Bowling with Boise

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Boise State Broncos

Boston College and Boise State University will meet for the second time in football on Wednesday, December 26, in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl, Dallas, Texas. The 7-5 Eagles will go up against the 10-3 and 25th-ranked Broncos in the Cotton Bowl in a game that starts at 10:30 am PT.

Boise State lost in overtime to #21 Fresno State, 19-16, in Saturday’s Mountain West Conference championship game. For local reference, on October 6, San Diego State beat Boise 19-13.

Among victories by the Broncos this season are wins over Air Force, BYU, Fresno State (in an earlier regular conference game), and, in a 62-7 trouncing, UConn.

Brett Rypien

Boise State is led by senior quarterback Brett Rypien and junior running back Alexander Mattison. Rypien, 6-2, 202, passed this season for 3,705 yards and 30 touchdowns. Mattison, 5-11, 211, rushed for 1,415 yards, averaging 108 yards per game, and scored 17 touchdowns. As a team, the Broncos averaged just under 460 yards, mostly through the air, and just over 35 points a game.

Just in statistical comparison, BC QB Anthony Brown, who missed a portion of the season due to injury, threw for 2,121 yards and 20 touchdowns. RB AJ Dillon, also hampered by injury, ran for 1,108 yards and scored 10 touchdowns. Teamwise, BC averaged 404 yards in total offense and 32 points per game.

The 2018 bowl game is BC’s 27th in its history and 17th in the last 20 seasons. The Eagles are 14-12 in bowl games, 1-3 in their last 4 bowl appearances. In 2005, sophomore QB Matt Ryan led the Eagles to a 27-21 win over Boise State in the MPC Computers Bowl, in Bronco Stadium, Boise, Idaho.

 

Overcome by Orange

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BC seniors and family members before Saturday’s last regular season game. John Quackenbos photo

Hard to describe BC’s 42-21 loss to Syracuse yesterday in the regular season finale as anything but a classic beat-down.

The Eagles were certainly competitive at the beginning, scoring first to go up 7-0 with a little over three minutes to go in the first quarter. BC had more first downs and total offense than Syracuse up to that point. “That point,” however, lasted only another 11 seconds.

Syracuse QB Eric Dungey. John Quackenbos photo

On Syracuse’s first play after receiving the BC kickoff following the touchdown, QB Eric Dungey threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to tie the game, 7-7. Pretty much from then on, it was an Orange crush.

Syracuse kicked off on the next play and recovered a fumble by BC’s Michael Walker on the BC 36. Six plays later, Dungey ran in for his first of three rushing touchdowns for the day.

At halftime, the score was 28-14 in favor of Syracuse. An interception by the Eagles in the third quarter led to a 29-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Brown to Ben Glines to close the score to 28-21. The Orange, however, added two more touchdowns to double the Eagles’ score.

Possessing the ball for nearly 15 minutes more than the Eagles, Syracuse gained 559 yards total offense on 93 plays, to 356 yards on 69 plays for BC.

Star running back AJ Dillon played only in the first half, gaining 56 yards on 12 carries. BC gained only 105 yards rushing overall. QB Brown was 17 of 37 for 251 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Syracuse’s Dungey was 21 of 34 for 362 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Video highlights

BC finishes the regular season at 7-5, as it has in four of the last six seasons in which Steve Addazio has been head coach. The other two seasons saw 3-9 (2015) and 6-6 (2016) records. Overall, Addazio’s record is 38-38, 18-30 in ACC play.

There is a likely bowl game on the horizon, though, in an unusual circumstance, 10 ACC teams are bowl eligible and Virginia Tech, which had a game canceled earlier because of a hurricane, will play Marshall next Saturday and may become the 11th ACC team to be bowl eligible. The ACC has affiliations with 10 bowls. Could be musical chairs. Stay tuned!

Stymied by Seminoles

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Lots of Eagles

In the fourth quarter of yesterday’s game against Florida State, BC led by 5, 21-16, and twice had the ball in Seminole territory. With the potential at least to add to the lead or take more time off the clock, the Eagles coaching staff decided instead to punt. First time, that decision didn’t hurt. Second time, it gave Florida State the ball with 2:45 to go and the opportunity to launch a 74-yard touchdown pass to beat BC 22-21.

Earlier, with 9:38 remaining, 4th down and 5 on the Florida State 38, the Eagles had punted to the 12. BC then got the ball back with 6:17 remaining and drove to the Florida State 40. Fourth down and 1, 2:52 remaining. BC took its last timeout and then attempted, unsuccessfully, to draw the Seminoles offside. After a 5-yard penalty for delay of game, the Eagles punted 32 yards to the FSU 13.

Winning Seminole touchdown followed three plays later.

BC’s Michael Walker took the ensuring kickoff out to the Eagles 39, but, with no timeouts remaining, BC quarterback Anthony Brown was forced to throw to the sidelines, which he did three times unsuccessfully. On BC’s last play, 4th and 10, Brown was tackled after gaining 2 yards.

About the decision to punt on a 4th-and-1 on the opponent’s 40 with less than 3 minutes to play and leading by 5, BC coach Steve Addazio told the Boston Globe: “I know that’s the right thing to do. It did not have the right outcome.”

BC, #20 in the College Football Playoff rankings, was favored by only 1.5 points coming into the game against a 4-6 Florida State team that had won 2 ACC games, so the game was projected to be close. It was, pretty much, both in score and statistics. Eagles ran 87 plays to FSU’s 75, but the Seminoles gained 478 yards to the Eagles’ 422.

Running back AJ Dillon, though seemingly hobbled with an ankle injury, carried the ball 37 times, gaining 137 yards, for a 3.1 average. His long rush was 16 yards and he scored 2 touchdowns. Brown was 18 of 36 passing for 297 yards, an interception and touchdown.

BC cornerback Hamp Cheevers intercepted a pass, his 7th of the season, leading the nation.

Video highlights

BC (7-4) finishes the regular season Saturday against Syracuse. Back to breakfast time!