BC going bowling after 39-16 win over Connecticut

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For the fourth time in the past five years, the Boston College Eagles will be going bowling.

Thanks in large part to a run game that was punishing and a defense that forced turnovers. The combination was too much for the Connecticut Huskies, who hung in there with BC for a quarter before the duo of A.J Dillon and Jon Hilliman proved to be too much. Final score from Fenway Park, Eagles 39 Huskies 16.

The story of this game was how effective the Eagles were running the ball. Dillon collected his second 200-yard game of the year while Hilliman went over 100 yards on the ground himself. After the game, head coach Steve Addazio talked about how proud he was of his offensive line and the way they won the battle at the point of attack.

Not to be overlooked was the play of the defense, which once again was missing key players. Harold Landry was out for his third game in a row, while the secondary was without Kamrin Moore who is lost for the rest of the year. Despite the loss of talent and experience, BC’s defense came up with two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.

The first quarter was all UConn, the home team for this one. They would run 23 plays good for 172 yards and maintain possession of the football for 10:12 of the quarter. Boston College’s defense was dodging bullets throughout. The only scoring of the quarter came on the very first Connecticut drive of the game. A nine-play 61-yard possession ending on a 50-yard field goal by Huskies placekicker Michael Tarbut. The successful kick was a career long for Tarbutt. The big play of the drive was a 50-yard pass completion from quarterback David Pindell (214 yards passing) to wide receiver Arkeel Newsome.

Noa Merritt with his second sack of the day! #BCvsUCONN pic.twitter.com/8jAuJfNFQC

— Boston College Football (@BCFootball) November 19, 2017

Darius Wade in for the injured Anthony Brown. The Eagles struggled while UConn was marching up and down the field. As good the Huskies looked, they found ways to self-destruct. Case in point, their second drive of the quarter when Pindell dropped back to pass and went deep down the left side. The pass was interceded by Eagles cornerback Hamp Cheerers (second of the season). Boston College tried to take advantage of the turnover, but a 43-yard field goal try by Eagle’s kicker Colton Lichtenberg was blocked by Luke Carrezola. On the very next drive, BC’s special teams showed they too can make big plays. A 30-yard field goal try by Tarbutt was blocked by Watt Ray. The quarter ended 3-0 Connecticut.

The second quarter saw the Eagles offense start to hit their stride, with the help of their terrific freshman running back A.J. Dillon. On Boston College’s second drive of the quarter, he ran the ball six times for 22 yards. His work on the ground would pay off in the form of a touchdown pass of two yards from Wade (7 of 15, 55 yards one touchdown) to tight end Chris Garrison. The extra point was good and Eagles had their first lead of the night 7-3.

They would increase the lead after a Huskies punt. Dillon took a handoff from Wade at the BC 47-yard line and broke free down the left sideline, carrying Huskies defenders with him for the last five yards into the end zone, touchdown Boston College. They would head to the locker room with a 14-3 halftime advantage.

The third quarter saw Boston College’s run games strike again. On their very first drive of the second half, the combination of Dillon and Jon Hilliman ran the ball down the throats of the UConn defense. Five run plays later, Hilliman took a Wade handoff, cut right and went 38 yards to paydirt. 21-3 Boston College.

Jon Hilliman starts the half with a score! 38-yard TD run by No. 32! #BCvsUCONN #BCEagles 21
Huskies 3
13:04 3rd Qtr pic.twitter.com/hNnZQFK8pz

— Boston College Football (@BCFootball) November 19, 2017

Trying to get back into the game, the Huskies resorted to their passing game, with bad results. On Connecticut’s first opportunity in the quarter, Pindell was picked off by Taj-Amir Torres, his first of the year at the BC 35 yard line. 65 yards later, Torres was in the end zone for a defensive score for BC. The extra point failed, but the rout was on. 27-3 Eagles.

Boston College was not done before the quarter was over as Dillon struck one more time. Starting from the Huskies 42-yard line, the Eagles ran the ball three times added by a roughing the passing call. Dillon took all three carries and finished it off with a 20-yard touchdown run. Again, the kick was no good. The score after three quarters was 33-3 Boston College.

In the fourth, Hilliman score again this time from three yards out. For the third straight time, the kick failed, which will not make head coach Addazio happy. But on this night, it did not matter. 39-3 BC.

The Huskies scored their first touchdown of the night when running back Kevin Mensah ran up the middle untouched into the end zone from 70 yards out. 39-10 Boston College.

UConn made things just a bit uncomfortable when Pindell hit Hergy Mayala with a 42-yard touchdown strike. The try for two failed making the score 39-16 BC with four minutes left. The Eagles were able to run out the clock and become bowl bound with a 39-16 win over UConn.
For his part, Huskies’ head man Randy Edsall thought his team gave up too many big plays on defense and he was right. He would go on to say he thought his guys did not tackle well.

Addazio, on the other hand, was excited and who could blame him. Down nine starting players, the Eagles have found a way to get the 13th game for themselves.

One last regular season game left, next Saturday at Syracuse.