Western Kentucky was not supposed to be a trap game for Boston College football. BC head coach Bill O’Brien made that clear in the week leading up to the matchup.
“There should be no trap games with Boston College,” O’Brien said. “Every single game that we play at BC is vital to this program.”
But when BC found itself down 14–0 three minutes into the second quarter, it seemed like O’Brien might have been wrong. Maybe it was a trap game.
The Eagles were favored by 7.5 points going into the game, and Family Weekend had drawn over 41,000 fans to Alumni Stadium. Except for the fact that the Eagles were missing starting quarterback Thomas Castellanos to injury, all the conditions had seemed to be in BC’s favor.
Regardless, it took the biggest 4th-quarter comeback in BC history to muster a win over WKU—the same team that opened its season with a 63–0 loss to Alabama.
Here are three observations from the Eagles’ narrow win.
First-Half Woes Continue
Despite eventually earning an exhilarating victory over Michigan State last week, BC’s chances at a win looked uncertain in the first half of its Red Bandanna Game. The Eagles tallied only a single yard of forward progress on their opening drive before being pushed back four yards and ultimately turning the ball over on downs.
Their second drive of the game was an even bigger failure than the first, though, as Treshaun Ward got all the way to the Spartans’ 9-yard line before fumbling.
The Eagles were lacking defensively, too. They gave up a 40-yard pass that set the Spartans up for a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter, and although BC’s offense finally found the endzone earlier in the quarter, even that success wasn’t without its struggles: Luca Lombardo missed the extra point, and BC went into the half down 13–6.
“I can’t repeat what I said to the players,” O’Brien said after the MSU game. “I’d have to go to confession.”
Despite O’Brien’s strong feelings about last week’s first-half showing, few things seemed to change against WKU in terms of how the Eagles started the game. In fact, they might have been worse.
BC’s defense gave up back-to-back 9-yard completions on 3rd-and-12 and 4th-and-3 on the first drive of the game, before being spared by a couple of penalties that restrained the Hilltoppers in a way the Eagles’ defense seemed incapable of.
BC’s opening drive was underwhelming in every sense of the word. Except for an 11-yard completion to Jeremiah Franklin, BC did not muster any more than two yards on any play.
BC’s second drive ended in a punt as well, and an interception on its third drive of the game was the cherry on top. Keondre Williams picked off Grayson James’ pass and returned it for 23 yards, setting the Hilltoppers up for a touchdown that made it a two-score game.
O’Brien paced the sideline with his hands on his hips, shaking his head. At the half, WKU held a 17–7 lead as the Eagles had once again started the game with their heads not in the game.
“I look at it as definitely my fault when we don’t play well in the first half,” O’Brien said.
Quarterback Struggles
It’s true that playing without your starting quarterback is a difficult adjustment for any team, and that held true for the Eagles.
James’ first pass of the game was an 11-yard completion—a strong start to the FIU transfer’s BC career. But things went screaming downhill from there. His next four caught passes went as follows: 1-yard loss, 1-yard gain, 1-yard gain, and an interception.
James ended the game 19-for-32 for 168 yards, one passing touchdown, a rushing touchdown, and one interception. He looked panicked nearly every time the defense applied intense pressure—under and over-throwing open receivers and holding the ball too long at times, leading to two sacks.
One key redeeming factor for James’ performance was the fact that Caden Veltkamp may have played worse than James did. The WKU quarterback threw two interceptions and was sacked three times, one of which resulted in a crucial fumble with 6:26 remaining in the game.
While the timing of Castellanos’ return has not been announced, it’s clear that BC’s offense did not—and maybe cannot—operate the same in his absence.
Ezeiruaku’s Excellence
Donovan Ezeiruaku was clearly the most important player for BC on Saturday, and maybe so far this season.
“I felt like we started off very slow,” Ezeiruaku said. “We didn’t really pick it up ’til the second half.”
He continued.
“And I took that personally,” Ezeiruaku said.
He sacked Veltkamp three times, totaled a career-high 14 tackles, and forced a fumble. The senior has already beat his career-high in sacks with eight, and he’s done it just five games into the season.
In a game where the offense struggled throughout, Ezeiruaku continuously put BC in a position to succeed.
Down 20–14 with less than seven minutes remaining, the Eagles had lost momentum. A pass interference call provided the Eagles with their only first down of the previous drive—which ended with a punt.
On 3rd-and-5 at WKU’s 27-yard line, Veltkamp received the snap.
The tension in Alumni Stadium was palpable. Everyone seemed to know—this play might determine the game.
Ezeiruaku fought, just like he had all game.
He delivered a sack as Veltkamp looked to throw, knocking the ball out of the passer’s hands, giving George Rooks the chance to scoop it off the ground and secure possession for BC. The play gave BC’s struggling offense the short field it needed to score the touchdown that ultimately won the Eagles the game, helping them avoid disaster in Chestnut Hill.
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