committing 10 penalties against Northern Illinois in the Eagles’ opening loss and 11 penalties in a close win over Holy Cross, BC head coach Jeff Hafley said those performances kept opponents in the game and “It’s not going to work like that.”

BC committed 11 penalties again yesterday, in the first half. The penalty that erased BC’s final chance was their 18th, a team record. They lost 131 yards because of penalties. In comparison, the Seminoles were called for five penalties and were moved back 45 yards.

Echoing his coach, BC quarterback Thomas Castellanos told the Boston Globe, “That’s something we have to clean up. If we don’t have those [penalties], I feel like we win this game.”

The Eagles began the game as three-touchdown-plus underdogs to the undefeated Seminoles. They also began the game with a strong first quarter, scoring first on a 75-yard drive ending with a 32-yard pass from Castellanos to Lewis Bond for a touchdown. Florida State responded with a field goal to make the first quarter score 7-3 BC.

During the quarter, the Eagles possessed the ball for just over 10 minutes, more than doubling FSU’s time of possession. BC’s offense gained 165 yards in the opening quarter, 103 yards more than the Seminoles.

BC ended the opening quarter on an 11-play drive that took them to the Florida State 6. Converting a fourth-down to the 4, the Eagles stalled on two incomplete passes and a one-yard run. Less than two minutes into the quarter, Liam Connor kicked a 21-yard field goal to put BC up 10-3.

Two long drives by the Seminoles for touchdowns bracketed an unsuccessful BC possession in the second quarter and the teams went into halftime with the Seminoles ahead 17-10.

Florida State’s comeback in the second quarter was aided by eight BC penalties extending Seminole drives and thwarting Eagle possessions. In the first half overall, the Eagles had five false starts, two delay of games, two holding calls, one personal foul, and one pass interference. While BC gained 245 yards in the half, compared to 161 for Florida State, the Eagles trailed by a touchdown.

For the third consecutive game, BC’s opponent opened the second half with an efficient drive for a touchdown. This time, the Seminoles took only six plays to score, highlighted by a 44-yard pass from Jordan Travis to Johnny Wilson to the BC 29. Florida State never faced third down on the drive.

On BC’s next possession, Castellanos’s pass was intercepted at the BC 40. Next play, 39-yard pass from Travis to the 1, then a touchdown run to extend the FSU lead to 31-10. The TV commentator said the game had become “a rout.” There was little reason to argue. Those points, however, were the last ones scored by the Seminoles in the game.

After the teams exchanged punts following short possessions, that mystical thing called “momentum” wafted from the Seminoles and was cheerfully grabbed by the Eagles. Starting on their 20, BC faced a fourth-and-one on their 29. Two-yard run for a first down. Eight plays later, including a 52-yard pass to Dino Tomlin, Eagles scored on a one-yard run by Kye Robichaux to cut the score to 31-16. Connor missed the point-after.

Florida State fumbled the kickoff, recovered by BC on the Seminoles’s 26. The Eagles made it to the 5 before Robichaux was stuffed on a fourth-down run attempt. Florida State moved to their 18, where they fumbled back toward their goal line. BC’s Khari Johnson scooped up the ball and scored. Point after was good and the score was 31-22.

After five plays, the Seminoles punted from the BC 44, putting the ball out of bounds on the BC 5. The Eagles then went on an impressive 95-yard drive that took only two minutes, 11 seconds. Castellanos passed for 42 yards to Bond and 25 yards to Ryan O’Keefe, then finished the drive with a seven-yard run to the end zone. Score 31-29.

Both teams punted after short possessions and Florida State ran out the clock as described at the beginning of this post.

BC had scored 13 points and held the Seminoles scoreless in the final quarter. Overall, the Eagles gained 457 yards on 75 plays, the most this season, compared to 340 yards on 58 plays by Florida State. Castellanos was 20 of 33 passing for 305 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He also rushed for 95 yards net on 16 carries, leading the team. O’Keefe had six receptions for 64 yards, while Bond had three receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown.

Here are highlights (11:59).

 It looked like “Family Day” at yesterday’s gamewatch. Kids galore.

The Eagles play at Louisville next Saturday, kickoff at 12:30 pm PT, first midday game of the year our time.