QB Thomas Castellanos scores a two-yard TD against Northern Illinois.

According to ESPN Radio College GameDay, BC paid Northern Illinois University $1.1 million to come to Chestnut Hill to open the 2023 football season yesterday. As one of the show’s commentators said about NIU’s 27-24 win in overtime, “They left with the money and they left with the win.”

BC fans left deflated. This was the second successive disappointing opening game loss against an underdog opponent. Last year, BC led Rutgers 21-15 in the fourth quarter, but allowed the Scarlet Knights a 12-play 96-yard drive to close out the game, 22-21. It was the first act in a 3-9 season. NIU’s win yesterday was its first in four games with BC.

The tone of the game was set early, as the Eagles had the ball for only three minutes in the first quarter, less than half of the time NIU had possession. Of the four quarters in the game, the Huskies possessed the ball more than twice as long as BC in three of them and for three minutes more in the remaining quarter. Overall, NIU had possession for 36 minutes, 53 seconds, BC for 20 minutes, 47 seconds. The Eagles ran only 66 plays in the game, compared to 78 for NIU.

Neither team scored in the first half until the Huskies passed seven yards for a touchdown with 2:44 remaining and took a 7-0 lead into halftime. Receiving the kickoff to start the second half, NIU went on an extended, methodical drive, often aided by untimely penalties by BC, to take a 14-0 lead. In the game overall, BC had 10 penalties for 93 yards.

The Eagles’ fortune and performance changed when BC recovered a NIU fumble on their 25 yard line with 6:53 left in the third quarter. BC quarterback Thomas Castellanos finished a five-play drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Lewis Bond to cut the deficit in half, 14-7.

Castellanos was a surprise participant in this game. He alternated with last year’s starter, Emmett Morehead, in the first half, but played nearly all of the second half. He is a transfer from University of Central Florida. He’s 5-10 sophomore, from Waycross, Ga. The TD pass in the third quarter was the first of his collegiate career.

NIU pushed its lead to 21-7 with 9:24 to play in the game. And then, for BC fans, it got interesting and then exciting. Near midfield on the ensuring BC drive, Castellanos faced fourth-and-five. Retreating from the pressure, Castellanos kept going back and back, swerving, faking, and then running forward to complete a long pass for a 10-yard gain and first down. He had a much shorter run on a two-yard run for a touchdown to make the score 21-14 with 5:59 left.

The Huskies got two first downs, but punted back to BC on its 17 with 3:23 minutes left in the game. It took Castellanos less than two minutes to get the tying touchdown. He had runs for 16 and 10 yards and threw a 22-yard pass to Ryan O’Keefe to get BC to the NIU 30. A 30-yard pass to Jaden Williams sealed the deal. Tied 21-21.

On offense first in overtime, Eagles gained only four yards in three plays and Liam Connor kicked a 39-yard field goal. NIU scored a touchdown for the win in four plays.

With BC rejuvenated in the second half, the teams were close in total offense, 338 yards for NIU and 314 for the Eagles. Castellanos finished 13 of 28 passing for 138 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. He also rushed for 67 yards, leading the team, and a touchdown. Running back Patrick Garwo added 44 yards on 10 carries.

The Eagles play ancient foe Holy Cross Saturday, September 9, at 9 am PT.

“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.

On to women’s lacrosse!