Louisville 38, Boston College 19: By The Numbers

1. Turnovers forced. The forced fumble was a big one but just feels like the defense has really struggled to create turnover past few years. Boston College has forced just 9 turnovers through 10 games, tied for 118th nationally and ahead of only ECU, Washington State, Georgia State and SMU. As recently as 2008, Boston College ranked second in the nation with 36 takeaways (behind only Wake Forest #therivalry).

Clearly those defenses were a lot more talented than the current roster, but I miss the ball-hawking days of 2007-08 just the same.

166. Rushing yards AND passing yards for the Eagles. Weird how that happens.

78.7. Going into the game, Louisville's defense was giving up just 78.7 rushing yards per game on the ground. That number was UP from the week before, where the Seminoles rushed for 173 yards on 30 carries in a 42-31 victory over the Cardinals. BC's 166 yard rushing output more than doubled the Louisville rush defense's per-game average. That said, and as one would expect, the total passing output (166 yards) was under Louisville's per-game average (198.3 yards per game).

12. Through 10 games, the Eagles are averaging 264 yards per game on the ground, good for 12th nationally. Georgia Tech (3), Wisconsin (5), Auburn (8) and Nebraska (10) are the only power conference schools averaging more yards per game on the ground through week 11.

2. Boston College rushing touchdowns. For the ninth time in 10 games, the Eagles scored multiple rushing touchdowns in a game. The Eagles' 26 rushing touchdowns on the year is tied for 13th nationally with TCU and Arkansas State.

26. With two regular season games to go, Boston College has passed its total rushing TD output from last season (24). Losing Andre obviously hurts in this department, but also helps when you have Tyler Murphy.

3.86. Yards per carry running the ball. It was the second lowest per-rush average for the Eagles this season, ahead of only the Clemson game (3.33 ypc).

9-of-20. Passing for the Eagles. Not the best day throwing the ball for BC. 7-of-15 for Murphy and 2-of-5 for Wade in garbage time.

4. Interceptions. The one interception on 4th and goal was just Murphy trying to make a play. The four interceptions were a new career high for Murphy. Last season with Florida, he threw three interceptions in a 34-17 loss to Vanderbilt.

6-of-13. Louisville's offense converted 6 third downs from distances of 13, 3, 6, 8, 1 and 10. The Cardinals also converted on 3-of-4 third downs in the third quarter to really put the game away. Feast or famine on third down for the dudes.

21-to-17. BC managed 17 first downs to Louisville's 21.

34. Louisville points off turnover. Not going to win many games when you spot the other team good field position and 34 points.

32:11 to 27:49. The Eagles lost the time of possession battle by over 4 minutes, including 10:02 to 4:58 in the third quarter.

91. The Eagles were outgained by 91 yards on the day, 423 to 332. Third lowest total yards total of the season, ahead of only Pittsburgh (276) and Clemson (263).

1/2. PATs for Joey Launceford. Laces out. On the year, BC is 26-of-33 (78.8%) on point after attempts, good for DFL, or 128th of 128th, in the nation. The next closest team is converting at 86.4% (South Alabama, 19-of-22). Eagles placekickers have missed at least one kick--FG or PAT--in every game this season.

0/1. Two-point conversions for the Eagles. What's funny is that even though the game never really felt all that close in the second half, BC did manage to go into the fourth quarter only down 5 points (could've been 4 had the staff not chased the earlier missed PAT...and could've been 3 with mildly acceptable placekicking. Yes I know these are big woulda / shoulda / couldas).

2. Louisville downed two punts inside BC's own 20. Boston College had 2 punts of 50+ yards. The Eagles didn't have a punt return on the night.

5. Penalties against Boston College for 45 yards, slightly over the team's average of 4.2 penalties / game.

5.3. Average yards per play for the offense. The offense moved the ball pretty well, all things considered. Just too many mistakes.

64. Louisville ran 64 offensive plays to BC's 63.

41. The Cardinals' average starting field position was its own 41 yard line. BC started at its own 25 on average. Of course it helps when you pick off the opposing quarterback 4 times. Still.

76. Reggie Bonnafon rushing yards, on 13 carries. I think one of the more disappointing aspects of Saturday's loss was that the defense had no answer for Bonnafon using his legs to pick up yardage. Disappointing in the sense that the defense basically practices against a better running version of Bonnafon all. the. time. BC didn't have much of an answer for Gardner though, either, who finished 13-of-19 for 188 yards before getting spelled by Bonnafon.

144. Receiving yards from Louisville WR DeVante Parker. He only needed 8 catches to do so, including a touchdown grab, for an average of 18.0 yards per catch.

3. Gerod Holliman interceptions returned for a total of 53 yards.

2.0. Total team sacks for Louisville. Rankins had 1.5 and Brown 0.5 for a loss of 14 yards.

7.0. Total TFLs for each side. Louisville's 7 TFLs were good for a loss of 24 yards. BC's just 14. Rankins lead the way with 3 TFLs for a loss of 14 yards.

0. No defenders on either side of the ball finished with double-digit tackles. Asprilla led the Eagles with 7 (4 solo, 3 assisted), Dubose with 8 for Louisville (5 solo, 3 assisted).

2-4. The Eagles fall to 2-4 at home this year, a record that includes three conference losses (Pittsburgh, Clemson, Louisville). With a loss to Syracuse in the regular season finale, BC would finish the year 0-4 in conference play for the first time in program history (only other year BC went winless in conference play at home was 2003, when the Eagles finished 0-3). Tough go of things for season ticket holders this year.

33,565. Announced attendance. That's probably being a bit kind. The third-highest attended home game of the year, ahead of Pittsburgh (30,083, Friday night) and Maine (28,676) and slightly below the Colorado State Parents' Weekend game (33,632). That attendance figure was also up a bit on both of last season's November home games -- Virginia Tech (30,129) and N.C. State (31,262). Baby steps.

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Overall, the more talented team won on Saturday night. There were some encouraging signs for the Eagles, but at the end of the day, you just tip your cap to Louisville, take your lumps and move on. Not souring on Addazio, the coaching staff or the direction of the program based on Saturday night's result.