For the entire first half of Boston College football’s game against Virginia Tech, Eagles fans watched their team look brutally incapable of playing winning football as BC went down 28–0 in the first half on primetime national television.
The Eagles eventually showed some resemblance to the rising team they were perceived to be in the first few weeks of the season, scoring all 21 of their points in the third quarter. But that’s all BC could muster, as its momentum fizzled out and the Hokies outscored the Eagles 14–0 in the fourth quarter.
BC head coach Bill O’Brien said after that he needed to teach his team what it takes to win.
“They don’t understand,” O’Brien said.
It seems the Eagles still don’t understand.
BC defeated its first-half demons against Louisville, getting off to a 20–0 start that sent Alumni Stadium into a Friday night frenzy. BC’s chances at an upset seemed high. But the Eagles somehow turned a 20–0 lead into a 27–10 lead, and finally into a 31–27 loss.
They were outscored 14–0 in the fourth quarter.
The reason a 20-point cushion wasn’t enough to help BC to a win was because of a deeper-rooted problem: the only thing the Eagles have been consistent with this season is their inconsistency.
Here are three observations from the loss.
Consistent Inconsistency
It’s something O’Brien has stressed all season. He’s consistently asked students and fans to get to Alumni Stadium early and provide BC with the juice it needs to get off to a strong start.
But no matter how early the fans get there, and no matter who the Eagles are facing, they consistently fail to string together four uninterrupted quarters of good football on both sides of the ball.
Against Western Kentucky earlier this season, the Eagles scored just one touchdown in the first half. Two touchdowns in the fourth quarter allowed them to come away with an all-too-close 21–20 win.
In its loss to Virginia, BC scored two touchdowns in the first half, then was shut out for the remainder of the game. The Eagles lost 24–14. Against Virginia Tech, BC’s 28–0 first half hole, 21-point third quarter, and scoreless fourth resulted in a double-digit loss.
Friday’s loss to Louisville was just another point on the line of inconsistency the Eagles have been toeing all season. Getting outscored 24–7 in the second half is hardly ever the recipe for a win.
Plagued by Punting
On Tuesday, O’Brien seemed confident in BC’s punting.
“I think the punting’s improved,” he said in a post-practice media availability. “Ivan is our punter—he’s improved, no doubt about it.”
To be fair, the Eagles didn’t put punter Ivan Zivenko in a position to succeed on the first two drives of the game.
On its opening drive, BC’s offense couldn’t get past its own 23-yard line, then a false start penalty pushed them back to their own 18, where Zivenko had to line up and boot a punt that traveled just 32 yards. On BC’s next drive, a false start from Owen McGowan once again forced Zivenko to retreat five yards, and his ensuing punt once again traveled 32 yards.
But even when mistakes didn’t interfere with his position, Zivenko’s performance was an utter failure. Two of his fourth-quarter punts traveled 24 and 30 yards. The Cardinals scored on both of the resulting drives.
It’s true that the Eagles’ offensive stagnation can’t be blamed fully on dismal punting. But special team woes certainly didn’t help BC recover any momentum lost on the offensive end. Consistently hand-feeding the Cardinals excellent field position, then expecting the defense to come up with stops, proved to be a grossly ineffective strategy.
Winning is hard. It’s even harder when the other team only has to come up with 58 yards of offense to score a touchdown.
Run, Run, Pass, Punt
In the first quarter of Friday’s game, Thomas Castellanos started BC’s fourth drive with a rush that resulted in a one-yard loss on 1st-and-10. The next play was identical. This time, he picked up a three-yard loss.
Just like that, it was 3rd-and-14. On 3rd-and-long and in need of yardage, BC decided the time had finally come to attempt a pass play. Castellanos’ pass to Lewis Bond never had a chance, as Quincy Riley broke it up and forced the Eagles to punt.
With less than two minutes left in the third quarter, BC’s once-dominant lead had been cut to a 27–17 advantage. On first down the Eagles handed it off to Kye Robichaux, who rushed for one yard. The Eagles responded by handing it off to Robichaux again on 2nd-and-9. He rushed for three yards.
Faced with a 3rd-and-6 situation, BC abandoned its run game strategy and decided to let Castellanos pass the ball. His pass was broken up, and BC was forced to punt from its own 25-yard line.
BC’s offensive stagnation on Friday night seemed at least in part due to the fact that the plays themselves were designed that way. O’Brien and his staff consistently chose to run the ball on first and second down, regardless of whether it was working. Then, on third down, Castellanos tried to create on pass plays. Those often went poorly.
Less than two minutes into the fourth quarter, Castellanos got sacked on third down for a loss of seven while attempting to create such a play, resulting in another three-and-out. Unable to get past their 24-yard line, the Eagles allowed the Cardinals to start their drive on BC’s 42-yard line.
Louisville’s drive ended in an 18-yard rushing touchdown that put Louisville within three points.
Another ineffective run, run, pass, and punt on BC’s next drive was the last time the Eagles saw a lead. The Cardinals capitalized on the short field once again. Tyler Shough threw a 6-yard touchdown to put Louisville up 31–27. BC ran the ball three times in a row on its next drive, ending in another three-and-out.
When Castellanos finally was given the call to pass the ball—in a frantic situation on BC’s last drive of the game—he threw four incomplete passes in a row, ending the game with an abysmal offensive sequence that was fitting for the game played. The Eagles’ resistance to a more aggressive offensive game plan ruined their chances at an upset from start to finish.
