Boston College football lost its ninth consecutive game on Saturday afternoon, and it was an ugly one.
After two early fumbles from Grayson James and two turnovers on downs, the Mustangs’ advantage ballooned to 17–0 behind their fiery passing attack. The Eagles were never able to recover from the early deficit.
And when the clock hit triple zeroes, BC was once again looking at a blowout loss. Here are some observations from the Eagles’ Saturday afternoon defeat:
Crucial Conversions
After finding themselves in a quick 10–0 hole, the Eagles needed some offense—and quick.
With Dylan Lonergan in the pocket, the Eagles marched down to the SMU 4-yard line. But Lonergan threw two straight incompletions on third and fourth down, putting the 11-play, 76-yard drive to waste.
On the Eagles’ next offensive possession, the Eagles put prime field position to good use, driving down to the SMU 25-yard line.
After an incompletion on 3rd-and-2, the Eagles found themselves in a similar situation, knocking on the door of potential points with a 4th-and-2 attempt ahead of them. Bill O’Brien opted to go for it again, but an SMU sack led to another promising drive going down the drain.
As the home underdog, converting red-zone drives was critical to keep the stadium energy on BC’s side. If the Eagles were able to turn those long, empty possessions into touchdowns, the entire energy of the first half would have been different.
One piece of the SMU defense that continually kept the Eagles behind the sticks was the pass rush. The Mustangs were continually able to wreak havoc on the Eagles’ backfield, putting up eight total sacks. Senior defensive end Isaiah Smith was at the center of the pressure, tallying a career-high four sacks.
Secondary Struggles
Headed into Saturday’s afternoon game, BC’s defense knew it would have its hands full going up against quarterback Kevin Jennings. The Mustangs’ signal caller was ranked top 20 in the nation in passing yards last season, leading his squad to a College Football Playoff appearance.
Jennings brought that charge into his junior campaign and is currently sitting first in the ACC with 2,810 passing yards. Last week, Jennings tallied 365 passing yards and two total touchdowns in the Mustangs’ 26–20 upset victory over then-No. 10 Miami.
His performance on Saturday was equally impressive.
Jennings was consistently able to find open receivers against the Eagles’ mistake-prone defense, throwing for 326 yards, three touchdowns, and a pick.
Jennings was able to spread the wealth, finding wide receivers Yamir Knight and Jordan Hudson for chunk plays. Knight totaled seven catches for 162 yards—both season-highs—while Hudson brought in 5 snags for 104 yards and a touchdown of his own.
The Mustangs’ offense was also able to respond when the Eagles found some momentum.
Late in the second quarter, the Eagles pieced together an eight-play, 57-yard drive that resulted in a field goal.
On the SMU’s next drive, Eagles’ defensive end Josiah Griffin forced a tipped ball and an interception. Yet with limited time before the break, the Eagles only had time to get into field-goal range, rather than build a touchdown drive of their own.
Despite the Eagles’ two field goals that cut into the deficit, the Mustangs got right back to work on offense in the second half.
Jennings leaned on Knight, hitting his top target twice for 78 yards and a touchdown on SMU’s first offensive drive of the second half alone. This touchdown drive was the first of four straight from the Mustangs to extend their lead and dispel any notion of an upset win.