SMU freshman RB Derrick McFall ran for half of the Mustangs’ six touchdowns in yesterday’s 45-13 win. (Barry Chin/Boston Globe photo)

Yet again, the Eagles finished the first half yesterday against their opponent behind in the score, but at a somewhat respectable level. And, yet again, BC fell further behind in the second half, ultimately to be “trampled,” to use the term in the Boston Globe, by SMU, 45-13. 

The Mustangs entered the game with a 7-3 record and as 10 1/2-point favorites. They took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and expanded it to 17-0 in the second quarter. BC QB Grayson James passed for only three yards in the opening quarter and fumbled twice, leading Coach Bill O’Brien to replace him with former starter Dylan Lonergan.

Within the last 1:11 of the first half, the Eagles’ Luca Lombardo made two field goals (the second following a pass interception) to cut the score to 17-6. (Lombardo remains perfect for the year in field goals, making 14-of-14. What a difference from recent past seasons!)

The Mustangs tacked on two more touchdowns in the third quarter on long touchdown passes to lead 31-6 and pushed it to 38-6 early in the final quarter. The Eagles scored their only touchdown with 8:59 left in the game on a five-yard Lonergan pass to RB Jordan McDonald. SMU closed out the scoring with a 48-yard TD run (photo above).

BC ran 85 offensive plays in the game, the most in any game this season, including the opening 66-10 win over FCS Fordham. The Eagles gained 390 yards in total, 284 passing and 106 on the ground. SMU ran 19 fewer plays overall, but gained 574 yards, including 352 passing, the most total yards of any BC opponent so far this year. The Mustangs averaged 7.2 yards per run, compared to 2.7 yards for the Eagles, and 18.5 yard per pass completion, compared to 9.8 for BC. The Eagles had 25 first downs, three more than SMU, and possessed the ball for just under six minutes more than the Mustangs.

In a definite change from other games this year, the Eagles were called for only four penalties for 25 yards, while SMU had 13 penalties for 155 yards. BC, however, was only 2-of-15 on third down conversions.

BC QB Lonergan was 25-of-37 for 232 yards passing, with one TD and one interception. WR Lewis Bond had nine receptions for 94 yards and WR Reed Harris caught six passes for 86 yards.

Highlights (11:33)

BC falls to 1-9 for the year, 0-6 in the ACC. Today’s Boston Globe game article described this season as one in which “the action has gone from promising to perplexing to truly appalling.”

Next opponent is #14 Georgia Tech (8-1) on Saturday, November 15. Kickoff for BC’s final home game is 12:30 pm PT.