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.
With the Eagles in all-white uniforms, it’s almost as if they’re not there.
As the photo above shows, snow blanketed the field in South Bend by the middle of the third quarter of yesterday’s BC-Notre Dame football game. For the rest of the game, neither team scored a point. Too bad for the Eagles that the snow didn’t come much earlier.
Prior to the precipitation, BC had been figuratively snowed under by the Irish offense. After reverting to their usual inability to stop the opposing team on its first possession, allowing Notre Dame to move 67 yards in six plays and make a field goal, quarterback Emmett Morehead threw the first of his three interceptions for the day. Five plays later, the Irish went ahead 10-0.
By the end of the first quarter, #18 Notre Dame had increased its lead to 17-0. The Irish had nine first downs, compared to BC’s single first down, and had gained 213 yards in offense, limiting the Eagles to 48 yards.
Just more yards and points for Notre Dame in the second quarter. At halftime, it was already a beatdown. Notre Dame 37, BC 0. Total offense: 386 yards for the Irish, 81 for the Eagles. On the ground, BC rushed for one yard, Notre Dame for 214.
After another Morehead interception early in the third quarter, Notre Dame scored for the final time, to make it 44-0. Then the snow came.
For the record, for the game, BC gained 173 yards on 58 offensive plays. Notre Dame ran 63 plays and gained 437 yards. The Irish were six for seven in red zone opportunities, scoring five touchdowns. BC was zero for one.
Trevor Hass wrote in The Boston Globe today: “[WR Zay] Flowers became the Eagles’ all-time leader with 192 career receptions, freshman Alex Broome showed his versatility, and Vinny DePalma had a career-high 12 tackles. Beyond that, it was all Irish.” In the game, Flowers had three receptions for 46 yards. Kudos to these Eagles.
Morehead was nine of 22 passing for 117 yards, three interceptions, and a fumble. He was sacked four times for -23 yards.
BC falls to 3-8, 2-5 in the ACC.
Highlights?
BC finishes its season at home Saturday, hosting Syracuse. No bowl game.
Freshman WR Joseph Griffin Jr. grabs pass one-handed in the end zone for tying score in game against N.C. State.
Wow. What a weird game.
First, though, the good stuff. Boston College beat #16 North Carolina State, 21-20, yesterday in Raleigh, N.C. It was the Eagles’ first win over an Associated Press-ranked team since the win over #9 USC in 2014. The win ended a streak of 25 consecutive BC losses to AP-ranked teams. It also ended the Wolfpack’s streak of 16 consecutive wins at home. And on N.C. State’s Homecoming.
Redshirt freshman Emmett Morehead became the first BC quarterback on record (1981-present) to account for seven touchdowns or 600+ yards passing in his first two starts. He passed for three touchdowns and 330 yards yesterday.
With his second pass reception yesterday, senior WR Zay Flowers became BC’s all-time leader in receiving yards. His seven receptions for 130 yards yesterday put him at 2,900 career yards. He is close to other BC pass reception records as well.
Back to the game, which started as seemingly most BC games have this season. The Eagles received the opening kickoff and punted after four plays. The Wolfpack then drove 88 yards in five plays (four of them for double-digit yards) to go up 7-0. On their second possession, BC lost six yards and punted. N.C. State then went 68 yards in six plays (three of them for double-digit yards) for a 14-0 lead.
Then something different happened. Completing five of seven passes, Morehead led the Eagles on an eight-play, 75-yard drive, finishing with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Flowers. First quarter ended with BC down 14-7.
In the second quarter, BC’s offense went back to sleep, gaining a total of 35 yards in three possessions and scoring no points. The Wolfpack more than tripled BC’s yardage in the quarter, but scored only three points to take a 17-7 lead at halftime.
In the first half, the Eagles, leading the nation in rushing futility, ran 12 times for two yards. They did worse in the second half.
In the second half, however, it was like the teams had switched identities during the break. Well, not right away. N.C. State punted on their first possession and BC’s Jaelin Gill fumbled the punt, giving the ball back to the Pack on the BC 42. N.C. State gained only 14 yards on five plays, however, and kicked a field goal to go up 20-7. Those were the last points the Wolfpack was to score.
Starting their next possession with a run for a one-yard loss, the Eagles eschewed the run for a while. Morehead threw and completed seven consecutive passes, culminating with a 35-yard pass to Flowers, and the Eagles cut the lead to 20-14.
The two teams then spent the rest of the third quarter and most of the final quarter exchanging possessions through a succession of fumbles, interceptions, and punts. With 2:47 left in the game, BC got the ball on their 31. Then a dramatic series of 12 BC plays ensued.
Morehead ran the ball four times, mostly because of pressure. On BC’s penultimate play, on fourth down at the N.C. State 10, Morehead’s pass was incomplete. The Pack, however, was called for pass interference. BC ball on the two, 18 seconds to go. Morehead threw a pass into the endzone to freshman Joseph Griffin Jr., who caught it in his right hand and pulled it in. It was Griffin’s only reception of the game. Morehead was four-of-nine passing in the final drive.
The Eagles ran for positive yardage in only one quarter. In the second half, they ran 11 times for a net of -3 yards. As a team, for the game, they rushed 23 times for -1 yard. The sequence of N.C. State’s final seven possessions was fumble, punt, fumble, punt, interception, punt, fumble.
Morehead overall was 29 of 48 passing for 330 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Mention should be made of the Eagles on defense. The Wolfpack gained only 61 yards in the second half. Grad defensive end Marcus Valdez had six tackles, three for loss, with a career-high two sacks. He also forced a fumble and recovered a fumble on separate plays. Redshirt freshman Cole Batson made his first career start at free safety and led all players with nine tackles.
Highlights
BC improved its record to 3-7, 2-5 in the ACC. Next week is Notre Dame, which had to hold on yesterday to defeat Navy, 35-32, after leading 35-13 at halftime.
