Boston College Football: Flowers Flies Past Pitt in OT Win in 31-30 Victory

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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Zay Flowers’ touchdown in the first overtime proved to be the game-winner as Boston College holds on for the 31-30 win on Saturday night at Alumni Stadium. Pittsburgh found the end zone on their OT drive but did not convert the point-after.

Flowers finished the night with six catches for 162 yards and three trips to the end zone. Phil Jurkovec was 19-for-35 for 358 yards and three TD passes – all to Flowers. He also rushed for a touchdown. Hunter Long hauled in six catches for 93 yards. In total, five BC receivers collected Jurkovec’s 19 completions. David Bailey and Patrick Garwo each gained 36 yards on the ground. Bailey added two catches for 21 yards.

BC gained 388 total yards on the night, including 20 first downs. The Eagles were 8-of-18 on 3rd down and 1-for-1 on 4th down.

Pittsburgh forced overtime on a 58-yard field goal from Alex Kessman with 46 seconds remaining. Boston College got to the Pitt 35-yard line and attempted a 52-yarder for the win, but Aaron Boumerhi’s kick into the wind drifted wide left at the end of regulation.

Boston College used 12 plays to cover 86 yards over 3:44 to put three points on the board at the 9:30 mark. Boumerhi connected from 25 yards out, making it 3-0. On the next drive, Pitt took advantage of an Eagles’ offsides penalty prior to setting up to punt on 4th down. The Panthers found the end zone with 3:15 left in the first quarter, making it 7-3.

It was a high-octane second quarter, which saw three lead changes. BC began the scoring, as Jurkovec connected with Flowers for the first time on a 44-yard strike at the 13:00 mark. Pitt would respond on its next drive, using a 15-yard touchdown reception to take a 14-10 lead with 10:35 to go in the half. The Eagles would go up 17-14 with 4:50 left, as Jurkovec took it himself from two yards out on 4th down. Pitt would miss a 55-yard field goal attempt at the end of the half and BC would take a three-point lead into the locker room at intermission.

Jurkovec said it with Flowers again to start the second half, linking up again with the sophomore wideout on a 77-yard touchdown reception to make it 24-14 in favor of the Eagles. Pitt cut the Eagles’ lead to 24-21 with 2:18 left in the third, after a four-yard TD rush capped off an eight-play, 81-yard drive.

The defense started the fourth quarter with a big-time play, as Josh DeBerry intercepted a Kenny Pickett pass at the 15-yard line – deep in Panther territory – with 13:32 left. But Pittsburgh responded with a forced turnover by its defense, stripping Jurkovec of the ball at the 25-yard line with 12:43 to play. The two teams traded punts on their next four drives before Pitt engineered the drive with the game-tying FG.

Isaiah McDuffie led BC with 11 tackles, including a team-high seven solo stops. Max Richardson made nine tackles – five solo – three for a loss and a sack. Josh DeBerry (six tackles, one interception) and Marcus Valdez (six tackles, 1.5 TFL) also contributed to the defensive efforts on the night. Grant Carlson punted seven times for 306 yards – including a long-punt of 62 yards.

BC improves to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in ACC play and heads to Blacksburg, Va. next Saturday – Oct. 17 – for an 8 p.m. kickoff at Lane Stadium. The game will air live on ACC Network.