Category Archives: Football

Klubbed by Clemson

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Clemson QB Cade Klubnik (#2) was second-leading rusher for the Tigers.

QB Cade Klubnik led the Clemson Tigers to its 13th consecutive victory over BC in resounding fashion, 41-10, yesterday in Alumni Stadium. It was the Eagles’ fifth straight loss following an opening season victory over Fordham.

While BC’s first three losses could have been victories if not for mistakes and lax play, the game yesterday was regrettably similar to the 48-7 beat-down by Pitt the week before.

One difference was that BC actually scored — a touchdown and field goal — in the first half yesterday. Just as they had allowed Pitt 31 points in the first half, however, they gave up 34 to the Tigers. Clemson had the ball six times in the first half and scored on all of those possessions — four touchdowns bracketed by field goals. (Pitt had punted once in the first half.)

The Tigers gained 333 yards overall on 40 plays in the first half, averaging 8.3 yards per play. (Pitt had gained 331 yards.) BC ran 34 plays and gained 170 yards, five yards a play.

The third quarter was scoreless, as BC intercepted two Clemson passes and recovered a Tiger fumble to stall drives. As for the Eagles, they “surpassed” the low offensive performance of six plays for 10 yards in the fourth quarter of the Stanford game by running nine plays for zero net yards in the third quarter against Clemson. 

Late in the final quarter, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney had the Tigers score a gratuitous touchdown with 24 seconds remaining to pad the score.

The Tigers gained 504 yards total offense, one yard more than Pitt’s offense the week before. (That’s 89 points and 1007 yards offense allowed by BC in the last two games.)

After Pitt, BC coach Bill O’Brien had said, “I’ve got to do a better job. I’ve got to figure out how to coach these guys better, how to get the staff and the players to understand how we want to play.” Yesterday, he said, ‘I can’t figure out how to get this team to play. I can’t get the coaching staff to coach it right. It’s on me. I’ve got to do a better job of coaching the team.”

It seems he has identified some continuing concerns, but can only acknowledge they continue.

The Eagles finished with 221 yards total offense, 85 yards rushing. The team was called for only three penalties. Starting BC quarterback Dylan Lonergan was 12-of-19 passing for 117 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions. QB Shaker Reisig, responsible for the only BC score in the Pitt game, played in the second half and was three-of-10 passing for 19 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.

Leading rusher for BC was Turbo Richard, with 18 carries for 75 yards, and one touchdown. Top receiver was Lewis Bond, with seven catches for 70 yards.

Highlights (11:52)

The Eagles fall to 1-5, 0-4 in the ACC. The regular season is half over. Next opponent is UConn (4-2), for Homecoming at Alumni Stadium. Kick off is 9 am PT.

‘Twas the Pitts

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Pitt runners usually had much more room to run than in this scrum. Jared Shuster photo.

Today’s Boston Globe headline called yesterday’s 48-7 loss to Pitt a “new low” for BC’s season. That it was. 

The previous three losses by the Eagles featured mistakes, missed tackles, lackadaisical play, and more, but they could have been wins. The total points differential in those games was 16. Against Pitt, BC was behind by almost twice that number at halftime (0-31) and there wasn’t even a hint the rest of the game would be competitive.

BC’s fourth quarter against Stanford, in which the Eagles ran a total of six plays for 10 yards, may have been historically bad. BC’s first half against Pitt was comparable.

The Eagles had one first down in each quarter. Total offense for BC was 69 yards for the half, 78 yards through the air. That’s not a typo. That odd statistic was the product of eight rushing attempts resulting in a total of nine yards in losses. 

In the first half, the Eagles had six possessions, resulting in four three-and-outs, a turnover on downs, and a fumble. Pitt also had six possessions, punting once. 

Obviously, the opponent took advantage. Behind a freshman quarterback making his first collegiate start, the Panthers ran 51 plays in the first half, to 25 for BC, and gained 331 yards, 220 passing. They had the ball for more than 21 minutes, compared to fewer than nine for BC. They were four-of-nine in third-down conversions, three-of-three on fourth down. They scored four touchdowns and a field goal.

Pitt was five-of-five in converting red zone possessions for scores. BC didn’t get to the red zone.

In something of a repetition of his comments following the earlier losses, BC Coach Bill O’Brien said, “I take full responsibility for what happened on that field. I’ve got to do a better job. I’ve got to figure out how to coach these guys better, how to get the staff and the players to understand how we want to play.”

The second half was much of the same, just not as much. Pitt scored two more touchdowns and a field goal.

The Eagles did avoid the shutout. With just under six minutes remaining in the game, true freshman Shaker Reisig came in as quarterback for BC. Going three-for-three passing, including one for 45 yards and another for 22 yards, Reisig led a nine-play, 80-yard drive, finishing with a three-yard pass for a touchdown. 

Reisig, from Tulsa, Okla., completed all three passes to fellow freshman TE Kaelan Chudzinki, from Needham, Mass. They were Chudzinki’s only receptions in the game.

Pitt ended the game with 503 yards total offense, compared to 216 for BC (80 of them on the final drive). The Panthers had 31 first downs, the Eagles 11 (three on the final drive). After seeming to revitalize their running game against Cal, BC gained only 27 net yards on 24 carries yesterday.

BC falls to 1-4 overall, 0-4 in the ACC.

Highlights (10:24) (BC’s highlight starts at 8:37)

Next up is Clemson, struggling at 2-3. Kickoff Saturday, October 11, is at 4:30 pm PT.

Cal-amity

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RB Turbo Richard outraces all on 71-yard touchdown run. (Barry Chin/Boston Globe staff)

On their opponent’s five-yard line, 19 seconds remaining, and down by four points, the Eagles faced the opportunity yesterday to redirect a star-crossed early season and win their first game against a FBS-level opponent. QB Dylan Lonergan had led BC on a seven-play 70-yard drive and had just thrown a pass that had been dropped at the goalline.

The chance was lost when Lonergan’s next throw was intercepted and the Cal Bears celebrated a 28-24 victory. The Cal win cemented a Bay Area sweep, as it followed BC’s 30-20 loss two weeks earlier at Stanford.

BC entered the game as the favorite and took a 7-0 lead with a 12-play, 84-yard opening drive, ending with Lonergan running for the last seven yards. Just over a minute later, following a BC interception, RB Turbo Richard ran 27 yards for a second score and 14-0 lead. Cal scored near the end of the quarter to cut the lead to 14-7.

The Eagles gained 113 yards in the opening quarter, 48 on the ground. Richard averaged just under 10 yards a carry on four rushes, including his touchdown run.

In previous games, BC scored a disproportionate number of points in the second quarter, indeed all but six of their total points, and lacked offense in the other quarters. Yesterday, the second quarter was their nadir. 

Possessing the ball for only five minutes, 20 seconds, BC gained only 46 yards in the second quarter, 15 on the ground. Cal scored another touchdown to tie the game at 14, but BC’s Luca Lombardo kicked a 52-yard field goal near the end of the half to put the Eagles in the lead, 17-14, at the half.

Neither team scored in the third quarter and BC nearly equaled their ineffective offense in the second quarter, gaining only 54 yards in the period, 29 through the air.

Both offenses lit up in the final quarter, with a combined total of 291 yards offense. The Eagles ran 17 plays for 162 yards, including 90 on the ground. Featured was a 71-yard run by Richard for a touchdown (photo at top) that quickly followed a Cal short touchdown play, brought about by the Bears’ interception of Lonergan, and gave BC a 24-21 lead early in the quarter.

The Bears responded with a nine-play 88-yard drive, climaxed by a 51-yard touchdown pass to Cal’s tight end, that put Cal ahead 28-24. And thus the stage was set for the the disappointing denouement for BC fans described in the opening of this post.

The Eagles fall to 1-3, 0-2 in conference play.

“I haven’t been able to get it done in this program, to this point, of these guys learning how not to lose before they can learn how to win,” Coach Bill O’Brien said.

Both offenses were pretty equal statistically, with BC gaining 375 yards total and Cal 372. The Eagles were much more balanced than in previous games, with 178 net yards rushing and 197 yards passing.

Cal had a significant edge in time of possession, more than 10 minutes longer than BC. That was also evident in the number of plays, as the Bears ran 71 plays, compared to 58 for the Eagles.

BC accumulated 15 penalties for 109 yards.

Lonergan was 21 of 37 passing for 197 yards, no touchdowns, and with two costly interceptions, one that led to a two-yard Cal touchdown and the other preventing a potential BC victory. Turbo Richard led BC runners with 171 yards on 15 carries, for two touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 19 yards.

WR Lewis Bond led receivers with seven receptions for 77 yards. WR Reed Harris also had four receptions for 54 yards.

Highlights (8:19)

Next up for the Eagles is a visit to 2-2 Pitt on Saturday, October 4. Kickoff is 9 am PT.