BC Upsets Louisville, 45-42
By Sam Parsons
The Boston College Eagles entered play Saturday at 2-4 with a winless conference record, having scored under 12 points per game against Power 5 opponents. There was, in general, a feeling of dejection surrounding fans and alumni of the football program. Traveling to Louisville – a team that rolled over this squad last year, 52-7, in Alumni Stadium, returning the reigning Heisman trophy winner, was not expected to help. Nevertheless, following an anemic 23-10 loss to conference foe Virginia Tech last week, Steve Addazio remained in high spirits, being quoted as saying, “It will all come together, and it will all be beautiful.”
As a fan of the BC football program who has, along with many others, used Addazio as a scapegoat over the last few years, it can be tough to admit this but the truth is: he was right. For one glorious day, he was right.
Because Boston College just played their best football game in several years.
The game dawned under sunny skies in Louisville, Kentucky, and early on, it looked like BC was in for a long day. The Cardinals took the ball to start the game and struck first with a 9-play, 75 yard TD drive to go up 7-0, and they would be up 21-7 with 5 minutes left in the first half.
Later on, though, with under 2 minutes left in the half, the Eagles forced a punt and took over at midfield with 3 timeouts left. The drive started inauspiciously, with the first two plays going nowhere. But on a 3rd-and-10 situation, Anthony Brown faced pressure from the inside and twirled out to the left of the offensive line and scrambled for a gain of 30 yards to pick up a first down.
And then, something incredible happened. Something that hadn’t happened in a long time for the Eagles. By some divine intervention, that play created a spark for an Eagles’ offense that had been dormant for years.
AJ Dillon took it from there and scored with around 50 seconds left in the half to make it 21-14, a score that remained through halftime, with the Eagles set to take over when play resumed.
It was the first of 28 unanswered points the Eagles would score.
In the third quarter, with the Eagles down 21-14, freshman quarterback Anthony Brown was knocked out of the game with an injury to his throwing shoulder, but the Eagles’ offense didn’t miss a beat. AJ Dillon carried the Eagles to another touchdown to tie the game at 21.
On the ensuing drive, the Cardinals ran 3 plays to the tune of negative yardage and were forced again to punt. Dillon continued to run at will on the Cardinals’ defense, busting open a 33 yard run on the first play of the next drive. A Darius Wade completion and a 6-yard TD run by Jon Hilliman later, and the Eagles had a 28-21 lead with time dwindling in the third quarter. Wade would go on to fill in admirably for Brown.
Boston College would not stop there. The Eagles’ D forced an interception from the reigning Heisman trophy winner, Lamar Jackson, and on the first play of the fourth quarter, AJ Dillon found the end zone for a third time.
A quick Louisville touchdown made the game 35-28, but Dillon wasn’t finished. In Marshawn Lynch-esque fashion, Dillon took the first carry of the next drive, threw aside a Louisville defender, and scampered 75 yards all the way to the end zone to make the game 42-28. It was officially the first time BC had scored 40 points against a Power 5 team in eight years.
However, there was still 12 minutes of football to be played, and no one was more aware of that than Lamar Jackson. Jackson masterfully steered the Cardinals back onto the scoreboard on two straight drives, tying the game up with 5 minutes left. Jackson finished the game with over 500 yards of offense and 5 touchdowns by himself.
Boston College quickly punted the ball away and Jackson got the ball back with a shade under 3 minutes left and a chance to retake the lead for the Cardinals. He swiftly learned that he couldn’t do it himself. On a 20 yard completion to receiver Jaylen Smith, Smith coughed the ball up and the beneficiary was BC corner Kam Moore. BC now had the ball in Louisville territory and a shot at their biggest upset in several years.
The Eagles had 1:49 left in the game to chew up before putting the game in kicker Colten Lichtenberg’s hands. AJ Dillon carried 8 times for 29 yards, picking up two first downs – the cherry on top of a dominant 39 carry, 272 yard, 4 TD performance – and the stage was set. Lichtenberg was tasked with a 27 yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining in the game to win it for the Eagles. Lichtenberg, who had converted just one of his previous six attempts. And he drilled it.
In a season in which the Eagles have been castigated for their predictability, this game couldn’t have been farther from it. It had everything that BC fans didn’t expect: an offensive outburst. An unlikely hero in Lichtenberg. A competent performance against Lamar Jackson in key spots. And, most importantly, a win. This is a game that certainly will go down as one of the better wins of the decade for this BC team, and certainly one of the best of the Addazio era.
Many BC fans had already written this squad off as a non-bowl team. Saturday’s game proved that this Eagles team might have life in them yet; and, perhaps, an offense that hadn’t surfaced before this game. It’s amazing how much can change over the course of a week: last week, there didn’t appear to be much to look forward to this season. Now? The Eagles are finally flying high, even if it’s only for a week.
The Eagles (3-4, 1-3 ACC) travel to Charlottesville next weekend to face the Virginia Cavaliers (5-1, 2-0 ACC). You can listen to the WZBCSports broadcast on 90.3 FM.
The Cardinals (4-3, 1-3 ACC) travel to Tallahassee next weekend to face the Florida State Seminoles (2-3, 2-2 ACC).