Boston College loses home opener to Wake Forest 34-10

Read Time:3 Minute, 55 Second

It’s the same at any level of football if the quarterback plays well good things usually take place. If the QB is not so good, well, you can finish the sentence.

On Saturday afternoon, the Boston College Eagles opened the home portion and the ACC schedule by playing the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. As BC Head Coach Steve Addazio would comment afterward “The tail of this game was four turnovers that led to two touchdowns”. The Demon Deacons took advantage of some mistakes made by redshirt freshman quarterback Anthony Brown to defeat the Eagles 34-10.

Brown threw three interceptions on the day, two were of the tipped variety. His numbers would reflect his troubles (11-29, 3 Int’s, 119 yards, one TD). One of those tipped passes turned out to be a pick six touchdown of 30 yards by Demon Deacons cornerback Essang Bassey.

On the other sideline, Senior signal caller John Wofford was “real good” as Coach Addazio pointed out. His numbers would back that statement, 13-19, 151 yards, one TD, zero interceptions. Wofford was also the Wake Forest leading ground gainer on the day with 20 rushes for 118 yards and one TD (29-yard run).

The day started badly for the Eagles before the opening kickoff took place. Boston College announced that senior center and Rimington nominee John Baker would be lost for the rest of the season due to a right knee ACL injury. He was replaced by freshman Ben Petrula who was not only making his first college start but also playing center for the first time. The coach had high praise for his performance on the day.

Wake’s first score of the day came on a turnover, a fumble by Eagle running back Jon Hilliman that was recovered by Demon Deacons red-shirt junior DT Willie Yarberry. Starting from the Eagles 26-yard line, it would take Wake only four plays to find the end zone as Wofford found WR Greg Dortch in the right corner for the nine-yard TD pass, 7-0 Wake.

The second quarter saw the Demon Deacons extending the lead to 14-0 when Wofford finished off an eight-play drive with his 29-yard run to pay dirt.

The Eagles offense would finally show signs of life after the first period in which they could not move the ball. They were 0-4 on third down and had -5 yards rushing the football. Brown and the unit put together an eight-play drive that was helped out by a pass interference penalty on Wake Forest. Brown would hit Hilliman with a six-yard TD pass to get the Eagles to within seven at 14-7.

Boston College’s defense would force a three and out on the Demon Deacons and would get the ball back with 2:05 left on the clock and one timeout. Brown’s pass, intended for Kobay White, was tipped and picked off by Bassey and returned down the right sideline for a 30-yard touchdown. It was a killer mistake that gave Wake Forest a 21-7 halftime lead.

The Eagles first drive of the third quarter gave the home crowd hope as place kicker Colton Lichtenberg hit a 30-yard FG to bring BC back to down 21-10.

Wake Forest matched the field goal with one of their own on the next drive when Mike Weaver knocked down the first of two attempts, this one from 28 yards out. 24-10 Wake.

Brown would get picked off for the third time on the day, this time by SS Jessie Bates III, who returned it 37 yards to the BC two yard line. From there, it would only take two plays for the Demon Deacons to score as RB Cade Carney rumbled in for the TD. It was 31-10 Wake after three periods.

Weaver would strike again, this time from 27 yards away and it finished off a long drive by Wake Forest that took 7:46 off the clock. It made the final score 34-10 Wake (2-0).

BC Coach Steve Addazio thought Brown looked uncomfortable all afternoon. He said he did not see that in their season opening win at Northern Illinois. He maintains that he “likes where this team is headed” but his fear about this game was turnovers and he was right.

After the game, Brown said he “needed better ball placement on the INT”. He said he still has confidence in himself but also knows he has to get better.

The road ahead for Boston College (1-1) does not get any easier as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish make a visit to the heights next Saturday afternoon.