FINAL: Boston College Football Routs UConn to Earn Bowl Eligibility

Boston College's victory over UConn at Fenway Park Saturday night was a fitting microcosm for the team's season as a whole.

After stumbling early, and looking mostly lifeless in the first quarter, the Eagles exploded for 39 unanswered points, behind 200 yards and 2 touchdowns from freshman running back AJ Dillon, to secure bowl eligibility with an emphatic 39-16 win.

A bowl game seemed all but impossible just over a month ago for BC, but four wins in five games, including a three-game winning streak against Louisville, Virginia and Florida State, have the Eagles headed back to the postseason.

For all the flack he's gotten, Boston College coach Steve Addazio has his group playing in a bowl game for the second consecutive year, and the fourth time in his five-year tenure.

If you want to knock BC for starting slow, you should at least acknowledge that, the last two years, the Eagles have finished strong.

Saturday's game was largely uneventful once BC woke up. After UConn kicker Michael Tarbutt nailed a 50-yard field goal to put UConn ahead, the teams largely traded punts.

That is, until BC went 70 yards on 12 plays in the second, powered by Dillon, and capped off by a beautiful scramble and throw by Darius Wade to Chris Garrison from two yards out.

That touchdown pass gave BC its first lead, and it was elementary after that.

After Noa Merritt forced another UConn punt, Dillon broke outside and dragged defenders with him at the end of a 53-yard touchdown run. Right out of halftime, Jon Hilliman got in on the running fun, breaking a 38-yard touchdown run to extend BC's lead.

Husky quarterback David Pindell then threw a screen pass right into the hands of BC's Taj-Amir Torres, who ran it back 65-yards for a score, and then Dillon crossed the 200-yard threshold to end the period with a 20-yard touchdown run.

Dillon's night was done after that, but Hilliman continued to punish the hapless Huskies. On a fourth quarter drive, Hilliman carried six times for 63 yards, culminating in a 3-yard score.

By the time UConn added a pair of late scores, the backups were already in for the Eagles.

The Eagles will now travel to Syracuse for a date with the Orange next week. Win or lose, BC is back to a bowl, in one of the more remarkable season turnarounds in recent memory.