Game Summary: Boston College 24 Kansas 48

A full moon hovered over Alumni Stadium on this Friday the 13th, and the Boston College defense looked positively cursed, aimless and arm tackling like Romero zombies. BC entered as heavy favorites against a Kansas team that was coming off a 12-7 loss to Coastal Carolina, and the Eagles played perhaps the worst game of the Steve Addazio era.

Things started well enough. BC received the opening kick, and a steady diet of AJ Dillon paced a breezy 75 yard touchdown drive, capped by a Dillon 2 yard TD rush. Kansas’ Carter Stanley proceeded to sail his second pass of the evening into the waiting arms of Mehdi El Attrach, and this game looked like it would be the cakewalk we were promised.

But Stanley flipped a switch after that mistake. Aaron Boumerhi made a 40 kick to put BC up 10-0 after the pick, the teams traded punts, then the shootout began. It really was a shootout in the 2nd quarter, before BC ran out of ammo. KU put together a 78 yard scoring drive. Stanley found his wide open tight end Jack Luavasa for a touchdown on what was the first of a myriad of defensive miscues on the night. Stanley finished the game 20/27 for 238 yards and 3 touchdowns.

BC answered with a 73 yard drive, and a remarkably similar touchdown pass, as Anthony Brown found his wide open tight end Korab Idrizi to put the Eagles up 17-7. KU then returned the ensuing kickoff into BC territory and needed only 3 plays to cover the remaining 48 yards. Hudson Hall finished it off with a 1 yard rush to edge the Jayhawks closer.

BC again moved the ball well, but failed to convert on 4th and 4 at the KU 20. The Jayhawks promptly marched down the field, facing little resistance. Stanley hit Andrew Parchment from 4 yards out to take a 21-17 lead.

BC answered with a well executed trick play. CJ Lewis took the ball on a double reverse and tossed a touchdown pass to Anthony Brown to put BC back in front 24-21, reinvigorating the crowd of 32,848 in the process. Alas, the lead would be short lived, as Khalil Herbert made BC’s defensive issues even worse with an 82 yard carry to the Eagles three. Herbert finished the game with 11 carries for 187 yards to go along with Pooka Williams’ 22 for 121. Stanley then hit Parchment in the end zone for a second time, and the Jayhawks took a 28-24 lead into the half.

Were you hoping for some halftime adjustments? Well, I’m sorry to say that Kansas went right back to work on offense. After picking up a field goal on their first drive of the half, KU got a stop and marched down the field, 87 largely unmolested yards, punctuated by a 12 yard Pooka Williams touchdown run.

Trailing 38-24, and now running an inept offense to match their hapless defense, the reality of a home loss to one of the worst Power 5 teams in the country settled in. There’s not much to report about the final quarter. Brown couldn’t get the offense going, and Kansas added some more points for good measure. Brown finished 18/36 for 195 yards and a touchdown, in addition to his receiving score.

Kansas racked up 567 yards of offense, on their way to a 48-24 dismantling of Boston College. Did Les Miles out-coach Steve Addazio? Absolutely. Did the players fail to execute? Certainly. This result is sure to dredge up some familiar questions about the state of the program, and more specifically the man in his seventh season at the helm.