The view from the Turf Club at BC’s Day at the Races.
A report from Zeynep Barakat ’99:
“On Saturday, a group of BC alumni and parents of BC students brought their Eagle spirit to the Bing Crosby Season at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.
L-R: Rodrigo Ramos P’26, Mary-Lou Kiley MSW’77, Zeynep Barakat ’99, Bryan Boulton, Jennifer Mustard ’07, Will Mustard, and Fred Hanover P’25.
Carla DiMare ’82 and Natalie Punt.
“The BC San Diego Alumni Chapter returned to the Turf Club at the racetrack to catch some of the racing action the beautiful horses and their jockeys had in store for us. Cheers for the winning horses and stories of days at our beloved alma mater marked the picture-perfect day at Del Mar.”
“I’m goin’ that way!” Zay Flowers, scoring BC’s first touchdown yesterday, is expected to declare for the NFL draft.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter in BC’s opening football game against Rutgers back on September 3, the Eagles led 21-15. Rutgers held BC to 24 yards in the final quarter, and closed out a 22-21 win with a 12-play, 96-yard drive.
Yesterday, the Eagles were ahead of Syracuse, 17-6, in the fourth quarter. With less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, BC allowed the Orange to score 26 straight points. A closing touchdown by BC made the final score 32-23. The Eagles ended their season 3-9, 2-6 in the ACC.
The late game collapse was a combination of ineffective offense and porous defense. During the Syracuse scoring binge, BC possessions ended with a punt, fumble, and turnover on downs. The Orange scored touchdowns after drives of 81, 73, 37, and 33 yards. It was almost as if having the lead was too much of a burden for the Eagles.
“It happened fast,” said coach Jeff Hafley in The Boston Globe.
As with several other games this season, yesterday was a tale of two halves. Within the first five minutes of the game, BC jumped out to a 10-0 lead, taking advantage of short fields created by a Syracuse fumble and blocked punt. At halftime, BC led 10-3, and the stats reflected more of an even game. Syracuse ran 35 plays for 142 yards in the opening half, while the Eagles had 30 plays for 133 yards.
The third quarter was quiet, with a Syracuse field goal accounting for the only points.
BC opened the final quarter with a nine-play, 78-yard drive ending with RB Patrick Garwo running five yards for the touchdown. Highlight of the drive was a 30-yard pass reception by WR Zay Flowers.
Then the Syracuse scoring binge began. When it ended, BC had the ball on their own 25 with 35 seconds remaining in the game. Somewhat remarkably, and likely influenced by Syracuse knowing they were ahead by two scores, the Eagles then drove 75 yards in 11 plays in 28 seconds. In the drive, QB Emmett Morehead started with an incomplete pass and then completed nine consecutive passes, finishing with a three-yard touchdown pass to Flowers for the final score.
It was another record-setting game for Flowers. His closing touchdown pass was the 29th of his career, exceeding by one the total by Kelvin Martin ’86 (a San Diego native). Flowers had eight catches yesterday for 110 yards. He finishes ahead of BC receivers in career receptions (200), career receiving yards (3,056), and career touchdown receptions (29). This year, Flowers had 78 receptions, tying the single-season record with Alex Amidon ’12. His 12 touchdown receptions for the year are a single-season record.
Overall, Syracuse gained 443 yards in offense, compared to 341 for BC. Morehead was 29 of 38 passing for 252 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. The Eagles sacked the Syracuse quarterback seven times.
Highlights
This is BC’s first nine-loss season since 2015. In the ACC, only Virginia and Virginia Tech, which each had 1-6 conference records, finished with a worse record (their final game, with each other, was canceled in honor of UVa’s slain football players). Virginia Tech’s sole win was against BC.
The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston announced its major award winners Monday with BC senior wide receiver Zay Flowers (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) named recipient of the 84th Bulger Lowe Award as the area’s best offensive player. BC graduate linebacker Vinny DePalma (Wayne, N.J.) was also announced as winner of the 78th Swede Nelson Award for sportsmanship, academics, and athletics achievement.
Flowers is the first recipient of the Bulger Lowe at BC since tight end Hunter Long in 2020. He leads the Eagles with 70 receptions, 967 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. He ranks first in the ACC and 12th in the NCAA in yards, second in the ACC and sixth in the NCAA in touchdowns, and second in the ACC and 15th in the NCAA in receptions.
Flowers’ 70 receptions are tied for the fourth most in a season at BC, while his 10 touchdowns are tied for first and 967 yards are fourth with one game remaining. In recent weeks, he has taken over the career receptions and career receiving yards records at BC.
A three-year letterwinner with the Eagles, DePalma, who redshirted his freshman season, returned from missing 2020 due to an Achilles injury to be a mainstay in the middle of the BC defense over the past two seasons. Through 11 games, he leads Boston College with 83 tackles, after making a career-high 12 last Saturday at Notre Dame. He has added six tackles for loss, one sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.
DePalma, who along with Flowers is a team captain of the 2022 Eagles, earned his degree in management and leadership and is now working on a Masters in Sport Administration. He holds an overall GPA of 3.761 and posted a 4.000 in spring 2022.
Flowers and DePalma are to receive their awards at the Gridiron Club’s college football awards night December 19.
