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.

QB Phil Jurkovec levitates against Florida State . . . briefly.

Was it game over last night when Florida State ran back the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown? Normally, no. Looking at it in retrospect, however, as the Seminoles added another touchdown less than two minutes later following the interception of a Phil Jurkovec pass, it was, indeed, game over.

Florida State bolted to a 21-0 first quarter lead, to 31-0 at halftime, and rested their starters in the second half, finishing off the Eagles 44-14. At 37-0 in the third quarter, BC scored its first touchdown, a five-yard pass from Jurkovec to freshman running back Alex Broome. The teams traded touchdowns in the final quarter, with redshirt freshman QB Emmett Morehead tossing a four-yard pass to freshman receiver Joseph Griffin.

In the second half, the Eagles scored 14 points and the Seminoles 13 points. Florida State also used 67 players in the game, with BC playing against third-stringers most of the half.

In the first half, the Seminoles gained 327 yards in total offense, compared to the Eagles’ 64 yards. For the game, BC gained 235 yards total offense and Florida State gained 530 yards.

Jurkovec was 15 of 23 passing for 105 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Morehead was 3 of 6 for 35 yards and one touchdown. Leading rusher for the Eagles was redshirt freshman running back Xavier Coleman, who ran 5 times for 44 yards.

Post-game comments from BC to The Boston Globe were consistent.

“Right now, we’re not good when we go down. I think it affects us, and we need to fix that,” said head coach Jeff Hafley.

“We’ve got to play better. We’ve got to execute better and tackle,” said linebacker Vinnie DePalma.

“We’re not playing great right now, so we’ve got to pick it up together and fight through for the next week,” said running back Pat Garwo.

Highlights

BC falls to 1-3, 0-2 in the ACC. They play Louisville Saturday in Alumni Stadium, with kickoff at 9 am PT.