On Saturday morning, when no one really knew the outcome of the game to follow that evening, the BC campus was quite excited as ESPN’s GameDay experience came to Chestnut Hill. It was the third time ever and first since 2009.
As “the dustbowl” as a term describing the open area surrounded by McElroy, Carney, Fulton, and Lyons halls seems to have gone into the dustbowl of history, GameDay’s stage and crowd were on Stokes Lawn.
And such a crowd!
Sam Apuzzo, center, and Walker-Weinstein, right.
In addition to the somewhat routine perusal of college football games coming up that day, GameDay also took a bit of time to acknowledge one of BC’s very successful women’s teams — lacrosse — ranked #1 nationally preseason. GameDay interviewed senior Sam Apuzzo, winner of last season’s Tewaarton Award as the nation’s best collegiate female lacrosse player, and BC coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein.
Chris O’Donnell ’92
And GameDay finished, as it traditionally does, with one of the host school’s graduates participating in game predictions. For BC Saturday, it was Chris O’Donnell ’92, current star of NCIS: Los Angeles.
And eight hours after GameDay, BC-Clemson kicked off.
San Diego’s own Ray Smith (96) joins teammates in saluting BC fans at VaTech. Frank Selden photo
After playing one of the sorriest second quarters ever(?), falling behind 14-7 at the half, #22 BC turned it on in the second half, outscoring Virginia Tech 24-7 in Blacksburg, Va., yesterday to make the final score 31-21.
The 7-2 Eagles will likely move up into the top 20 in the College Football Playoff rankings. They meet #2 Clemson Saturday night in Alumni Stadium on national television, preceded that morning by the third appearance ever by ESPN’s GameDay crew on Chestnut Hill, first since 2009. Can you say Big Game!?
Following unsuccessful drives by each team to open the game, the Eagles actually scored first, a 3-yard run by AJ Dillon concluding a 13-play, 75-yard drive. VaTech went right back down the field to tie the game, 7-7, as the first quarter ended. QB Anthony Brown was 4-8 for 35 yards and Dillon had rushed for 54 yards. Things didn’t look that bad.
Brown opened the second quarter by overthrowing a wide open Michael Walker on a deep pass, a portent of things to come. In the quarter, Brown ended up 4-10 for 24 yards. Dillon added 3 yards rushing. At halftime, the Hokies had pretty much doubled BC’s number of 1st downs and offensive yardage, as well as the score, to lead 14-7. The Eagles had gained 126 yards in the half.
RB Travis Levy. Frank Selden photo
BC held the Hokies on their first two drives of the second half, but Brown fumbled on BC’s possession to squelch the Eagles’ drive. On BC’s next possession, things looked like they could go badly for the Eagles when Dillon appeared to be injured on being knocked out of bounds on the Hokies’ 29. (Dillon played sparingly in the rest of the third quarter and sat out the fourth.) On the next play, however, RB Travis Levy blew through the VaTech line and scored on a 29-yard run.
BC scored another touchdown in the third quarter and added another in the fourth on a 1-yard Levy plunge, in which he appeared stopped short but, not being down, lunged over the goal line. Following a VaTech touchdown with less than 5 minutes remaining, the Eagles added an insurance field goal for the final score.
Levy went on to gain 70 yards in the second half, getting 75 total for the game. After falling behind VaTech, to the tune of 119 yards in offense, in the first half, the Eagles gained 270 yards in the second half, finishing with 396 yards total offense, 4 more than the Hokies.
In one of their strongest performances of the season, the Eagles defeated Miami, 27-14, in a nationally televised game last Friday. BC was especially dominant in the first quarter, gaining 209 yards to the Hurricanes’s 74 yards, and jumping out to a 14-7 lead. A 17-14 BC halftime lead seemed much too close considering the action on the field, but the Eagles added 10 more points in the second half and shut out Miami.
(Sorry for the delay in getting this report online. I was in Boston to attend the game and then visited my daughter and son-in-law in Buckeye Country [Columbus, Ohio], returning yesterday. A personal video below in this post shows some of the pregame and game ambience.)
AJ Dillon. Ben Solomon photo
Following a Miami five-play possession at the start, BC scored on its opening drive for the sixth game this season, going 88 yards on 10 plays, displaying an offensive play variety not often seen. Running back AJ Dillon, though, started it off in the traditional way — a 25-yard run. BC also ran something of a “Philly special,” with WR Jeff Smith taking a handoff from QB Anthony Brown and then passing to Brown for 27 yards. The same pair returned to their traditional roles for the nine-yard touchdown.
Following a 62-yard kickoff return, Miami tied the score in a six-play drive. BC, against the then-#2-ranked defense, went right back down the field, scoring after 10 plays and 77 yards, to take a 14-7 lead. Smith once again showed the talents of an ex-quarterback by completing a 32-yard pass to RB Travis Levy.
BC used up over seven minutes in a 20-play, 79-yard drive that ended in a Colton Lichtenberg 21-yard field goal, to go up 17-7. BC’s special teams again faltered, however, as the Hurricanes returned the ensuing kickoff 58 yards to set up a 10-play drive to close to 17-14 at the half.
Two BC pass interceptions, both leading to Eagle touchdowns, and an overall stout defense spelled the difference in the game in the second half. BC, however, also pulled off the pedal offensively in the second half, seemingly continually running into the center of the Miami defense. The tactic of running the clock ultimately was successful, but fan displeasure was evident . . . until the game’s conclusion, when students rushed the field to celebrate.
Personally, and as an old Eagle, I was a little surprised and a little disappointed in the postgame activity. This was an important win, but not really a major one. Martin Jarmond, BC athletic director, had taken several steps to make the game experience more “exciting.” To get students, and others, into the stands on time, he reduced the cost of refreshments in the stadium by half in the first quarter. New LED lights created something of a light show and “fireworks” soared up from the western rim of the stadium somewhat frequently.
When the game ended, BC students, if not encouraged, were not discouraged from rushing onto the field. The scene, accompanied by an LED light show, was clearly very positive for the national television audience. Even more positive for BC, perhaps, were the postgame comments by the game announcers, essentially promoting the values expressed by BC in this “red bandana” game, honoring the sacrifice of 9/11 hero Welles Crowther ’99.
Here is a very short video of the pregame ambience (including views of the new Plex under construction) and postgame celebration. The band in the video, Unit One, is made up of BC seniors Rachel Moon on guitar and vocals, Nicolas Sucre on bass, and Josh Mentzer on drums.
Dillon ran for 149 yards, making it the 11th game the sophomore has gained 100+ yards. BC is 9-2 overall when he exceeds the century mark. Brown was 15 of 28 for 152 yards, with 1 TD and 1 interception. Smith was 2 of 2 passing and also caught 2 passes, 1 for a touchdown.
The Eagles edged into the top 25 following the victory, but it seems the College Football Playoff committee was more impressed. It put BC at #22 in the first CFP poll of the season, first appearance ever in this poll by the Eagles. BC plays Virginia Tech Saturday in Blacksburg, Va., not usually a friendly place for the Eagles.
Here are video highlights of the game.
Saturday permits lunch at gamewatch — our first midday game. Come join San Diego Eagles!
