Play BC’s first string for more than a quarter or two and they may put up career games, even against an accomplished ACC foe.

It’s not all Dillon on the ground. QB Anthony Brown threw for 304 yards and 5 touchdowns. BC photo

In the 41-34 victory over Wake Forest (2-1) yesterday, AJ Dillon continued to have great rushing stats, but it was quarterback Anthony Brown and wide receiver Jeff Smith who set personal career records. Dillon ran 33 times for 185 yards, including all 52 yards on 3 carries in the Eagles’ first series, ending in a 45-yard run for BC’s first touchdown. Brown became the first Eagle quarterback to throw for 5 touchdowns since Matt Ryan in 2007, also against Wake Forest. Smith caught 6 passes for 145 and 2 touchdowns, and also ran 3 times for 42 yards.

The game was played before 25,309 fans in the late afternoon, kickoff at 5:30 pm local time. The start of the game had been moved up 2 hours in recognition of the potential impact of Hurricane Florence, then making landfall on the North Carolina coast, about 200 miles away. The time change gave the Eagles a little leeway in being able to fly back to Boston that evening.

What I think are Wake ROTC students seem displeased at Ben Glines’s TD reception. BC photo

While the game was close on the scoreboard and most of the stat sheet, Wake Forest was pretty much gifted 2 touchdowns on special teams foulups. Late in the first quarter, Wake got the ball on BC’s 13 when Mike Walker fumbled a punt (his first fumble in 2 years). Three plays later, Wake scored the tying touchdown. Early in the second quarter, BC punter Grant Carlson mishandled the snap and his attempt to get off a kick was blocked. The ball bounced back into BC’s endzone, where it was recovered by Wake for a touchdown.

Overall, Wake Forest ran an incredible 105 plays to BC’s 69, making 27 first downs to BC’s 19, and was successful on 6 of 7 fourth-down conversions. Yardage was closer, as the Eagles gained 524 yards total offense and the Deacons gained 512 yards.

BC’s Brown threw for 304 yards, mostly on big plays. The Eagles never got into the red zone (inside the 20) in the game; they scored all their points on touchdowns and from outside the 20. The shortest touchdown play for BC was 27 yards.

Offensive players weren’t the only record-setters. Senior defensive end Wyatt Ray set a BC record with 4 sacks, and grad student linebacker Connor Strachan had a personal-best 13 tackles.

Here are video highlights.

The Eagles open the season 3-0, also for the first time since 2007. They get a bit of a break with this weekend off before heading out to Lafayette, Ind., to play Purdue of the Big 10. The Boilermakers are 0-2, having lost to Northwestern and Eastern Michigan. They play Missouri tomorrow.

Gamewatch is early. Striders serves breakfast, to much acclaim.

AJ Dillon runs with his first collegiate pass reception for BC’s first touchdown.

More than halfway through the first quarter, BC and UMass were tied 7-7 in the Eagles’ season opener at Alumni Stadium yesterday.

A little over 20 minutes later in gametime, the Eagles ran off the field at halftime leading 48-7. The game ended with BC on top 55-21.

The Eagles scored 34 points, gaining 267 yards, in the second quarter. At halftime, they had outgained UMass in total offense, 455 yards to 146 yards. The foot was lifted from the pedal in the second half, one might say, but BC finished with 622 yards total offense, nearly double the Minutemen’s 315 yards for the game.

Running back AJ Dillon played little more than the first half, gaining 98 yards on 20 carries. He also caught his first collegiate pass, for the Eagles’ first touchdown. Quarterback Anthony Brown, whose play was also limited, was 15 for 21 for 279 yards and four touchdowns, no interceptions, all in the first half. Both backup quarterbacks, EJ Perry (3-4-0) and Matt McDonald (2-2-0) played in the second half.

Here are video highlights.

BC played 66 members of the team during the game, essentially three entire squads on both offense and defense.

San Diego Eagles started the season off with good attendance at the gamewatch at Striders, San Diego.

Next up, after a long time, the Crusaders of College of the Holy Cross travel from Worcester to Chestnut Hill to play the Eagles this Saturday. It will be the 83rd game between the two, more than with any other team BC has played, but the first since 1986. For many years, the BC-HC game on Thanksgiving weekend was the finale to the season. BC leads the series 48-31-3. The teams will play again in 2020 in Alumni Stadium. Yesterday, Holy Cross, a member of the Patriot League and the FCS Division, lost its season opener to Colgate, 24-17.

Yankee Stadium, in football mode. Photo by Ben Solomon.

The Eagles dominated the first half of play in terms of statistics, but were unable to parlay that advantage to a win in the Pinstripe Bowl against Iowa on December 27, falling 27-20.

BC ran 40 plays in the first half, compared to Iowa’s 23, and gained 281 yards in offense, while the Hawkeyes managed only 56 yards. (Iowa did average just under 39 yards on 3 kickoff returns, providing a shorter field.) Star running back AJ Dillon himself more than doubled the Iowa offense, gaining 126 yards rushing, including a 66-yard run. But the Eagles led by only 7, 17-10, at halftime.

Both teams, obviously, played under the same field conditions, which were terrible. With temperatures in the 20s and feeling like the mid-teens, the field was frozen. Players fell when trying to cut and their feet often slipped when simply trying to start movement. Maybe it’s because one is a BC fan, but it seemed the Eagles had more trouble with the conditions.

(Major football fields exposed to the elements have heating systems that prevent freezing or use artificial material that is less effected by temperature. Yankee Stadium, built as a baseball facility, has natural grass and no heating system.)

Freshman AJ Dillon ran for 157 yards. Photo by Ben Solomon.

In the second half, BC fortunes slipped and slid. The Eagles managed only 102 yards in offense, punting on their first 3 possessions in the half and giving up a fumble and interception on two of their last three possessions. A 24-yard field goal by Colton Lichtenberg was BC’s only score in the half.

Junior tight end Tommy Sweeney had a career high 7 receptions for 137 yards and scored a touchdown. Dillon added just 31 yards to his rushing total in the second half, finishing with 157 for the game. His season total climbed to 1,589, highest ever for a BC freshman and fourth best season total in BC history.

The Eagles finished 7-6. BC’s bowl game record under Coach Steve Addazio fell to 1-3.

BC’s 2018 season opens September 1 at home against UMass, followed a week later at home against Holy Cross. The BC-Holy Cross game will be the first football game between the historic rivals since 1986.

Bundled BC fans. Photo by Ben Solomon.

More than two dozen San Diego Eagles watched the game in much more comfortable conditions than the fans above.