Brown’s Career Night Propels BC to 41-34 Win at Wake Forest

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Brown’s Career Night Propels BC to 41-34 Win at Wake Forest

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Quarterback Anthony Brown threw for a career-best 304 yards and five touchdowns while All-American running back AJ Dillon rushed for 185 yards as Boston College improved to 3-0 on the season, winning its ACC opener, 41-34, at Wake Forest.

For the third straight week, the Eagles scored a touchdown on their first drive of the game. And for the third straight week, it was Dillon who would find the end zone. He accounted for all 52 yards of the three-play drive to start the contest, barreling 45 yards for the score, making it 7-0 with just under 14:00 left in the opening quarter.

Wake punted on its third series of the game, but Michael Walker mishandled the kick at the Eagles’ 13-yard line, setting up the first TD of the evening for the Demon Deacons with just under five minutes left in the first quarter.

BC’s second scoring drive came early in the second quarter, as Brown’s 27-yard strike to a diving Jeff Smith made it 14-7. The Demon Deacons tied the contest after recovering a blocked Grant Carlson punt in the end zone with 8:56 left in the half and took a 21-14 lead close to three minutes later after a 10-play, 81-yard drive.

The Eagles quickly responded on their next drive, as Dillon and Smith combined for 43 yards on the ground before Brown found Kobay White on a 35-yard pass for the score. BC and Wake Forest were tied, 21-21, at halftime.

After Wake started the second half with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a 27-yard field goal, the Eagles marched back down BB&T Field on an eight-play, 78-yard touchdown drive, as Brown found Tommy Sweeney on a 29-yard strike. The senior tight end crossed the plane on the left pylon and BC regained the lead at 28-24.

Boston College put the game away on two long passing plays for touchdowns – a 71-yard connection between Brown and Smith, which made it 34-24 with 13:29 to play. After another Demon Deacons’ field goal, the Eagles used Dillon to pound the ball into Wake territory before Brown connected with Ben Glines on a 40-yard pass, making it 41-27. Its next drive, WFU tacked on another field goal – a 23-yard boot – with 11:13 to go.

With 1:33 left, Wake found the end zone to make it 41-34 and attempted an onsides kick, but Kobay White corralled the kick and returned it to the Wake 38.

HOW IT HAPPENED

AJ Dillon registered the ninth 100-yard rushing game of his career, finishing with 185 yards on 33 carries (5.6 avg.). He carried the ball 18 times for 119 yards in the first half, marking the second time this season that Dillon reached the 100-mark in the first half.
Over his last 10 games, the All-American running back has rushed for 1,688 yards.
It marks his fifth career game with 185 rushing yards or more.
Anthony Brown was 16-for-25 for new career-highs in yardage (304) and touchdowns (five).
The redshirt sophomore signal caller and his receiving corps came together and it was beautiful. Brown completed passes to six different receivers, four of which scored touchdowns.
Jeff Smith had a career night, hauling in six passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns. The receptions and yardage total were both career-bests for the senior wideout. Smith also rushed three times for 42 yards.
Tommy Sweeney (five catches, 58 yards), Ben Glines (two catches, 45 yards), and Kobay White (one catch, 35 yards) each hauled in touchdown passes for the Eagles.
Wyatt Ray made a career-high four sacks on the night, accounting for 25 defensive yards of loss. The 6-3, 255 lb. senior registered eight tackles – seven solo – versus the Demon Deacons.
The BC defensive backs tallied two interceptions and nine pass breakups.
Hamp Cheevers notched his second INT of the season (fourth career), while Will Harris made his first pick of the year (fifth career).
Connor Strachan made a career-best 15 tackles – 13 solo stops. His previous high was 12 (vs. Clemson, 10/17/15).
Lukas Denis added nine tackles (seven solo).

NOTABLES

Boston College registered 19 first downs en route to totaling 524 yards of offense.
The Eagles ran 69 plays on the night, to 105 for the Demon Deacons (512 yards).
It was the first 300-yard passing game for the Eagles since tossing for 332 at Louisville on 10/14/17.
John Tessitore was 5-for-6 on point-after attempts on the night.
BC was 6-of-16 on third-down conversions.
The Eagles scored six touchdowns despite zero red zone possessions.

WHAT’S NEXT

Boston College travels to West Lafayette, Ind. on Saturday, Sept. 22 to take on Purdue. Kickoff is set for noon and the game will air live on ESPN2. The BC IMG Sports Network will air the game on 850 WEEI AM beginning with the pregame show at 11:30 a.m.

Boston College Postgame Notes vs. Wake Forest

● Boston College defeated Wake Forest, 41-34, in front of 25,309 fans at BB&T Field on Thursday night.

● Boston College moved to 3-0 for the first time since 2007 with the victory. It marked the fourth time since 2000 the Eagles have opened the year 3-0.

● BC eclipsed the 500-yard mark of total offense for the third consecutive game. Over the last 10 games, the Eagles have totaled over 500 yards in a game six times. Boston College finished the game with 524 yards of total offense.

● BC scored all six of its touchdowns without possessing the ball in the red zone.

● The Eagles surpassed 500 yards in total offense for the fourth time in their last six ACC games.

● Boston College has won eight of its last 10 games and the Eagles have averaged 39.4 points per game.

● BC is 14-10-2 all-time against Wake Forest. BC is 4-2 under head coach Steve Addazio against the Demon Deacons, including a perfect 3-0 mark at BB&T Field. All-time, BC is 5-3-1 at Wake Forest and 9-5 against the Deacs in ACC play.

● For the third straight game, BC took the opening possession of the game and scored a touchdown. AJ Dillon rumbled in from 45 yards out for the game’s opening score.

● Boston College has outscored its three opponents 42-14 in the first quarter in 2018.

● Senior strong safety Will Harris recorded his fifth career interception in the first quarter to end Wake Forest’s first drive of the game.

● Junior cornerback Hamp Cheevers grabbed his second interception of the season to end another Wake Forest drive inside BC territory.

● BC has picked off two passes in all three games this season.

● Dillon recorded his ninth career 100-yard game in the first half. Tonight marked the 10th start of Dillon’s career at running back for the Eagles. He finished the game with 33 carries for 185 yards and a touchdown.

● Dillon has 2,021 yards for his career. He became the 19th player in school history to rush for 2,000 career yards and ranks 17th all-time at BC.

● Sophomore quarterback Anthony Brown threw for a career-high 304 yards and five touchdowns on 16-for-25 passing.

● Brown became the first BC quarterback to throw for over 300 yards and five TDs in a game since Matt Ryan vs. Wake Forest (9/1/07). It was the first 300-yard passing performance by an Eagle since Chase Rettig vs. Wake Forest (11/3/12).

● Wyatt Ray posted a school-record, career-high four sacks to push his career total to 12.5 and become the first Eagle with three or more in a game since Harold Landry against Virginia Tech (10/7/17). He broke the single-game record of 3.5 held by Mathias Kiwanuka in 2005 vs. NC State and Mike Mamula in 1994 vs. Temple.

● Senior tight end Tommy Sweeney tied with Jim Whalen (1962-64) for 10th all-time in receptions by a BC tight end with his 29-yard touchdown reception.

● Senior wide receiver Jeff Smith recorded his first career 100-yard receiving game with six receptions for 145 yards and two touchdowns. He scored on a career-long 71-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 10, 34-24.

● Smith became the 12th player at BC to record 100 or more receiving yards and two touchdowns in a game since 1996 and the first to do so since Kobay White vs. UMass (9/1/18).

● Connor Strachan registered a career-high 15 tackles, including 13 solo and 0.5 TFL, surpassing his previous high of 12 vs. Clemson (10/17/15).