Boston College 24, Maine 3: By The Numbers

54. The number of yards Maine gained on the game's opening drive. Dan Collins went 3-for-4 to open up the drive for 29 yards, including a 21 yard completion to Jeremy Salmon. After he scrambled and took off for 15 more yards on the ground, the Black Bear offense stalled and scored the only points they'd have all day - a 39 yard field goal by Sean Decloux, to take a 3-0 lead.

37. The amount of yards Maine gained over the rest of the game. Maine finished with 91 yards.

-19. The number of yards Maine gained in the first half on four subsequent drives after the 54 yard opening score.

4. The amount of drives where Maine finished with negative yardage (one of which is technically a kneel-down at the end of the first half). The BC front seven was completely dominant after that opening drive, holding Cabrinni Goncal to 30 yards on 10 carries and limiting Collins to 84 yards on 12-29 passing (with one interception). The Eagle defense did a good job of keeping the pressure on and really putting the Maine offense on its heels. Then, after it was on its heels, they just kind of finished the job and smushed them.

3,235. The number of days between defensive outputs where BC held its opponent under 100 yards. The last time a BC opponent finished the game with under 100 cumulative yards was October 28, 2006, when the Eagles blanked Buffalo, 41-0.

7. The number of net rushing yards by Maine's offense, good enough for a 0.3 yards per carry average.

11:00. The amount of time BC spent on offense in the second quarter. A lot of people will deride the Eagles for having trailed the Black Bears at the end of the first and only beating them 10-3 into the half, but it was a very slow, grinding process that eventually eroded Maine. The key is that BC was able to control the clock, and while they went to third down a ton, they were able to at least push through and keep the drives moving.

18. The amount of third downs BC had. That's a little frustrating because you expect BC to just open up holes and let their runners plow through. But consider what the Eagles dealt with - an inexperienced offensive line and a quarterback who, despite having a little bit more zip on short and intermediate passes, still struggled in the open passing game. If BC gets to this many third downs against better teams, I'll be okay with it because it controls the clock - but they HAVE to convert.

1. Missed field goals by Alex Howell. He hit a 31 yarder from the right hash mark but missed on a 35 yard attempt from the left hash. I don't know if it's easier to hook a kick back than it is to slice it between the uprights, but you had 30,000 or fans around the country going, "Here we go again." on that second attempt.

11. The number of knee surgeries endured by wide receiver Bobby Swigert. It was his first game since BC played Notre Dame on November 10, 2012. In the time since he last played, BC's changed head coaches once (from Frank Spaziani to Steve Addazio) and offensive coordinators twice (from Doug Martin to Ryan Day to Todd Fitch).

2.9. The number of yards per carry by Jon Hilliman. I felt he was slightly misused in the first half as BC tried out different packages, and I also felt he wasn't really helped by the offensive line play. His longest run of the game was his first carry (nine yards), and he never really was able to break free. When he was in the game, Maine keyed on that run and brought eight or nine guys into the box. That overwhelmed the O-line to the point where they simply couldn't contain, and there were far too many no gains and one-yard gains.

At the same time, I do put a little bit on Hilliman and the play-calling. Maine's defense spread the defensive tackles wide to cover more ground, opening up space between the tackles. BC called plays sending him wide. So by the time the sweep or off-tackle tried to turn the corner, he was already tackled. I'm not concerned, and I think everything will get better through time, but still - not the top game we would've expected when we were all talking a couple of weeks back.

3. Snaps taken by Troy Flutie at the end of the game.