Recap: Boston College 38 Louisville 20

A must win game if ever there was one, coming off of a frustrating loss at NC State and heading into a brutal stretch of the schedule, Boston College dispatched an underwhelming Louisville team, and moved to 5-2 (2-1) on the season.

The Eagles jumped out to an early lead when Anthony Brown rolled to his right and hit tight end Hunter Long for a touchdown. The BC defense forced a second consecutive three and out, and Brown connected with Michael Walker on a 42 yard flea flicker that set up a two yard Ben Glines touchdown run.

However, BC’s momentum came to a screeching halt, as Louisville leveraged sloppy play by the Eagles and ran off 20 consecutive points, 13 of which came off of turnovers. Glines fumbled at the Boston College 6 yard line, and Louisville answered with a 1 yard Malkin Cunningham touchdown run on 4th down.

Michael Walker then fumbled on the ensuing kick return, and Louisville again took advantage, scoring on a 3 yard touchdown carry by Hassan Hall. BC struggled mightily against the read option in the first half, and a 9 play 73 drive for the Cardinals, capped by a 3 yard rush by QB Jawon Pass, put Louisville up 20-14.

The ever-adventurous Boston College special teams unit was able to stop the bleeding, as Nolan Borgersen blocked a punt and Travis Levy recovered in the endzone, putting the Eagles back in front. Colton Lichtenberg tacked on a 38 yard field goal in the waning seconds of the first half to give BC a 24-20 advantage at the break.

The Eagles were in control in the second half. The defense completely shut down Louisville’s offense, and the Boston College offense controlled the clock.

BC leaned heavily on the run game in the second half. At one point David Bailey carried on 11 consecutive plays, and both Bailey and Ben Glines topped the 100 yard mark. The Eagles put together an impressive 13 play 93 yard drive (11 rushes and 2 passes) early in the 4th quarter. Bailey finished the drive off with a 1 yard TD rush to extend the lead to 31-20.

A few minutes later, The Eagles strung together another long drive, covering 67 yards in 8 plays. Jeff Smith found the end zone from 5 yards out on a sweep, putting the game out of reach.

Aside from an ugly 10 minute stretch in the first half, Boston College played a solid game against a bad Louisville team. They’ll head into the bye week in good spirits, and AJ Dillon should be ready to go in time for a Friday night showdown with Miami on 10/26.

Notes:

• Hamp Cheevers’ second quarter interception was his 4th of the season, tied for the most in the nation.
• Wyatt Ray recorded 3 sacks.
• Anthony Brown was a steady 16/22 for 179 yards and a TD.