Category Archives: Football

Whipping Wolfpack

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David Bailey

North Carolina State entered yesterday’s football game against BC leading the ACC and ranked fifth in the nation in defense against the run. They left the game shredded by the Eagles’ rushing attack that set team and national marks for yardage and led BC to a 45-24 win.

Running backs AJ Dillon and David Bailey each ran for 180+ yards, the first time that’s ever happened for the Eagles and the first time in national college football in 20 years. Dillon rushed 34 times for 223 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Bailey ran for 182 yards, scoring 2 touchdowns (54- and 48-yard runs), on 16 attempts.

As a team, BC ran for 429 yards, more than N.C. State had allowed in its first 6 games combined. The Eagles also passed for 103 yards for a total offense of 532 yards, the third straight game BC has exceeded 500 yards in offense.

The Eagles actually scored first on a defensive play, an 8-yard pick 6 by Jason Maitre. The BC defense, which had been so porous in other games, held N.C. State to 56 yards rushing (4 yards in the 1st half), and 366 yards total offense for the game.

Enjoy some video highlights.

This Saturday, the opponent is top 5 Clemson in late afternoon.

 

Cardinals carry on . . . and on . . .

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Redshirt sophomore Dennis Grosel possible BC quarterback for remainder of season.

What an offense! BC gained a season-high 563 yards yesterday at Louisville, and in a balanced way — 304 yards through the air and 259 on the ground. The Eagles had gained 354 total yards at halftime!

What a defense? BC gave up a school record 664 yards to the Cardinals. Louisville was less balanced. Like it mattered. The Cardinals threw for 428 yards and gained 236 yards rushing.

After taking back the lead in the fourth quarter, 39-38, with 3:57 remaining, BC put its defense back on the field to protect the slim lead. This was the defense that in the game gave up six drives of at least 50 yards, 16 big-yardage plays, and eight third-down conversions. Louisville then covered 52 yards in eight plays and two-and-a-half minutes. The Cardinals kicked the 41-yard game-winning field goal, 41-39.

In the Boston Globe today, BC coach Steve Addazio was quoted as saying: “Two teams really battle back and forth with each other. It came down to who had the ball last.”

As the Globe said: “But it actually didn’t.”

With 1:02 remaining, BC returned the kickoff to its 24. After completing a pass for nine yards and an illegal substitution penalty on Louisville, resulting in a first down, the Eagles threw two incomplete passes, ran for eight yards, and finished with another incomplete pass to lose possession on downs with two seconds left.

Louisville snapped a nine-game losing streak against ACC opponents. BC has lost five of its last six games against ACC teams.

BC starting quarterback Anthony Brown started off very strong, completing six of seven passes for 193 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown pass to tight end Hunter Long. Brown, however, injured his knee making a cut early in the second quarter and spent the second half on the sideline using crutches. Replacement Dennis Grosel was only 9-of-24 for 111 yards and an interception, but passed for three touchdowns.

Running back AJ Dillon had his fourth-straight game of over 100 yards rushing, running for 118 yards on 22 carries.

Video highlights

The Eagles evened their record at 3-3, but are 1-2 in conference play. They have a bye this weekend before facing N.C. State, Clemson, Florida State, and Syracuse — all teams they lost to last season — as well as Notre Dame and Pitt.

Demons rule

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Photo by John Quackenbos

For the first time under coach Steve Addazio, the Eagles gained more than 500 yards in total offense in a game . . . and lost. The Eagles fell short, 27-24, against Wake Forest yesterday.

Tied at 17 at halftime, the two teams had each run 38 plays in the first half, with BC outgaining the Demon Deacons by 50 yards, 260 to 210. As has been characteristic of this season, the Eagles were outdone in the second half.

Wake Forest ran 49 plays in the second half, 10 more than BC, and possessed the ball for nearly 8 1/2 minutes longer than the Eagles. While BC outgained Wake in the half, 273-230, the Deacons scored a touchdown and field goal to go up 27-17 early in the fourth quarter. The Eagles responded with a 10-play, 65-yard drive for a touchdown, to come within three with 6:39 remaining.

Wake then took 12 plays to gain only 35 yards, but consume six minutes, 11 seconds, of game time. Their punt put BC back on its own five-yard line, with only 28 seconds left and no time-outs. The game ended when BC fumbled after a series of laterals.

At the start of the fourth quarter, with Wake ahead 20-17, BC had moved from its 18-yard line to the Wake Forest 26. On fourth-and-three, Aaron Boumerhi kicked a 44-yard field goal to tie the game. Flag. Delay-of-game penalty against BC. On the subsequent play, backup QB Dennis Grosel’s pass attempt was incomplete and Wake Forest took possession.

Addazio said in the Boston Globe that he had decided not to call a time-out to avoid the penalty. “I made the call to not call the timeout at that time. That was my call. At that point I still thought we would get it off. I knew it was close, but I did not want to burn that timeout and I thought we would get the ball off.”

Once again, BC running back AJ Dillon turned in a an excellent performance, rushing for more than 150 yards for the third time this season. Dillon ran 23 times for 159 yards, a 6.9 yard per carry average. QB Anthony Brown was 21-of-29 for 265 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions.

Here are video highlights.

BC falls to 3-2 for the season, 1-1 in the ACC. Besides Notre Dame, only pure ACC teams remain on the schedule. Next up is Louisville.