BC Quarterback Mason McKenzie pressured by Duke defense, as he was most of game yesterday, in Duke 47-2 wipeout. (Ben McKeown/Associated Press)
Following BC’s stellar defeat of Georgia Tech October 24, Coach Bill O’Brien said, “The team you saw in the second half, to me, that’s our football team.” That team had scored 37 points, rushing for 277 yards, in the second half on its way to a 49-27 comeback win.
That was not our football team yesterday. Not even close.
Facing the Duke Blue Devils in Durham, N.C., BC scored only two points and that was on the return of a botched point-after-attempt by Duke following its second touchdown. (That play accounted for 100 “miscellaneous yards” in the game stats.) Inept play, errors, penalties added up to what the Boston Globe described as “by far their worst performance this season” and a 47-2 shellacking.
Was it because the Eagles were playing Devils on Halloween? I have to hope something supernatural was involved.
BC’s possessions during the game ended with, in order: a punt, punt, on downs, punt, punt, punt, punt, fumble, on downs, fumble, on downs, and on downs. The Eagles were 2 of 13 on 3rd-down conversions and 0 of 4 on 4th down conversions. They reached the red zone once.
And the penalties. So many of BC’s few positive offensive plays were nullified by penalties and Duke benefited as well, making 7 first downs by penalty. BC was called 11 times for penalties in the first half alone. The Globe reported them, in order: face mask, pass interference, holding, pass interference, unsportsmanlike conduct, illegal touching, unsportsmanlike conduct, holding, roughing the passer, offside, and illegal formation.
BC had 4 additional penalties in the second half for a total of 15 for the game and 129 yards. The total of yards penalized was greater than yards gained rushing by the Eagles (78) and just below the total they gained passing (135).
QB Mason McKenzie was 9-of-17 passing for 87 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked 4 times. The Duke quarterback was not sacked. Backup BC quarterbacks appeared in the final quarter. Femi Babaloa was 3-of-5 for 49 yards, including a 36-yard completion. Grayson Wilson was 2-of-5 for -1 yard. Both backups were sacked once.
Duke, of course, took advantage of BC’s woeful play. Their final score was their second highest of the season, exceeding only their 62 points against FCS William & Mary. (Interestingly, Duke lost 25-28 to Georgia Tech, the team blasted by the Eagles the previous week.)
The Blue Devils scored in each period, with 4 touchdowns in the 1st half, 2 TDs in the 3rd period, and 2 field goals in the 4th. They punted twice.
Highlights (8:53)
BC falls to 4-4 overall, 2-3 in the ACC. Next opponent is Florida State on November 7, gametime 9 am PT.