“What can you say?” (AP photo/Mary Schwalm)

In six possessions during yesterday’s game with BC, the Black Bears of Maine gained 253 yards, scoring two touchdowns and a field goal for a total of 16 points. During the same time period, the Eagles had the ball for eight possessions, gaining 229 yards and scoring six points on two field goals.

Good thing BC already had 16 points when all that started. The previous paragraph described the final three quarters of the Eagles’ middling 22-16 win over Maine.

Evan Dickens on his touchdown run. (Photo by Meg Kelly)

The game started with the Eagles favored by 35+ points over the 1-2 Black Bears, who had previously lost to Merrimack and by 52 points to Appalachian State. BC opened the scoring on its second possession with a 39-yard touchdown run by RB Evan Dickens. They added a safety on Maine’s following possession and then a 31-yard touchdown by WR Johnathan Montague Jr. on a pass from QB Mason McKenzie to end the quarter up 16-0.

On two possessions in the first quarter, each with the ball in the red zone, the Eagles faced 4th-and-1. Eschewing field goals, they attempted runs and failed to make first down in both cases.

With 10:19 left in the game, Maine was down 10-22 and had the ball at their 20. Ten plays later, they were 3rd-and-6 at the BC 7-yard line. On the next play, Maine scored on a touchdown pass. With the point-after attempt unsuccessful, it was still only a one-score difference.

Starting at their 16 with 4:31 remaining in the game, a combination of runs by QB McKenzie and RB Dickens and two complete passes by McKenzie brought BC to the Maine 40 with 1:20 left. As he did in the previous game against Rutgers, McKenzie did three kneel-downs to run out the clock.

Overall, both teams made 18 first downs. The Eagles ran 60 plays for 359 yards total offense, compared to Maine’s 66 plays for 270 yards. BC gained 186 yards on the ground, Maine 69. Maine threw for 201 yards, BC for 173.

For the first time this season, QB McKenzie was not BC’s leading rusher. RB Dickens led the team with 102 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown. McKenzie was second, with 53 yards on 15 carries. McKenzie was 14-for-21 passing for 173 yards, one touchdown and with two interceptions. WR Montague was the leading receiver, catching 5 for 72 yards and a TD.

Highlights (9:31)

(Just noting some oddities about common opponents. After losing to UMass 21-37 and then BC, Rutgers hosted #12 Southern California yesterday in their Big 10 matchup. The Trojans snuck out of Piscataway with a 42-35 win, allowing the Scarlet Knights 460 yards in total offense. Headline in LA Times article today about game was “Not Exactly Coasting.” UMass, by the way, after losing 16 straight games since moving to the FBS, is 3-0 this season. Is BC the best football team in Massachusetts? Don’t ask the Minutemen.)

Eagles meet the Virginia Tech Hokies in Alumni Stadium Saturday. Kickoff is 9 am PT. VaTech is 3-0, with victories over VMI, Old Dominion, and Maryland.

It’s a win. Light up the sky! Wake up the neighbors! (BC Athletics photo)

(Injury update: LB Bodie Kahoun was discharged from the hospital Saturday after evaluation overnight and is back with the team.)

So you’re looking for your first win of the season and you’re to play the team ranked 136th out of 138 FBS college football teams. The game is also infused with the excitement of being the home opener as well as the meaning of the Red Bandana Game on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The concept of “For Welles” is pervasive. This could be exciting.

Eagles celebrate the win. (BC Athletics photo)

And the win is secured. After jumping out to a 17-0 lead, BC held on for a 28-21 victory over Rutgers, aided by defensive plays late in the game. Linebacker Anthony Palano, a 6-1 230lb transfer from Washington State, intercepted two Rutgers passes in the last 10 minutes to stop Scarlet Knights’ drives. In addition, Palano made nine tackles, four solo, and a quarterback sack.

On the offensive side of the ball, BC quarterback Mason McKensie accounted for 346 of BC’s total 402 yards. He was 18-of-29 passing for 252 yards, including a 78-yard touchdown pass to WR Dawson Pough in the fourth quarter that pushed the lead to 14 points. He also ran for 94 yards on 13 carries, again leading the team in rushing.

Alison Crowther, center right, holds up a red bandana as a symbol of her son, Welles ’99, during halftime ceremonies in his honor. (BC Athletics photo)

Adding to the emotion of the game was an injury suffered in the second quarter by BC linebacker Bodie Kahoun, a Notre Dame transfer. Kahoun appeared to injure his neck tackling a Rutgers runner. In an extended game interruption, medical personnel stabilized Kahoun, placing him on a stretcher, and removing him from the field in an ambulance. His teammates surrounded the activity and Rutgers players knelt on the field nearby.

As shown in the photo below, Kahoun gave a raised thumb salute with his left hand as he was placed in the ambulance. BC announced shortly thereafter that Kahoun had movement in all his extremities. As new information comes out, it will be updated here.

Stats-wise, the teams were quite close overall. BC ran 61 offensive plays for 402 yards, while Rutgers ran 68 plays for 384 yards. Rutgers had 19 first downs, BC 18. On the ground, the Scarlet Knights gained 154 yards and the Eagles 150. Through the air, BC gained 252 yards, while Rutgers gained 230.

A nemesis for BC throughout the game was Rutgers receiver KJ Duff, who had eight catches for 137 yards and two second-half touchdowns, including a 60-yard TD reception with 6:18 to go in the game.

A significant difference in terms of timing and effect were BC interceptions of four Rutgers passes. One was especially meaningful. Palano’s interception at the BC 35 with 1:46 remaining helped seal the win. McKenzie hit RB Evan Dickens for a first down with 1:27 left to put the game out of reach. McKenzie took a knee three times to run out the clock.

Here are game highlights (9:55).

Attendees at Friday’s gamewatch were often exuberant and attendance was dynamic and diverse, changing as the evening progressed.

The Eagles next play the Maine Black Bears in Alumni Stadium Saturday, September 19. Game time is 11 am PT.

Several years ago, BC Athletics issued a calendar featuring the covers of football game programs through the years. I had several made into posters. One recently fell off the shelf and when I picked it up, I noticed the date. 

September 11, 1976. Fifty years ago today.

The game was BC-Texas. Yes, that Texas. And the game represented what the radio announcer said in the video below was “the biggest upset in New England college football history.” The headline in The Boston Globe the next morning, above the photo at the top of this post, was “It’s true — BC staggers Longhorns, 14-13.”

(It’s unfortunate, of course, that the anniversary of this game is the same date as that of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001. Celebrating memories related to a football game on that date 25 years earlier has no relevance to the reverence due memories of the 9/11 attacks.) 

The Eagles played Texas three times in the early ’70s. The Longhorns won 42-9 in 1974 at Alumni Stadium and entered the 1976 season ranked in the top 10. They were Hall-of-Fame coach Darrell Royal’s last team and finished the year only 5-5-1 (they still had ties then), but with basically the same personnel they were 11-1 in 1977, including a 44-0 rout in their home opener against BC.

The 1976 game was low-scoring and focused on the run. The Eagles had 34 offensive plays for a total of 208 yards, Texas 33 plays for 112 yards. Texas had four first downs, BC nine. The Eagles gained 197 yards rushing and quarterback Ken Smith was one-for-four passing for 11 yards, with one pass intercepted. The Longhorns gained 66 yards rushing and the Texas QB was two-for-six passing for 46 yards, no interceptions. 

I attended the game and I remember it being exciting because BC’s second play of the game made it so. Running back Neil Green ran to the right side and burst through the Texas defense for a 74-yard touchdown. The Eagles had a chance! 

The rest of the game featured a mix of great defense, mistakes, penalties, and surprises that kept the end result unsettled until time ran out . . . and then there was still one more play!

Two first-period fumbles by the Eagles gave Texas possession in BC territory. Stiff defense led to two field goal attempts by the Longhorns–a 50-yarder was short and a 28-yard try was botched by a fumbled snap by the holder.

In the second period, Texas drove to inside the BC 10, but a hard hit on the Texas QB led to his fumble and a Eagle recovery on their four-yard line. Cue the 96-yard drive. Ten plays and six minutes later, quarterback Ken Smith was at the bottom of the pile in the photo at the top of the post and BC went ahead 14-0.

An interception of a Smith pass put the Longhorns at midfield in the second period and a subsequent 35-yard touchdown pass put the score at 14-7. 

By halftime, both teams had lost their star running backs. BC’s Green had injured his knee and Texas’s future Heisman Trophy-winner Earl Campbell left the game with a hamstring pull after being held to 23 yards in the half.

After a scoreless third period, Texas went on a 72-yard drive, with Jimmy Johnson, Campbell’s replacement at fullback, carrying on six successive plays for three consecutive first downs. On the BC 17, Texas faked to Johnson, but handing the ball to Johnny (Ham) Jones who went into the endzone to make the score 14-13. 

Texas went for the win instead of kicking the point-after for a tie. In a repeat of the play on which Texas had just scored, Jones took the ball to the right. DB Kelly Elias made one of the most iconic plays in BC history, stopping Jones just short. BC 14, Texas 13.

After the game, Elias said he had recognized the play and “I knew the ball carrier was coming my way. I just acted accordingly and moved in to make the play. I stuck him pretty good on the two.” 

And then the game turned what many fans might have thought was bizarre. BC forced a Texas fumble at its 30 with two minutes to go. The Longhorns held BC short of a first down, however, and got the ball back on their 22 with a minute left.

Texas threw a long pass which was caught on the BC 20, within easy field goal range. The Longhorns, however, were called for 12 men on the field and the play was called back. With time running out, Texas threw an incomplete pass, but BC was called for roughing the passer.

A game cannot end with a penalty against the defense, so Texas was able to try a 53-yard field goal. Texas’s punter and kicker was three-time all-American Russell Erxleben, who had already missed three field goals in the game. He made it a quartet, missing barely.

Texas coach Royal said later, “I am really happy for BC. They played inspired football. We made too many mistakes, but I don’t want to use those as alibis.”

The crowd that stormed the field at game’s end was really happy too.

Here’s the video (24:41). This appears to be a film of the game with audio from the radio broadcast. Each play is replayed, which can be confusing.